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Guide To Postgraduate Study In Nottingham

Postgraduate Student City Guide To Nottingham With two universities, over 40,000 students, excellent nightlife and an abundance of great places to eat, drink, dance and have fun, Nottingham is a brilliant place to be a postgraduate student.

Nottingham itself has a population of over 320,000 people, and it's part of the large urban area of Derby and Nottingham, which has a population of around 1.6 million.

Home to a hero

Nottingham is the homeland of the legendary Robin Hood. This outlaw – and one of the world’s best-loved folk heroes – is believed to have stolen from the rich to give to the poor in a rebellious and truly altruistic fashion. With his adventures retold time and time again – think Kevin Costner in ’90s blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – there is no better place to seek out Robin Hood landmarks and find out more about this medieval maverick.

Literary lover

In 2015, UNESCO named Nottingham a City of Literature – an honour bestowed on only a handful of cities worldwide. This nod to Nottingham’s great literary heritage, including links to DH Lawrence and Lord Byron, has helped Nottingham develop a strong literary community, a thriving publishing industry and a whole host of literary marvels for book lovers and wordsmiths. This makes Nottingham a great place to be a literature student.

Award-winning transport

Nottingham is served by England’s largest publicly owned bus system and if you’re planning on using public transport there is also a modern tram system to get you around. Located about 130 miles north of London in the East Midlands, Nottingham has loads of great transportation links to the larger UK cities of Birmingham and London. It takes an hour by train or by car to travel to Birmingham and an hour and 40 minutes to travel to London by train, or two and a half hours by car.

5 reasons to be a student in Nottingham

Nottingham City Facts 1,150+ postgrad courses – how will you decide what to study?

13,300+ postgrad students – you’ll have far too many friends to choose from!

Plenty of theatres – spectacular theatre venues including Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham Arts Theatre, Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Lace Market Theatre, Squire Performing Arts Centre, Lakeside Arts, etc.

Longest running travelling fair – Goose Fair is one of the largest travelling fairs in Europ and has visited Nottingham for over 700 years, yet another distraction to keep you from your studies.

Oldest pub in England – Nottingham is home to the self-proclaimed ‘oldest inn in England’, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.

Students in Nottingham – facts & figures

Nottingham is a great city to be a student – according to a 2019 study by the Office for National Statistics, around 42,300 of the city’s 330,000 population are university students. This means that around 13% of the total population of Nottingham are students.

Going out in Nottingham

Nottingham has many lively student areas to head to for a night out.

Nottingham City Centre – most of the campuses of Nottingham Trent University are located close to the city centre, which has resulted in a very student-friendly city centre. Popular areas for students include Hockley and The Lace Market.
Forest Fields is a little bit out from the city centre – just a five-minute tram ride away. It’s a bit quieter and greener, and has some great options for a night out.
Beeston is a vibrant student hotspot within walking distance of the University of Nottingham’s campus (a few miles out of the city centre).

Student living in Nottingham

With a recent study finding that one in every 14 properties in Nottingham is a student home – you will be spoilt for choice when looking for somewhere to live as a postgraduate in the city.

Postgraduate students are easily able to live all over the city of Nottingham, thanks to the award-winning transport links, including the excellent bus service that covers the whole city, this means there are a lot of postgraduate accommodation options available.

Both universities have halls of residence accommodation available for postgraduate students. The University of Nottingham provides postgraduate-only accommodation, which is within walking distance of the main campus. In fact, the University of Nottingham guarantees accommodation for all postgraduate students for their first year of studies, and has a range of different options available including one-bedroom flats, a room in a shared house, and traditional student halls of residents.

Nottingham Trent University has a range of options for postgraduate students, including a room in a shared accommodation with postgraduate and mature students only. They also offer postgraduate students the option of renting a room from a family that has been approved by the university. This is known as Homestay, and postgraduate students can choose a full-catered option so the family would provide you with all of your meals, too.

Those postgraduate students who wish to rent privately in Nottingham also have a few accommodation options. University of Nottingham students who wish to rent a private house often stay in the Lenton and Dunkirk areas of Nottingham, whilst Nottingham Trent students who want to rent a private house tend to stay within the city centre and the Arboretum area of the city.

Things to do in Nottingham when you’re not studying

T Nottingham Postgraduate Students he Nottingham-Derby area has a huge population of around 1.6 million people, so there are plenty of things to keep you occupied when you're not studying, including cultural, touristic and sporting activities.

