Manchester Metropolitan University (often abbreviated MMU) is a public research university located in Manchester, England. The university traces its origins to the Manchester Mechanics Institute and the Manchester School of Design, which formed Manchester Polytechnic in 1970. Manchester Polytechnic then gained university status under the government’s Further and Higher Education Act, becoming the Manchester Metropolitan University in 1992.
Manchester Metropolitan University is an accredited member of the Association of MBAs, and member of the University Alliance, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the North West Universities Association, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the European University Association.
Today, it is also home to the Manchester School of Art, the Manchester School of Theatre, as well as the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) administered in collaboration with the University of Manchester.
The University’s logo is derived from the upper part of the shield of the university’s coat-of-arms, with six spade-irons positioned together, suggesting hard toil and entrenchment.
Rankings and Research
According to The Complete University Guide, MMU is ranked #54 out of 130 within the UK, based on overall rating, entry standards, research quality, and graduate prospects. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings dropped Manchester Met’s national ranking from #64 to #82 in 2018, and continued to rank the university in the #601–800 tier internationally. In 2019, it ranked 492nd among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.
In August 2017, The Economist ranked MMU #92 out of 124 within the UK in degree value, based on statistics from the Department for Education.
In terms of research, MMU is ranked fourth within new universities attracting research funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, one of several institutions that fund higher education research programmes. The university has thirteen research centres:
- Advanced Materials and Surface Engineering
- Bioscience Research Centre
- Centre for Applied Computational Science
- Centre for Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics
- Centre for Decent Work and Productivity
- Ecology and Environment
- Education and Social Research Institute
- Future Economies
- Health, Psychology and Communities
- History Research Centre
- Manchester School of Art Research Centre
- Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine
- Research Centre for Applied Social Sciences
According to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), Manchester Metropolitan University was the highest LGBT+ recruiting university by the number of accepted applicants in 2020 at 720.