The University of Exeter is a public research university located in Exeter, Devon, South West England, United Kingdom. The university was founded and received its Royal Charter in 1955, although its predecessor institutions, the Royal Albert Memorial College and the University College of the South West of England, were established in 1900 and 1922 respectively. In post-nominals, the University of Exeter is abbreviated as Exon. and is the suffix given to honorary and academic degrees from the university.
The university has four campuses: Streatham and St Luke's (both of which are in Exeter); and Truro and Penryn (both of which are in Cornwall). The university is centred in the city of Exeter, Devon, where it is the principal higher education institution. Streatham is the largest campus containing many of the university's administrative buildings, and is regarded as the most beautiful in the country. The Penryn campus is maintained in conjunction with Falmouth University under the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) initiative.
The university was named the Sunday Times University of the Year in 2013 and was the Times Higher Education University of the Year in 2007. Exeter has maintained a top ten position in the National Student Survey since the survey was launched in 2005. In 2011, it was considered as being one of the top 10 elite universities in England (based on the proportion of incoming students with at least AAB at A Level), and the university is one of only eight universities to be ranked within the top 10 of all three major national league tables for 2016. For 2015-16, Exeter had a turnover of £371.5 million, including £61.4 million from research grants and contracts.
Exeter is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities. The university is also a member of Universities UK, the European University Association, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities and is an accredited institution of the Association of MBAs (AMBA).