University of Bristol guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Bristol is our Research University of the Year 2026 in recognition of its outstanding research record and reputation. It earned more than £300m in competitively won research grants and contracts in 2023-24 - nearly £100m more than the previous year. Home to the Isambard-AI supercomputer, Bristol is building a formidable record in artificial intelligence. And the £500m Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus development, due to fully open in 2026, will allow Bristol to drive digital, business and social innovation, as well as aid the city centre's regeneration. More than half the intake comes from London and the South East. Bristol seeks to make a Russell Group university education as affordable as possible, offering a string of bursary awards to support disadvantaged students and encourage applications from under-represented groups. It was one of the first universities to embrace contextual admissions, which take account of applicants' educational and social background; an astonishing 44% of admissions in September 2024 qualified for a contextual offer up to two A-level grades below the standard entry requirements. Applications are booming, rising to a new record for September 2024 entry when more than 63,000 named Bristol as one of their five Ucas choices. Despite rising admissions - up 7.6% last year - competition for places is fierce, with the university's reputation for producing in-demand graduates to the fore.
Paying the bills
The University of Bristol bursary, awarded to more than 4,000 students, is now paid to those from homes with an annual income of up to £50,000 - an unusually generous threshold. The biggest bursary of £2,500 in each year of study goes to students from homes with up to £10,000 of annual income, with the sum dropping to £2,000 (£10,001-£20,000 income), £1,500 (£20,001-£30,000), £1,000 (£30,001-£40,000) and £500 (£40,001-£50,000). Students can apply for one of up to 50 Futures scholarships and 20 Black Futures scholarships, each worth £7,000 over the course of a three-year degree, which are open to students from homes with an annual income of £50,000 or less. The university also distributed more than £1.5m last year through financial assistance and digital support funds. Accommodation is keenly priced, with self-catered basic twin rooms in Northwell House costing £4,639 for a 38-week tenancy in 2025-26. The most expensive self-catered rooms - studios in Northwell House, Hiatt Baker Hall and Durdham Hall - tip the scales at £11,353, while a studio in Unite House costs £11,390 for 38 weeks. Catered accommodation ranges from £7,283 in a basic twin room up to £13,034 in a studio, also for 38 weeks.
What's new?
Bristol graduates are in demand. The latest High Fliers survey - The Graduate Market in 2024 - found that Bristol was the fifth most-targeted university among leading graduate employers, ranking above Cambridge and Oxford. And the work of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus aims to make Bristol students even more employable. Due to open in 2026, the new teaching and research development will drive forward digital, business and social innovation. Students, academics, businesses, public and private-sector partners, and the local community will work collaboratively there. A key objective is to enhance student employability with opportunities for skills building, networking and learning from real-life challenges. Specialist facilities will include cyber teaching rooms, a financial trading computer room and a makerspace to test ideas and concepts. The university is also developing a research facility to support the university's push towards artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputing. It is already home to the Isambard 3 and Isambard-AI supercomputers, and four new degrees in artificial intelligence launch in September - a BEng in AI, a BSc or an MEng in computer science with AI and an MEng in computer science with AI with study abroad. Several new modern languages degrees are also being launched in September 2026, studied in combination with subjects as diverse as law, music, politics, theatre and history of art.
Admissions, teaching and student support
Bristol has put in place robust measures to address mental health after a spate of student suicides in recent years. The university invests about £5m a year in wellbeing services and is one of just 17 universities nationally to hold the University Mental Health Charter Award from mental health charity Student Minds, in recognition of its 'commitment to improvement and developing better practice to have a whole-university approach to mental health'. An opt-in system allows the university to contact a designated parent, guardian or friend in the event of serious concerns about a student's wellbeing. This was the first scheme of its kind at a UK university when it was introduced in 2018. Students are also encouraged to take a Science of Happiness module, which gets to the root of what happiness is and how to achieve it. Recent operational changes have freed up extra wellbeing appointments, allowing students to access a range of support more quickly than previously. Teams of personal and senior tutors are there for students in all academic schools and there is 24-hour support in student residences. The university has also developed an NHS-led Student Liaison Service with its city neighbour, the University of the West of England. Contextual offers of up to two grades below the standard entry requirements can be made in all subjects bar the Gateway to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science programmes. The qualifying criteria include having received free school meals, living in an area with low rates of progression to higher education, being a care leaver or attending a school on the university's aspiring state school or college list.