This academic year has been full of incredible achievements, countless awards and many fun and exciting events here at the University of Westminster. While almost impossible to narrow down to just ten, here are some of the highlights from 2023 - in no particular order.
1. Westminster students embarking on international trips through Westminster Working Cultures
Throughout the year, 192 students took part in ten international trips organised as part of Westminster Working Cultures (WWC). Some Westminster undergraduates had the chance to explore the professional environments of Dubai, Hong Kong and Washington DC, where they heard about a range of professional journeys unique to the local working environment and explored different sectors such as communications, journalism, law entrepreneurship, media, consulting and tech.
Beside WWC, several other international trips created invaluable experiences for Westminster students, including International Relations and Democratic Politics MA students embarking on a three-day trip to Brussels and others travelling to New York to attend the prestigious 2023 AFS Youth Assembly.
2. University of Westminster achieving Silver in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework
The University was awarded an overall rating of Silver, with Silver for Student Experience and Silver for Student Outcomes in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework. The rating took into consideration the University’s practical teaching, range of student support, and the employability and travel opportunities on offer that enhance student experience here at Westminster and support positive outcomes.
3. Finding out the photographer of Led Zeppelin IV album cover was former Westminster head
It was revealed that the iconic photo on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album was most likely taken by Ernest Farmer, the first head of the Polytechnic Regent Street, now known as University of Westminster.
The photo was discovered by Brain Edwards when he was carrying out research for a current project. With the photo holding such global fame thanks to the English rock band, he instantly recognised it and began to investigate its history.
Through looking at the quality of the photo he was relatively confident that it had been shot by a professional photographer. With this hunch he started to search for chemists from the area as they are often part of the photography process. On his search he found a chemist in Salisbury who happened to have a son named Ernest whose handwriting appeared to match the handwriting in the photo album. This Ernest was Ernest Farmer, the first Head of the Regent Street Polytechnic.
4. Opening The Gallery Coffee Shop giving Westminster students from all disciplines a space to exhibit and sell their artwork in Central London
In a bid to boost students’ employability and finances in the cost-of-living crisis, the University of Westminster launched The Gallery Coffee Shop at Regent Campus. It is the only independent artisan café on Regent Street, one of the busiest streets of London. Visitors can enjoy sustainably sourced coffee and food while admiring the unique student artwork which is on display and for sale through a dedicated online store.
5. Hosting Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ student event
Westminster hosted National Student Pride for the ninth time back in February. With over 2,000 students attending, it was the largest LGTBQ+ student pride event in Europe.
The weekend of celebrations included panel discussions on addiction, sobriety, intersectionality, and the social complexities of identity and being queer in a global context. Throughout the event there was live music, the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ careers fair, National Student Pride Awards and a Bottomless Drag & Burlesque Bunch, hosted by Drag Queen’s King Dolley Trolley and Don One.
6. Being named in top 25 for producing company founders
After studying 121 UK universities and 9.7 million alumni profiles on LinkedIn between 2003-2022, cash flow finance specialist Novuna Business Cash Flow revealed that Westminster is in the number 11 spot for producing company founders, showing the University’s success at supporting influential business leaders.
Through the wide range of entrepreneurship initiatives, such as the WeNetwork, the Ignite Fund, Westminster Big Idea Competition and Elevate, Westminster students have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, alumni and their fellow students, as well as receive funding to develop their projects and take a chance on their ideas.
7. Westminster students showing off their work as part of London Fashion Week
On 9 June, 14 of Westminster’s latest Fashion Design BA graduates showcased their work in a runway show during London Fashion Week 2023. Their work explored Afrofuturism, tactile jazz inspired knits, the 1960s French new wave, opulent Iranian layering, 1940’s hop pickers, the paintings of Richard Smith, Polish folk costume and sculptural 3D printed prosthetics.
Menswear MA graduates also presented their latest collections at the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN show space during London Fashion Week in September, while alumni from both the Menswear MA and Fashion Design BA courses, including Steven Stokey-Daley, Priya Ahluwalia, Roberta Einer and Paolo Carzana, hosted their own runway shows.
8. Westminster alumnus being named in the top 50 influential Muslims in UK and Europe 2023
Law LLB Honours alumnus Shaheen Mamun was listed by EqualityX as one of the 50 most influential Muslims in the UK and Europe 2023.
The EqualityX list recognises and celebrates the achievements of 50 Muslim professionals whose work highlights and uplifts Muslim communities across a variety of sectors. The list recognises Shaheen for making a profound positive difference to the representation of Muslims in the legal sector, and working to improve workplace culture.
9. Westminster winning the triple at National Enterprise Educator Awards
The University of Westminster took home the awards for Enterprise Catalyst, Inclusive Enterprise Education and People’s Choice at this year’s National Enterprise Educator Awards. These awards reflect the University’s work to demystify enterprise for underrepresented students and recent graduates.
This recognition is a result of successful collaborations across the Business Engagement Directorate between the WeNetwork and Alumni Relations teams who have made enterprise accessible to the whole Westminster community. The activities undertaken include enterprise-focused What It Takes events and mentoring programmes, alumni business support and alumni-funding for enterprise programmes.
10. University of Westminster ranking in top 30 globally for international students in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024
The THE World University Rankings for 2024 came in and University of Westminster made it into the top 20 in the UK and in the top 30 globally for international students, with 48% of Westminster students classed as international.
For international outlook, the 2024 edition of the prestigious ranking covers 108 countries and regions globally and puts Westminster in 68th place among UK universities and 164th out of 1,904 universities worldwide.
Explore the top ten highlights for the 2022-2023 academic year at the University of Westminster.
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