The society was born from a pledge made by seven Preston working men (whose names can be seen on a plaque in the university's library) to never again consume alcohol.

[6] The institute was housed in a classical-revivalist building on Cannon Street, before eventually expanding under the endowment of a local lawyer, Edmund Robert Harris, who died in 1877.

The expansion brought with it several new buildings and houses in the nearby Regent Street were purchased and demolished as a consequence.

As part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897, the institute's trustees paid the Victorian/Edwardian architect Henry Cheers to design the "Victoria Jubilee Technical School" (later known as the Harris Institute and now known as the Harris Building), to be built on Corporation Street.

[9][4] 90% of respondents to the official consultation argued that the name change was confusing, particularly given the existence of Lancaster University.

[10] The university is on an urban campus in Preston, with sites in Burnley and in Westlakes, West Cumbria (for Nursing and Medical programmes).

It is a purpose-built indoor facility on the main campus and offers Students' Union sports clubs, instructor-led classes and individual training.

[16] UCLan Cyprus offers bachelor's degrees in business administration, advertising and marketing communications, accounting and finance, hospitality and tourism management, computing, mathematics, English language studies, law, web design and development, sport and exercise science and psychology.

[17] It offers master's degrees in business administration, business management, marketing management, education leadership, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) with applied linguistics, financial and commercial law, computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, sport & exercise science and forensic psychology.

The university has the following schools: UCLan enrols students from over 100 countries and has partnerships with 125 international institutions located across the world.

UCLan has over 3,000 students enrolled offshore, across a diverse range of countries including China, Greece, India, Mauritius, Singapore and the United States.

[20] In 2013, following receipt of Chinese Ministry of Education approval and together with its partner Hebei University (HBU), the UCLan established the ‘Hebei/UCLan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries’.

Initially the joint School will have non-independent status, meaning that although it will be a separate entity from HBU it will be wholly owned by it.

Results of this course include The Collaborators (2015), Audax (2014),[29] The Wedding (2013),[30] Wraith (2012),[31] Blue December (2011) and Needle In The Hay (2011).

Since the scheme launched in 2008, nearly 450 interns have worked directly alongside UCLan researchers on projects as diverse as digital publishing, wind power analysis, facial composite development and smart bandage exploration.

According to the University of Liverpool when referring to the programme, "autonomous systems are technology based solutions that replace humans in tasks that are mundane, dangerous and dirty, or detailed and precise, across sectors, including aerospace, nuclear, automotive and petrochemicals".

The £12 million[citation needed] arena provides facilities for rugby league, rugby union, football (five grass pitches), hockey (two floodlit all-weather pitches), netball, tennis (four floodlit courts), and cycling (1 mile (1.6 km) circuit), as well as an eight-lane athletics area, equipped for school, club, and county competitions.