10 facts about the University of Chester

The institution, which has become the University of Chester, was founded in 1839 by such pioneers, philanthropists and reformers as the great 19th-century prime ministers, William Gladstone and the Earl of Derby, and John Bird Sumner, Bishop of Chester at the time and later to become Archbishop of Canterbury.

It opened as Chester Diocesan Training College in temporary premises (since demolished) in Nicholas Street, Chester, with 10 male students and the first female students were enrolled in 1961.

John Chessell Buckler, one of the architects of the University's Tudor Gothic style Chapel, came second in the competition for re-building the Houses of Parliament. Criticism that the Chester project was too costly was met with justification from Lewis Carroll's father, the Rev Charles Dodgson, that it would have to be a building of taste for such a city.

The University now has over 15,000 students from the UK and overseas, including the United States, India, China, Japan, Russia, Greece, Finland, Nigeria, Hong Kong and Singapore, together with 1,400 staff.

Many students stay in the area after graduating. For example, a high proportion of Cheshire West and Chester's nurses, midwives and primary school teachers have been educated at the University.

Over the past academic year 500 student and staff volunteers have clocked up 12,286 volunteer hours in schools, charities and local community groups, with projects ranging from school mentoring to environmental regeneration and working with African orphans. The University operates two volunteer schemes which allow students to record and gain certification for their volunteer hours. Their contribution has amounted to an equivalent of £65,300, based on the minimum wage.

The first students in the 19th- century were among the original volunteers, spending their free time using practical skills. They built the Chapel on the Chester campus and their work is commemorated in one of its stained glass windows.

From ‘hazard mapping' that could potentially save thousands of lives in the event of a tsunami, to the use of mathematical modelling to avoid the risk, expense and social impact associated with experiments involving human subjects or in fragile ecosystems, from the Arctic to Outer Space, the scope of research undertaken at the institution has increased dramatically over the last decade.

Each year, the University contributes approximately £135 million to the local economy in financial terms alone.