Its roots however, go back to Battersea Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1891 to provide further and higher education in London, including its poorer inhabitants.

In addition to this, the Robbins Report of 1963 proposed that the Colleges of Advanced Technology, including Battersea, should expand and become degree-awarding universities.

The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (formerly Associated Examining Board) moved from Aldershot to its own headquarters building on the Stag Hill campus in 1985.

In 1998, due to the ongoing development in the relationship between the university and the nearby Roehampton Institute, it was decided to form an academic federation.

[22] Soon after, in May 2019, staff and students held a no confidence vote against the university management, with coverage largely focused on Lu's leadership.

[24] The all-staff vote was approved by all three trade unions represented at the university, in a meeting held with the largest member attendance seen.

In September 2009, the Guildford School of Acting moved into a new purpose-built facility on the main Stag Hill campus as part of a strategic merger between the two organisations.

It also plays host to Surrey Storm netball (formerly Brunel Hurricanes), who also made the move to the Sports Park from Guildford Spectrum in 2010.

Surrey Storm are two-time Netball Superleague champions, securing their last title with a 55–53 win over Manchester Thunder at London's Copper Box Arena in the 2016 Grand Final.

It is also the official training facility for Harlequins rugby club, playing host to their Men's and Women's first teams plus Academy fixtures, and was used as a training base for the 2015 Rugby World Cup,[32] hosting a number of teams including South Africa, Scotland and Italy.

[33] In 2013, Surrey Sports Park hosted the annual Danone Nations Cup junior football tournament, with fixtures being played on the outdoor pitches through to the finals at Wembley Stadium.

[36] The Senate is the statutory body responsible for governing the university's academic matters, including teaching and research, and the regulation and direction of the education and conduct of students.

His predecessors are Patrick J. Dowling (1994–2005), Anthony Kelly (1975–1994)[41] and Peter Leggett, the last Principal of Battersea College of Technology[42] and the university's first Vice-Chancellor.

[46] The university holds a number of formal links with institutions from around the world to share teaching and research and facilitate staff and student exchanges.

In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the University of Surrey received a 5* rating in the categories of "Sociology", "Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine", and "Electrical and Electronic Engineering" and a 5* rating in the categories of "Psychology", "Physics", "Applied Mathematics", "Statistics and Operational Research", "European Studies" and "Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages".

[49] The 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at the University of Surrey opened in September 2015, for the purpose of research for the development of the first worldwide 5G network.

It has gained over £40m support from international telecommunications companies including Aeroflex, MYCOM OSI, BBC, BT Group, EE, Fujitsu Laboratories of Europe, Huawei, Ofcom, Rohde & Schwarz, Samsung, Telefonica and Vodafone – and a further £11.6m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

[69][70] In 1991 the university was granted the Queen's Award for Export Achievement,[11] and in 1996 was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education in recognition of the university's outstanding achievement in satellite engineering and communications, teaching and research by the Centre for Satellite Engineering Research and associated companies.

[72] The university was awarded a 2002 Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education for its research and development on optoelectronic devices and ion beam applications.

[73] The university won a 2011 Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education for its research into the fields of safe water and sanitation.

[77] The university won a 2017 Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education for "Leading research and teaching in food and nutrition informing public policy on diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and other dietary related issues".

[78] Academics to work at the university include Alf Adams, pioneer of the strained quantum-well laser;[80] Jim Al-Khalili, the nuclear physicist, author and broadcaster;[81] Aleks Krotoski, the technology journalist and broadcaster;[82] Martin Sweeting, founder of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd;[80] Nigel Gilbert, the sociologist pioneer in the use of agent-based models in the social sciences;[83] Joao Santos Silva, who has made fundamental contributions to the gravity model of trade,[84] and Martyn Barrett, who led the development of the Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture[85] and is a lead expert for the Council of Europe's Education Policy Advisers Network.

In 2003, he was awarded the Albert Einstein Silver Medal and the Javed Husain Prize by UNESCO for contributions to electronic devices.

The 2011 Clifford Paterson Lecture was given by Silva because of his outstanding contributions to basic science and engineering in the field of carbon nanoscience and nanotechnology.

[87] The General Electric Company Limited endowed the lecture in 1975 in honour of Clifford Paterson who undertook the creation of the GEC Research Laboratories in 1919.

[88] Surrey's Centre for Environment and Sustainability (established by Roland Clift in 1992 as the Centre for Environmental Strategy) gained attention with the publication of Prosperity Without Growth in 2009 by University of Surrey academic Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the ESRC Research Group on Lifestyles, Values and Environment.

[91] In February 2011, terrorism and Northern Ireland expert Marie Breen Smyth, joined the politics department, as chair in International Relations.

Four zones exist within the organisation representing Support, Voice, Community and Activity, with a sabbatical officer managing each one, as well as a president who is a member of the University Council.

It is primarily run from offices on the main Stag Hill campus and it also creates content for the Students' Union, through which it is a constituted group, but has editorial independence.