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ARU Peterborough shortlisted for impact award

City’s new university is recognised for quality of its buildings and facilities

ARU Peterborough has been shortlisted for a national award for the impact it has had on the city and wider region.

The new university, in Bishop Road, is a finalist in the category of University Impact Initiative of the Year award, bestowed by the Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE).

AUDE promotes excellence in the strategic planning, management, operation and development of Higher Education estates and facilities, and ARU Peterborough has been shortlisted alongside 15 other university initiatives across the country.

ARU Peterborough opened the doors of its first teaching building in September 2022, and this is to be followed this year by a research and development building. A second teaching building incorporating a Living Lab public space, to encourage the local community to visit the campus, is due for completion in 2024.

ARU Peterborough offers courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students based at University House, including international students, as well as students learning online. The university also runs an array of short courses aimed at supporting businesses.

ARU Peterborough is a partnership of Anglia Ruskin University, Peterborough City Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, said:

“We are proud to have been shortlisted for an AUDE award. ARU Peterborough is already helping to accelerate the renaissance of Peterborough as a knowledge-intensive university city and increasing civic pride. It provides a tangible example of a new model of university and a pilot for place-based innovation in cities, that could be adopted and adapted nationally.

“Designed from the ground up to address the need for a higher-skilled workforce across the region, the campus has already delivered impressive feedback from students, staff and the community.”

Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council, said:

“I’m not surprised that ARU Peterborough has been recognised on a national field like this, our new university was designed to be cutting edge and to facilitate our desired growth and evolution over the next decade.

“It has been created with the aim of providing job-ready candidates to nearby employers and to boosting the economic prospects of students and the entire city in the both short and long-term future.”

Deputy Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, said:

“ARU Peterborough is about bringing a transformative impact to the city.

“The planning, design and delivery of the university has always been done with this goal in mind, and despite only being around six months since opening, we are seeing reports that the city is already feeling the benefits of a vibrant campus at its heart.

“It is hugely pleasing to see that already those impacts are being recognised through nomination in this prestigious award.”

The awards ceremony will take place at the University of Liverpool on 5 April.


Photograph of ARU Peterborough by Richard Fraser Photography.