University of Liverpool

Established as University College Liverpool in 1881, it opened its doors to its first set of students in 1882, in what was a disused lunatic asylum.

Its iconic Victoria Building, designed by the English architect Alfred Waterhouse in 1892, is a tourist attraction in its own right. This Grade II listed building, build in the Gothic style, inspired the term ‘redbrick university’, now used to refer to a set of British universities established in leading industrial English cities during the Victorian age.

The university’s motto translates into English as ‘These days of peace foster learning’.

It became an independent university and adopted the name the University of Liverpool, in 1903.

Today, the university is home to around 30,000 students, including 7,000 international students from 127 countries, as well as 195,000 alumni and 6,000 staff.

Among its alumni are the broadcast journalist Jon Snow, and former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, while nine Nobel Laureates have passed through its doors.

It also claims a presence on every continent, including a Chinese joint venture university in the World Heritage City of Suzhou (Liverpool was the first UK higher education institution to establish an independent university in China), to research stations located in the Arctic.

As well as being the birthplace of the Beatles, the city of Liverpool also boasts the most number of museums and galleries in the UK outside of London, and was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

According to Rough Guides, the travel guides series, Liverpool is the fourth friendliest city in the world.