NTU recognised for its commitment to advancing gender equality
NTU is now the proud holder of a Silver institutional award from the Athena Swan Charter, which is used globally by Advance HE to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.
By Sarah McLeod | Published on 13 November 2025
Categories: Press office;
NTU joins just 38 higher education institutions in the UK to hold a Silver institutional award.
Our Silver Award, valid until November 2030, marks a step towards the University’s strategic vision to sustain a truly diverse environment: one characterised by fairness, equality and respect, built on personal agency and accountability.
In achieving this award, we demonstrated significant progress against our previous action plan set out in our initial Bronze Award, received in 2018. Successes include:
- The implementation of a comprehensive approach to gender equality integrated throughout NTU Schools. Athena Swan awards are now held in every School, including two disciplinary level Silver Awards for Arts & Humanities and NTU Psychology, plus 11 Bronze Awards.
- Strong female representation in senior leadership. 58% of our entire workforce (52% of leadership positions) are women. We have near parity of female representation across senior committees of the University and representation of female colleagues within NTU’s professoriate exceeds the institutional KPI target we set ourselves in 2018/19.
Professor Dave Petley, Vice Chancellor and President of NTU, said: “I’m delighted by NTU’s achievement of the Athena Swan Silver Award which represents a tangible demonstration of the important steps we’ve taken towards gender equality and inclusion. We’re committed to continuing our work in this area and look forward to the continued progress that will be made in the next few years”.
Professor Sarah Speight, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, said: “A heartfelt thank you goes to all those who contributed to this achievement. Whether through direct involvement in the award submission or through individual efforts to promote inclusivity within your teams, each contribution has played a vital role in making NTU a more equal and welcoming place to work and study.”
Notes for Editors
Press enquiries please contact Sarah McLeod, Corporate Communications Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8735, or via email.
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named UK ‘University of the Year’ five times in six years, (Times Higher Education Awards 2017, The Guardian University Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023) and is consistently one of the top performing modern universities in the UK.
Students have voted us the best university in the UK and 1st in the UK for student employability (Uni Compare 2025).
NTU is 4th in the UK for number of undergraduate students (HESA 2023-24) with over 36,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across six campuses. It has an international student population of 6,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The first recognises NTU’s research on the safety and security of global citizens. The second was awarded for research in science, engineering, arts and humanities to investigate and restore cultural objects, buildings and heritage. The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded GOLD in the national 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment.
NTU is a top 10 for sport (British Universities and Colleges Sport league table 2025) and was named as Sports University of the Year (Daily Mail University Guide 2025). It has also been ranked as 25th in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2026.
NTU is a holder of the University Mental Health Charter recognising the commitment an institution has shown towards continuous improvement in the area of mental health and wellbeing.
NTU is the most environmentally sustainable university in the UK and second in the world (UI Green Metric University World Rankings, 2024).