Vision & Values

Our vision for 2026: City, University of London: A leading global university committed to academic excellence, focused on business and the professions and located in the heart of London.

Our new chapter

2016 was a significant milestone in City’s long and proud history and marked 50 years since we were granted a Royal Charter and City University London came into existence.

With the objective to ‘advance knowledge, wisdom and understanding by teaching, research and professional training, particularly in science and technology’.

2016 was also the year that City joined the University of London, marking a significant and exciting new chapter in our history. It is a major opportunity but also a signal of how far we have come as an institution historically and in more recent years, through implementing our Strategic Plan 2012 to 2016.

We will retain our historic strengths, professional credibility and deep-rooted City of London heritage while we strengthen our international profile and expand our research and education capabilities in the ways set out in this Vision and Strategy 2026.

Of all our achievements though, perhaps the most challenging has been to enhance our academic performance while moving into surplus after seven years in deficit.

Significantly we have doubled the proportion of our academic staff undertaking world-leading or internationally excellent research and increased the satisfaction of our students by more than any other university in the country.

Looking ahead, the fact that investment has been funded without recourse to market borrowing places City within a very small group of UK universities with the capacity to raise significant investment funding. That opens tremendous opportunities for the next five to ten years but also carries greater risks and makes the need for sound financial performance an imperative.

Vision and Strategy 2026 will provide continuity with the Vision 2016 and reaffirms our:

• Continuing commitment to academic excellence
• Focus on business and the professions
• Location in the heart of London.

To build on our position as the only Higher Education institution in London committed to academic excellence for business, practice and the professions will require focus and dedication.

City’s academic strength comes through its distinctive Schools and our approach relies on us continuing to deliver outstanding education and research through our School Strategic Plans.

Our shared Vision is designed to enable City’s Schools to succeed.

Vision and Strategy 2026

• Download Vision and Strategy 2026 in full.