De Montfort University

Overview

With undergraduate students earning an average of £24,000 within six months of graduating at De Montfort University (DMU), the Leicester institution is one of the most valuable investments a student can make. Encouraging its students to develop their entrepreneurial flair, more than 100 new businesses are started by its students each year, while Frontrunners – DMU’s campus-based placement scheme - allows current students to apply for a variety of work placements within the university, putting lecture theatre learning into practice at the workplace.

By choosing DMU, you will be part of a creative and passionate student community that is inspired to make the most of the opportunities surrounding them. The university prides itself on combining teaching excellence with world-leading research and close links to businesses with over 170 courses accredited by professional bodies.

DMU is a university of quality and distinctiveness in the heart of the UK.

Postgraduate students benefit from academic teaching which directly complements industry experience and is informed by world-leading research, ensuring you benefit from developments at the cutting-edge of the subject you are studying. We have a wide range of courses to help equip you for some of the fastest growing and lucrative professions and industries, including IT, management, law and criminology, the creative industries, environmental and sustainability industries, and the health and life sciences sector.

Art and Design

De Montfort University is one of the leading universities for art and design in the UK. Students are offered an amazing range of more than 20 different subject areas, excellent studios and workshops and high quality teaching. De Montfort students win many high profile competitions and awards nationally and internationally and students have the opportunity to exhibit their design work at leading venues in the UK, such as Graduate Fashion Week in London and New Designers in London.

Faculty of Business and Law

The Faculty of Business and Law houses two schools, Leicester Castle Business School and Leicester De Montfort Law School, which deliver a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including Business, Entrepreneurship, Accounting, Law, Marketing, International Relations and Politics, Economics, and Human Resource Management.

Housed in the Hugh Aston Building, the faculty is recognised for its quality teaching, research and excellent links with industry. Additionally, the faculty has strong links with major professional bodies such as ACCA, CIMA, CIPD, CIM, CMI and many more, offering recognition and significant exceptions from professional courses across a wide range of subject areas.

Leicester De Montfort Law School boasts a strong reputation for teaching quality across a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional legal courses. All courses are designed to kick-start your legal career by combining academic expertise with projects that put your legal training into practice.

Students have access to a crown court – a site of trials since the Middle Ages – a civil court and a contemporary mock courtroom. Within the university’s Hugh Aston building there is also a dedicated law library, exclusively for use by Law students, as well as a client interviewing room, which gives you the opportunity to practise scenario-based learning.

Services for International Students

A dedicated International Student Support team assist overseas and EU students at De Montfort University. The team can give you specialist advice and guidance throughout your stay at DMU, along with lots of general information about living and studying in Leicester. They will organise a Welcome week when you first arrive at the university, while also helping you meet students from your own country.

As a student at DMU, there's a range of support services available to you throughout the course of your studies to make sure your life at De Montfort begins smoothly. Once you have begun your studies there is a range of academic support services to help you adapt to learning and studying in a British University.

• The Centre for Learning and Study Support (CLaSS) provides a range of support to help you develop your academic, writing and professional skills and offer guidance on areas such as self-directed learning, critical thinking, participating in seminars
• Each faculty also has its own Student Advice Centre (SAC), which are the first point of call for all learning support enquiries. The SACs offer help, support and advice to students.
• The Counselling, Mental Health and Wellbeing team provides confidential face-to-face help, allowing you to talk privately to someone who can help you deal with any emotional strains during the course of your university life.
• The Careers and Employability Team, based in the Student Gateway, are there to help prepare you for working life. They offer e-guidance, psychometric testing, CV checking and much more.
• There are several initiatives to help you improve your employability. Frontrunners is a campus-based placement scheme that allows you to put your knowledge into practice in the workplace. Unitemps offers part-time and temporary work in the university and outside while you're studying.

Ranking

• 113th in the Times University Guide 2025
• 118th in the Guardian University Guide 2025
• 167th in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2024

De Montfort University has 13 National Teaching Fellows, the second-highest number in the UK for this prestigious teaching award. The University is renowned for its innovative teaching and research in unique subjects such as contour fashion and footwear design, which are only studied at a handful of other institutions in the world.

More than 60 per cent of research at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has been judged as world-leading or internationally excellent in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

Accommodation

DMU aims to provide university-sourced accommodation for all new UK and international students who request it. Around 3,000 university-sourced en-suite rooms or shared flats in 10 modern halls of residence are available, all of which are on or within walking distance of the city campus.

University accommodation is the best choice for students in Leicester as it is the easiest option to arrange and almost all students are guaranteed a room. You'll be part of a community - there is always lots going on and there are plenty of opportunities to meet new people and make friends – and the comfort and security of finding a place to live at university is conducive to having the best time. If you plan to attend the pre-sessional or orientation programmes, your accommodation will be available upon arrival.

Location

Based in the heart of the UK and the tenth largest city in Great Britain, Leicester is just over an hour from London via a direct train. A nationwide example of the benefits of multiculturalism and tolerance, the city is the perfect location for international students looking to experience the UK at its most vibrant. The city centre is also just a five-minute walk away from the main campus, with high street stores, designer boutiques, cinema, restaurants and a cultural quarter all nearby.

DMU also has an open campus that merges with the city of Leicester through a combination of historical city and university buildings, modern and new complexes as well as beautiful parks and public roads. De Montfort continually invests in first-class equipment and workspaces and over the next few years, the university is continuing its investment in the campus to provide a modern and inspiring environment. A £90 million transformation of the city centre site will see improved teaching rooms, eating areas and the Students’ Union, and create a beautiful area of parkland at the very heart of the campus.

The centre-piece is an impressive new base for the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities – with sector-leading teaching facilities that will help DMU to be one of the foremost providers of creative higher education in the UK.

Alumni

Business

• Binja Kotak Dasani, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)
• Felix Ochefu, co-founder of IdeasLab

Design

• Ken Shuttleworth, architect
• Graham Cartledge CBE, architect
• Nicola Pellow, web designer
• Janet Reger, designer

For more information on design alumni, click here.

Arts

• Martin Ballard, BBC radio presenter
• Zarina Bhimji, Photographer and film-maker
• JS Clayden, vocalist for Pitchshifter, founder of PSI Records
• Marverine Cole, Sky News presenter
• Dorothy Cross, artist
• Charles Dance OBE, actor
• Pete Donaldson, broadcaster
• Keeley Donovan, BBC presenter
• Mike Foyle music producer
• Any Gotts, photographer
• Akram Khan, dancer
• Nero, music producer
• Nick Ruston, artist
• Simon Wells, director

For more information on arts alumni, click here.

Sport

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian Cricket captain. Awarded Hon. LittD (Doctor of Letters)
• Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, ski-jumper
• Harry Ellis, former England international rugby player
• Kim Joo-Sung, former Korean international football player
• Lewis Moody MBE, former England rugby captain
• Geordan Murphy, Irish international, captain of Leicester Tigers rugby
• Budge Poutney, former Scotland international, former director of Northampton rugby

For more information on sports alumni, click here.

Fashion

• Laura Coleman, Model
• Liam Fahy, footwear designer
• Janet Reger, lingerie design