[5] In 1946 an Emergency teacher training college for the University of Birmingham was established in Worcester on the site of one of the former RAF bases used during the Second World War.

The third principal of the college, David Shadbolt, started his leadership in 1978 bringing a new system of organisation, based around three schools – Education and Teaching Studies, Arts and Sciences.

In 1997 the Privy Council affirmed the institution's degree-awarding powers and it subsequently became known as University College Worcester.

In the same year, the university opened the City campus in the renovated former infirmary to create a home for the Business School.

Two years later, in 2012, the university opened The Hive, a £60 million facility focused on learning resources, technology, social and study spaces.

This facility is a joint venture between the university and Worcestershire County Council and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

[5] In 2021, the university decided to close its archaeology department, with the change to come into effect the end of the 2021/22 academic year; this led to a petition being started, asking the vice-chancellor and executive board to reconsider the decision.

Created from a former Carpet Warehouse (and before that a 1930's Art Deco garage known as Austin House) and refurbished by GWP Architects.

[10] The Jenny Lind Chapel has been refurbished to its original state[11] as has the boardroom in which the British Medical Association was founded in 1832.

The 50-acre (20 ha) site includes watersports lake, grass pitches, woodlands and an activity centre The Hive, a joint venture between the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council, was officially opened by The Queen in July 2012.

The library is adjacent to the City Campus site in the centre of Worcester and brings a range of services under one roof including a fully integrated public and university library with adult, children's and academic sections, the Worcestershire Archive and Record Office, the Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, the County Archive record store and the Worcestershire County Council Hub Customer Service Centre.

The Hive contains over a quarter of a million books and 12 miles (19 km) of archive collections, together with meeting rooms, exhibition spaces and a studio theatre.

[4][15] The guide features facilities and venues across the UK suitable for use by international sporting teams as a training base in the run up to and during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

[18][19] On Thursday 10 April 2008, The Duke of Gloucester was installed as the founding chancellor of the university in a ceremony at Worcester Cathedral.

[22] An Ofsted report for the overall standard of the Institute of Education's teaching programme rated the university as "Excellent".

[30] In August 2010 the university was granted research degree-awarding powers, enabling it to confer the awards of MPhil and PhD.