HRH The Duke of Gloucester visited ARU Peterborough yesterday for a special event to mark five years of impact of the city’s new university.
ARU Peterborough was established by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Peterborough City Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with a clear mission: to provide quality, career-focused education that meets the needs of local people, businesses and public services.
During the visit, The Duke of Gloucester met students and staff, as well as senior figures from ARU’s partners, including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayor, Paul Bristow, and the leader of Peterborough City Council, Dr Shabina Qayyum.
Since 2021, ARU Peterborough has worked closely with over 200 businesses and public sector organisations to shape its course provision, ensuring graduates develop the knowledge and skills most valued by local employers.
ARU Peterborough’s impact is shown in its student population. More than half of its undergraduate students live within the Peterborough postcode area, demonstrating its success in serving local people and widening access to higher education. Around 40 per cent of students have said they would not have attended university had ARU Peterborough not existed.
ARU Peterborough has firmly established itself as a civic anchor institution and through partnerships with schools, employers, community organisations and public sector bodies it is helping to develop local talent for the benefit of the regional economy.
Key initiatives include the Upskill Peterborough course, which supports young people not in education, employment or training, employment bootcamps delivered in partnership with Anglian Water's @one Alliance, and the BOOST programme, which has already helped hundreds of local small businesses.
ARU Peterborough’s impact is increasingly being recognised at a national level. In 2023, ARU was named University of the Year at the UK Social Mobility Awards for the role ARU Peterborough is playing in advancing social mobility, while The Lab, the newest addition to its campus, won the Best Building category at the 2025 Pineapples Awards, which recognise places and projects that make a positive difference to communities. ARU Peterborough received its latest accolade earlier this month, when it won the Regional Impact Award at the Alliance Awards 2026.
Professor Ross Renton, Principal and CEO of ARU Peterborough, said: “Our ambition has always been to create a university that would open up opportunities for local people, support employers and play a leading role in Peterborough’s future success. Five years on, we’re seeing the results.
“Thousands of students have benefited from studying close to home, many of whom may otherwise never have attended university, while our partnerships with employers and organisations are helping to address skills shortages and drive local growth.
“It was an honour to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester to mark this milestone, which was an opportunity to celebrate everyone who has contributed to our success so far. The first five years have exceeded our expectations, and we believe the next five can be even more transformative.”
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, said: “It was an honour to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester to Peterborough and our fantastic new university at this milestone moment.
“I have been proud to support each stage of ARU Peterborough’s progress as both MP and Mayor, including this fifth anniversary of construction beginning.
“ARU Peterborough demonstrates how Combined Authority investment can make a real difference for our communities and help young people develop new skills that lead to jobs. Since 2022, the award-winning university has opened the door to higher education for more local people, and its graduates are already strengthening our workforce.
“Five years is a significant milestone, and we now look forward to continuing to work with ARU Peterborough to grow and bring even more opportunity to our region in the years ahead.”
Councillor Shabina Qayyum, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “I know of so many young people who have, or are planning to attend ARU Peterborough who might not have otherwise considered university as an option.
“Our university is no longer newly opening, it is well established in changing the lives of residents living in Peterborough and close by. To be able to share these experiences with HRH The Duke of Gloucester was a huge honour.”
