[8] The university was founded as Chester Diocesan Training College in 1839 by a distinguished group of local leading figures in the Church of England, including future Prime Ministers William Ewart Gladstone and the 14th Earl of Derby.
[9] It was the UK's first purpose-built teacher training college,[10] which makes it one of the longest established higher education institutions in the country.
[10] In 1842, Gladstone opened the college's original buildings for its first intake of ten male student teachers on the Parkgate Road site, (just outside the City Walls), that the university occupies today.
By the 1960s, as the UK was massively expanding its higher education capacity in reaction to the Robbins Report, the college was considered as a possible candidate for university status.
[20][21] The university has expanded in recent years, buying buildings in Chester and constructing student accommodation at Parkgate Road Campus in 2013.
[24] In 2014, Loyd Grossman, who holds an honorary degree from the university, officially opened the North West Food Research Development (NoWFOOD) Centre.
The Parkgate Road Campus also features a fitness centre, sports hall, swimming pool, science and language laboratories and bar.
The university has also developed the Kingsway Campus in Newton with the addition of a three-storey teaching block, ground floor exhibition space and art gallery, learning resource centre and changing rooms.
The university acquired a former Lloyds Bank corporate headquarters in Queen's Park, Handbridge, Chester in 2015.
The arms, pictured above, are made up of an argent shield featuring the St George's cross on which there is a golden wheatsheaf, representing the Earldom of Cheshire.
The crest features a mitre, signifying the institution's founding by the Church of England, in front of two crossed swords, which are taken from the County of Cheshire's coat of arms.
From 2015, as part of the 175th-anniversary celebrations, the university's coat of arms was changed to include supporting griffins on either side – one in gold, and one in black reach referencing one of the institution's founders.
[citation needed] Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was, in 2011, bestowed a visiting professorship with the title Gladstone Professor of Literature and Theology.
His inaugural lecture 'The Messiah and the novelist: approaches to Jesus in fiction' took place in Chester Cathedral.
[30] At the beginning of April 2021, the university announced its intention to make up to 86 compulsory redundancies across staff in the Humanities department.
[31] The University and College Union has strongly condemned these plans,[32] and student protests in opposition to the measures have taken place throughout the city.
[33][34][35] The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) 2010 audit praised the university for its good practice in ensuring standards and enhancing the quality of learning opportunities, the supportive relationships that underpin the learning and working in the institution and the strength of its partnership work.
[40] The Faculty of Education and Children's Services also celebrated an 'outstanding' outcome in its recent Ofsted inspection of Initial Teacher Training.
Two are on the Parkgate Road Campus, Chester, consisting of a general shop and a Starbucks Coffee franchise, and one at Warrington.
The increasing number of foreign students are mainly participants in the university's active exchange policy.