University of Nottingham, Nottingham

The University of Nottingham received its Royal Charter in 1948, but its predecessor institution, University College Nottingham, was founded in 1881. With campuses in China and Malaysia, the Times regards Nottingham as Britain's "only truly global university". With more than 49,000 applications for 5,500 places in 2012, Nottingham is the most popular university in the UK. It is widely regarded as a "prime alternative to Oxbridge". It consistently ranks among the top ten in the UK in the most important world and national rankings and is known for its Law, Economics, Pharmacy, and Medicine courses, of which entry are among the most competitive in the UK.

In the past decade Nottingham produced two Nobel laureates, in the fields of Medicine and Economics. It is the alma mater of novelist D.H. Lawrence, current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and CEO of pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty.

University Park Campus, to the west of Nottingham city center, is the 330-acre (1.3 km2) historic home of The University of Nottingham. Set around its famous lake and clock-tower and with extensive parkland greenery, the campus is widely regarded as the most attractive in the country. University Park has won numerous awards for its architecture and landscaping, and has been named the greenest campus in the country thanks to a new Green Flag Award.