Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. The university, which originally opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, was the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male students in 1959. In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council and became Edge Hill University on 18 May 2006.
The university has three faculties: Arts and Sciences, Education, and Health and Social Care; these teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
History Edge Hill College opened on 24 January 1885 on Durning Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool, by a group of seven Liverpool businessmen and philanthropists. It was named after the district in which it was sited, and was the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England. By 1892, Edge Hill was one of only two colleges in England combining teacher training and degree course study. As student numbers increased, Edge Hill quickly outgrew its surroundings. The institution was handed over to the Lancashire Education Committee, with the foundation stone for the present Ormskirk campus laid on 26 October 1931 by J.T. Travis-Clegg, Chairman of Lancashire County Council. The main buildings consisted of a main education block, four halls of residence (named Stanley, Clough, Lady Margaret and John Dalton), an Assembly Hall, a library, craft room, gymnasium, lecture theatres, classrooms and a music room.
Between 1939 and 1946, during the Second World War, the college was evacuated to Bingley in Yorkshire, and the Ormskirk site was requisitioned for use by the military and became Polish Military Hospital No. 4.
The Durning Road premises were destroyed in a bombing raid on 17 November 1940, during the Liverpool Blitz, which killed 166 people.
Edge Hill became a mixed college, admitting its first male students in October 1959, when it had about 500 students in total. In 1963 the college recorded having 660 students and 59 members of staff.
The institution has since expanded, with further developments at Ormskirk and the absorption of the former Sefton School of Health Studies.
In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council. On 18 May 2006 the institution became Edge Hill University and in August 2008 the university was granted the power to award research degrees.
Campus Edge Hill University is based on a campus in Ormskirk, the administrative centre of West Lancashire. It is midway between Liverpool and the county town of Preston.
The university used to operate from the Woodlands campus based in Chorley, central Lancashire, where it offered continuing professional development programmes and part-time study. However, in recent years operations have been centralised back to the main University campus.
Most of the university's subjects and departments are based in specialist buildings developed since the 1990s: Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Business School, BioSciences, GeoSciences, Creative Edge (Media and Social Sciences), Performing Arts, the Wilson Centre (Sport and Physical Activity) and Psychology. The Tech Hub was opened in 2016 by entrepreneur Sir Robin Saxby.
The university also operates a campus in Manchester city centre in the St. James Buildings, mainly for medical science courses.
The Student Hub
This building opened in 2011 as a central student area, containing retail and catering outlets and IT facilities, as well as providing new accommodation for the Edge Hill Students' Union. It was formally opened by Sophie, Countess of Wessex on 15 October 2012.
Sports Centre The current indoor and outdoor sports complex was opened in 2015 by Olympic heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Arts Centre The Arts Centre houses the university's Performing Arts Department and the Rose and Studio Theatres. The Arts Centre was officially opened by British screenwriter and writer of the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Frank Cottrell Boyce who is an Honorary Doctor of Literature at the university. The Arts Centre includes a 234-seat professional theatre (The Rose Theatre) and a 140-seat Studio Theatre.
Catalyst Catalyst serves as the Students' library on the Ormskirk campus, as well as the student services and information centre. The original library, which opened in the 1990s, was replaced with a new purpose-built multi-storey building, located on the old running track, adjacent to the Wilson Centre, and equidistant between the Student Hub and Creative Edge Buildings, as part of a £36 million development. The £26 million building houses a study space that is 8,000 square metres, which is 50% larger than the old Library building. The development began in December 2016, when the old racing track was dug up. Catalyst opened on 9 July 2018.
Halls of Residence The original Halls of Residence were 'named Stanley, Clough, Lady Margaret and John Dalton "in honour" of the Derby Family' and "of three individuals famous in the history of Lancashire and of Education" (Anne Jemima Clough was a pioneer of higher education for women, having founded Newnham College, Cambridge)'
Back Halls, opened in 1963 by Princess Margaret, are named after Lady Openshaw, Katherine Fletcher (Chairs of Governors), EM Butterworth, Margaret Bain (Principals) and Eleanor Rathbone, a noted social reformer. Lancashire Hall was demolished in 1999 to make way for the Wilson Centre (Edge Hill Sport), but was originally built to house male students. Forest Court (Ash, Beech, Cedar, Elm, Holly, Larch, Maple, Oak, Rowan and Willow) added 300 bedrooms in the early 1990s.
More recent Halls include Founders Court, named after the institution's founders Crosfield (William Crosfield); McDairmid (S. McDairmid); Matheson (Thomas Matheson); Smith (Samuel Smith (1836–1906)), Balfour (Alexander Balfour); Sinclair (WP Sinclair); and Sarah Yelf (the first Principal); and Graduates Court, named after alumni: Ainsworth (Joe Ainsworth), Annakin (Ethel Annakin), Maconie (Stuart Maconie), Normanton (Helena Normanton) and Pryce (Jonathan Pryce).
