St Mary's University

St Mary's University is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Established in 1850, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United Kingdom.The university received full university status in 2014 and has since expanded its academic portfolio, particularly in teacher education, sport science, health, and the humanities. St Mary's is a campus university with a student population of around 5,000, known for its Catholic heritage and partnerships across London's education and health sectors. Originally founded in 1850 as a college for training Catholic schoolmasters, St. Mary's became a constituent college of the University of London Institute of Education in 1949. This affiliation ended in 1976, and the university's degree courses were then validated by the University of Surrey. Formerly called St Mary's University College, the university was granted full title by the Privy Council on 23 January 2014. Since July 2019, the university has hosted the Mater Ecclesiae College, whose Ecclesiastical faculties (enshrined since 2013 in the "Bellarmine Institute") were added after the closure of Heythrop College, University of London.