The strategic plan 2013-2020

Our vision for the future informs our choices we make, so that we are certain, in every case, our actions are bringing us closer to our goals.

We intend to realise our vision by both building on our existing strengths and also setting in place a number of fundamental improvements to a range of areas. Together, these actions will create a university that, by 2020, will look like this:

Our strengths and achievements are known worldwide

Royal Holloway will be consistently recognised as a top 20 UK university in major league tables and we will hold our place amongst the world's top 200 universities.

Our students are independently minded and socially responsible leaders

We will attract independently minded students who will benefit from a personalised education. This will enable them to fulfil their potential, by achieving academic excellence, being prepared for the world of work, having a global outlook and having the confidence to lead in a socially responsible manner.

We are placed amongst the top research universities

Across each of our academic disciplines, we will have high-quality staff and at least one distinctive, world-leading research specialism, along with high levels of performance within the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment exercise. All our taught courses will contain elements that are informed by cutting-edge research and scholarship and our research students will be guided by world-leading researchers.

We take full advantage of our size and flexible structures

We will grow our student numbers from 8,700 to 10,500, whilst retaining our overall human scale and sense of community, so that we can continue to respond flexibly in a changing environment and to work effectively across organisational and disciplinary structures.

We work collaboratively with key partners to achieve greater mutual benefit

Whilst our scale and culture mean that we sometimes achieve more than some larger organisations, other activities will require greater scale and resource. We will be open and collaborative so that we can work with key partners to ensure the best use of our resources and achieve more than we can do alone.

Our campus environment stimulates, inspires and refreshes

Our inspiring and imposing Founder's Building will be complemented by outstanding new facilities that add to the sense of a scholarly community, encourage collaborative, multi-disciplinary activities and provide a personalised, individual experience for students and staff.