In 2012, Chancellors Court was opened, adding Halls named after individuals associated with the institution including Chairs of the Board of Governors: Blake, Booth, Bradshaw, Fulton, Millner, Pinfold, Tomkins, and Wilson as well as Byron (Tanya Byron, the first Chancellor of the university), and Williams (politician Shirley Williams). Additional Halls added in 2013 are, in Chancellors Court: Binns (Sir Arthur Lennon Binns), Boyce (J.S.B Boyce), Lord (Sir Percy Lord), and Meadon (Sir Percival Edward Meadon); and in Founders Court: Dewhurst (M. K. Dewhurst), Fenemore (Mildred Fenemore), Feuchsel (Harriet D Feuchsel) and Holt (George Holt (merchant)).
Chancellors South, an additional 246 accommodation units to complete the Chancellors Court blocks on the Eastern side of the campus, was completed in summer 2014. The Halls are named after individuals associated with the institution including Laverty (Bernard Laverty, Pro-Chancellor and chair of the Edge Hill University Board of Governors since 2014, Chartered Accountant and Director of Lancashire textile company David Whitehead & Sons Limited), Jenkins (Miss JA Jenkins, Vice-Principal of Edge Hill from 1906 and Acting Principal from 1909 to 1910), Millins (Mr PKC 'Ken' Millins was the first male Principal of Edge Hill, leading the institution between 1964 and 1979 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2010), Aitken (Sir James Aitken served on the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council from 1921 to 1948, and was chair of the council from 1946 to 1948) and Welch (John Welch was chair of the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council between 1955 and 1958).
Palatine Court Halls are named after prominent individuals associated with the historic Lancashire County Palatine: Carrington (artist Leonora Carrington), Glazebrook (physicist Richard Glazebrook), Pankhurst (campaigner for women's suffrage Emmeline Pankhurst), Roscoe (abolitionist and historian William Roscoe), Lowry (artist L. S. Lowry), Peel (Prime Minister and architect of the modern police force Robert Peel) and Wilkinson (politician, sometime Minister for Education Ellen Wilkinson).
Woodland Court Halls are named in alphabetical order starting from Block A to Block Y. Woodland Court is exclusively offered to senior undergraduate students and is not available to first year undergraduate students. Woodland Court differs from other accommodation in that it is laid out in a townhouse format, with different parts of the accommodation split over multiple floors, however it is otherwise identical to other halls of residence.
In 2019, Main Halls were refurbished, to modernise the facilities, and bring the offerings inline with the rest of the University's accommodation portfolio.
Back Halls was demolished in 2023 to make way for a new set of accommodation blocks, now known as Central Halls, which carried forward the names for each hall of residence, excluding Katherine Fletcher, as only 4 blocks had been constructed.
Organisation and governance
Governance The university's Chancellor is Dawn Airey, appointed in 2023. The founding Chancellor was Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist, journalist, author and broadcaster. Byron served in the role from 2008 to 2018. The Pro-Chancellor is Clive Edwards who also serves as chair of the Board of Governors.
The current interim leadership team comprises Professor George Talbot and Lynn Hill. Professor Michael Young was Vice-Chancellor between July 2025 and February 2026. The previous incumbent John Cater held the position from 1993 until his retirement in January 2025. He received a CBE in the 2015 Queen's birthday honours. As a social geographer, he has published extensively on race, housing, economic development and public policy and co-authored major research studies for the Social Science Research Council, the Commission for Racial Equality and their successor bodies.
Faculties and departments
The university has three Faculties:
Faculty of Arts and Sciences The Faculty comprises Departments of Biology Business (Edge Hill Business School) Computer Science English, History & Creative Writing Geography and Geology Language Centre Law & Criminology Media Performing Arts (incl Musical Theatre) Psychology Social Sciences Sport & Physical Activity
The Department of English and Creative Arts currently operates the Student Radio station, 'Edgehog Radio.
Faculty of Education The Faculty runs initial teacher training programmes for the age phases of education in the UK, together with Continuing Professional Development for the school workforce. The most recent Ofsted Initial Teacher Education inspection report (2011) awarded Grade 1 in all 33 cells covering the phases of initial teacher training: Primary & Early Years, Secondary and Post-Compulsory Education and Training.
The Faculty comprises Departments of Early Years Education Children, Education and Communities Professional Learning Secondary and Further Education
Faculty of Health and Social Care
The Faculty delivers pre-registration training for nurses, midwives, operating department practitioners and paramedics; qualifying social work degrees; and professional development in the fields of health and social care.
The Faculty comprises Departments of Applied Health and Social Care Medicine Midwifery Nursing Operating Department Practice Paramedic Practice Social Work Postgraduate & Professional Development Courses CPD Modules
Graduate school The Graduate School supports research students on MRes, MPhil and PhD programmes and their supervisors.
Coat of arms The university received a grant of arms in 2007.