The safest universities in England and Wales

The Complete University Guide has revealed the universities with the lowest and highest crime rates in England and Wales

Student life

Seeta Bhardwa

Editor, THE Student

December 12 2017

The safest universities in England and Wales

The Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester has been named the safest university in England and Wales, according to the latest research by the Complete University Guide.

The Complete University Guide compiled the list by considering and taking professional advice on which crimes would be the most relevant to students.

Looking at the three offences that were deemed the most relevant – burglary, robbery, and violent and sexual crimes – universities were ranked on the cumulative rate of all three crimes occurring over 12 months. They were recorded in the areas where students live during term-time, based on official police data, at almost 130 universities and higher education institutions in England and Wales.

It is important to note that although the crimes are those considered the most relevant to students, the figures themselves are based on all victims in the local area, not just students.

It was found that the South West was the safest region in the UK, according to the data, with the lowest number of incidents across all three categories per 1,000 residents.

The South East was the second-safest region and the West Midlands, East of England and Wales were all above the national average for safety.

The North West and North East were at the bottom of the ranking as the least safe regions.

The analysis revealed that burglary rates were lowest in the South East and highest in the East Midlands. Violence and sexual violence rates were the lowest in the West Midlands and South West and highest in the North West and the North East.

Robbery rates were below two incidents per 1,000 residents in every region except for London, the North West and the West Midlands.

Top 10 universities and colleges for low crime levels

	Institution	City/Town	Robbery	Burglary	Violence & Sexual Offences	Total
1	Royal Agricultural University	Cirencester, Gloucestershire	0.4	6.1	10.6	17.1
2	University of York	York	0.2	3.3	13.9	17.4
3	Falmouth University	Falmouth	0.2	2.2	16.2	18.6
4	University of Buckingham	Buckingham	0.7	4.2	14.4	19.3
5	Rose Bruford College	Sidcup	1.4	5.7	15.2	22.3
6	University of Reading	Reading	0.6	6.5	15.6	22.7
7	University of Winchester	Winchester	0.4	4.8	18	23.2
8=	Harper Adams University	Newport	0.2	6.2	17	23.4
8=	Oxford Brookes University	Oxford	0.6	6.6	16.2	23.4
10	University of Bath	Bath	0.9	5.8	19.3	26

Top 10 universities with the highest levels or relevant crimes

	Institution	City/Town	Robbery	Burglary	Violence & Sexual Offences	Total
126	Courtauld Institute of Art	London	9.9	15.8	56.6	82.2
125	University of Manchester	Manchester	6.7	18.2	48.6	73.5
124	Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts	Liverpool	4.1	15.1	53.8	73.1
123	University of Bradford	Bradford	2.5	14.3	56.2	73
122=	London School of Economics and Political Science	London	8.8	17.2	43.9	70
122=	Royal Northern College of Music	Manchester	7.6	14.5	47.9	70
121	Teesside University	Teesside	1.8	14.2	50.3	66.4
120	Southampton Solent University	Southampton	3.1	15.4	47.1	65.6
119	Leeds Arts University	Leeds	3	16.6	45.9	65.5
118	University of Bolton	Bolton	2.6	13.7	45.4	61.8