There are several museums, including the Nottingham Industrial Museum and the Nottingham Castle Museum, where you can learn all about life in Nottingham through the ages. Nottingham has been built on top of a large network of man-made caves and you can explore these at the City of Caves.

If you want to escape the city, then try a trip to Wollaton Hall and Park with its large deer park and beautiful country house you will find it easy to spend a day away from your studies.

If sport is your thing, cricket is very popular in Nottingham, so a trip to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground will be a must-do during your time in Nottingham. Also, because of Nottingham's central location in England and easy transportation routes, there are lots of National Sports Centres. So if you have ever fancied trying out a new sport – like ice-skating – you can easily get a lesson from a national or even international expert.

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University of Nottingham

There are over 36,000 students studying at the University of Nottingham – and of these around 27,700 are home students (76%) and 8,700 are international students (24%).

The University of Nottingham is the university of choice for around 8,000 postgraduate students, which is just over 20% of the student cohort.

Named International University of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019, the University of Nottingham is a popular choice for international students. Students from more than 150 countries choose to study here, with around 5,000 postgraduates from outside the UK.

The University has hundreds of postgraduate courses to choose from, including full-time and part-time options. Some courses can be studied via online distance learning.

Tuition fees & costs

The tuition fees of masters degrees at the University of Nottingham vary according to whether they are MAs, MScs, PGCEs or MBAs – and also depending on what subjects they are. Another factor is whether you are a home (UK) or international student, including EU student.

Here are some examples of the tuition fees for different types of masters degrees and postgraduate programs at the University of Nottingham for the academic year 2025/26.

Masters Degree	Home Students	International Students
MA in History	£9,250	£24,300
MSc in Accounting & Finance	£15,800	£36,400
MBA	£32,400	£32,400
PGCE	£9,535	£23,000

Facilities & specialisms

The University of Nottingham has a huge range of courses – its largest departments are Biosciences, Business, Education, Engineering and Medicine.

Student life

With a large student body, the University of Nottingham has plenty of extracurricular activities on offer – with more than 70 sports clubs and 300 societies to choose from A Cappella and Allotment Society to Women in Law, Yoga and everything in between. Plus, its Theatre Club has won a number of awards for its performances.

Facts about the University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham was originally established in 1798 as a teacher training college.
There are more than 34,000 students based at the university.
There are nearly 12,000 students based on the overseas campuses in China and Malaysia.
Paul McCartney and Wings held their debut gig at the Students' Union the 9th of February 1972.
Esteemed novelist and poet DH Lawrence was a student here.

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Nottingham Trent University

According to recent HESA figures (2022-23), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is the 5th largest university in the UK in terms of enrolled students overall, and is the choice of over 40,000 students and staff spanning five university sites.

NTU student figures

UK/Home students – 86%
EU students – 3%
International students – 10%

Study modes at NTU

Full-time students – 88% FT
Part-time students – 12% PT

Type of student at NTU

Undergraduate students – 81%
Postgraduate students – 19%

Tuition fees & costs

The tuition fees of masters degrees at Nottingham Trent University vary according to whether they are MAs, MScs, PGCEs or MBAs – and also depending on what subjects they are. Another factor is whether you are a home (UK) or international student, including EU student.

Here are some examples of the tuition fees for different types of masters degrees and postgraduate programs at Nottingham Trent University for the academic year 2025/26.

Masters Degree	Home Students	International Students
MA in English	£9,300 FT / £4,650 PT	£17,850 FT / £8,925 PT
MSc in Finance & Accounting	£12,150 FT £14,000 – 2 years with placement year	£20,650 FT £22,500 – 2 years with placement year
MBA	£24,500 FT £26,350 – 2 years with placement year	£24,500 FT £26,350 – 2 years with placement year
PGCE	£9,535	£17,850

Facilities & specialisms

The largest departments at Nottingham Trent University are Business, Law and Education.

Student life

Nottingham Trent University has five campuses located around Nottingham, and its City Campus is the central focus of the university.

The university has a large number of clubs and societies for the postgrad students to join, plus there is easy access to all of the attractions of Nottingham city centre.

Facts about Nottingham Trent University

NTU was established in 1842.
It gained University Status in 1992.
Trent TV – the University's TV station – won Best News Program of 2011 from the National Student Television Association.
Ranked as the 2nd most sustainable university in the world in the 2024 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings.
Named UK ‘University of the Year’ 5 times in 7 years (THE Awards 2017, The Guardian Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023).
Voted 1st in the UK for Employability by students (Uni Compare 2025).