The community is made up of over 40,000 students from over 160 countries studying at the University of East London and collaborative partners.

The institute was to be, in the words of John Passmore Edwards speaking at the building's opening ceremony, a "people's university".

UEL's succession of founding institutions exemplify the developments that took place in British further and higher education policy throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.

[12] UEL delivers programmes and short courses at the Barking Learning Centre in a nearby borough.

[13] Off campus, there are students registered on programmes with UK and non-UK academic partners, such as the Women's Institute of Management in Malaysia.

Operating in partnership with the National Health Service, the centre is London's only provider of podiatric education.

[16] In 2011 UEL appointed Make Architects to lead the design of a replacement library at the Stratford Campus.

[17] The Docklands Campus, opened in 1999, is the largest of the three campuses, It is in the redeveloped Docklands area of east London, at the Royal Albert Dock, closed to commercial shipping since the 1980s and now largely used as a water sports centre and rowing course, for example for the London Regatta Centre.

The Cyprus station of the Docklands Light Railway is adjacent to the campus, and offers links to Canary Wharf and central London.

[19] SportsDock served as the High-Performance Training Centre for Team USA during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The building opened being co-owned with Birkbeck, University of London it is situated in Stratford and delivers part-time and full-time study for adults.

[17] In July 2021, the university bought the remaining shares in University Square as part of their Vision 2028 strategy, to "boost careers-led education", this enabled the UEL's Royal Docks School of Business and Law facility within USS to be further enhanced by a trading floor simulator, a mooting room, and a marketing analytics lab.

The course takes place at two locations; The academy, Barbican and Italia Conti Arts Centre, Guildford.

UEL has had Olympic and Paralympic projects including research, student involvement and sporting partnerships underway since it was announced that London's bid to host the Games was successful in 2005.

Asics had a five-year partnership with UEL, and provided bursaries and scholarships to support research athletes at the university.

During the 2012 Games, ASICS played host to athletes, ambassadors and business partners in their brand centre at UEL's Stratford campus.

UEL sites acted as a base for USOC's sports performance services, logistical operations and media relations.

[45][46] Michelle Obama addressed the Team USA athletes at the SportsDock facility on Friday, 27 July 2012, speaking of the pride and excitement that the Games bring to people.

[53] In 2011, UEL was named the most improved university for sport at the BUCS awards, having jumped 43 places in the league table.