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Choosing where to study

Crime rates in university cities and towns

Student safety is important. Here are the rates for crimes most likely to affect students in the areas they live during university term time.

Two policeman overseeing students

CONTENTS

  1. Crime statistics: England and Wales 2023

  2. How we compile the crime table

  3. Notes

  4. Police glossary of terms

Crime statistics: England and Wales 2023

Average crime rates for where students live during term time. Incidents per 1,000 residents.

Institution Robbery Burglary Violent or sexual crime Bike theft Theft from the person Total
Aberystwyth 0.2 2.4 41.5 0.3 0.4 44.8
Anglia Ruskin ARU 2.7 6.5 65.1 14.2 5.2 93.7
Arts University Bournemouth 2.2 6.3 58.1 2.7 3.2 72.5
Aston 32.4 20.8 208.6 5.9 30.9 298.5
Bangor 0.4 4.8 58.0 1.1 0.4 64.7
Bath 1.4 5.5 32.5 2.1 1.5 43.1
Bath Spa 1.2 5.1 33.8 1.5 1.0 42.6
Bedfordshire 2.8 7.0 53.8 1.6 3.6 68.7
Birmingham 6.1 11.8 63.0 2.4 5.4 88.7
Birmingham City 28.2 20.1 191.1 5.5 29.6 274.4
Bishop Grosseteste 1.2 5.1 53.6 2.7 0.7 63.3
Bournemouth 1.5 5.5 49.1 2.2 1.9 60.2
Bradford 8.4 11.3 134.7 3.0 9.8 167.1
Brighton 1.4 4.4 43.9 2.9 1.8 54.4
Bristol 6.2 10.1 74.4 10.7 6.1 107.5
Brunel University London 2.2 5.9 41.1 1.5 3.8 54.6
Buckingham 1.2 4.0 43.9 1.0 1.8 52.0
Buckinghamshire New 2.0 5.6 56.6 1.6 3.6 69.4
Cambridge 2.6 5.1 45.6 20.2 10.8 84.3
Canterbury Christ Church 2.9 5.8 85.5 4.0 3.6 101.7
Cardiff 0.9 6.9 41.2 7.4 2.2 58.6
Cardiff Metropolitan 0.9 6.2 40.5 6.7 2.2 56.6
Central Lancashire 3.5 11.8 80.4 4.5 2.6 102.7
Chester 1.0 5.4 71.7 5.3 2.6 86.1
Chichester 1.4 5.4 57.4 4.2 1.8 70.3
City, University of London 11.3 12.6 48.6 6.8 46.1 125.6
Coventry 11.9 15.3 117.7 7.7 12.4 165.0
Cumbria 1.1 5.8 54.0 1.8 1.3 63.9
De Montfort 5.9 14.0 132.8 11.4 7.2 171.3
Derby 5.6 12.2 125.4 5.3 5.7 154.2
Durham 0.7 7.0 59.6 3.2 2.4 72.8
East Anglia (UEA) 1.0 2.7 42.1 2.5 0.6 48.8
East London 3.9 7.0 38.3 1.5 7.9 58.5
Edge Hill 0.3 3.2 28.5 0.7 1.9 34.6
Essex 1.9 5.1 70.2 2.4 0.9 80.5
Gloucestershire 2.3 7.8 75.2 4.7 1.9 91.9
Goldsmiths, University of London 5.3 8.9 40.2 2.5 13.5 70.5
Greenwich 3.8 7.3 45.8 1.9 7.4 66.3
Harper Adams 0.3 3.0 22.5 0.1 0.2 26.0
Hartpury 3.2 10.0 98.7 4.1 2.6 118.6
Hertfordshire 1.7 4.2 38.9 2.9 2.0 49.8
Huddersfield 2.5 8.2 92.8 2.0 5.1 110.6
Hull 2.0 9.4 62.2 5.3 1.7 80.6
Imperial College London 4.6 9.4 32.2 4.3 14.8 65.3
Keele 0.9 4.2 40.2 1.6 0.7 47.6
Kent 1.8 4.6 54.2 2.4 1.6 64.6
King's College London 15.9 14.3 56.5 7.4 73.4 167.5
Kingston 2.5 6.4 29.1 5.4 7.2 50.6
Lancaster 0.8 6.2 36.3 2.1 1.3 46.8
Leeds 6.8 13.7 92.6 7.5 13.4 134.0
Leeds Arts University 7.4 15.2 99.8 7.4 15.5 145.4
Leeds Beckett 6.1 13.1 87.0 6.6 11.9 124.8
Leeds Trinity 1.0 6.1 37.1 1.2 1.2 46.5
Leicester 3.4 9.8 80.7 6.1 3.6 103.6
Lincoln 2.0 6.9 61.5 5.5 1.2 77.1
Liverpool 4.6 10.9 100.8 4.0 20.3 140.6
Liverpool Hope 2.6 7.9 67.0 2.3 8.7 88.5
Liverpool John Moores 7.5 14.0 153.3 6.0 33.3 214.2
London Metropolitan 5.1 7.8 37.6 2.8 11.1 64.4
London School of Economics 21.7 17.3 65.8 10.3 115.2 230.4
London South Bank 13.0 14.2 45.6 6.4 47.7 127.0
Loughborough 0.9 7.9 40.1 9.6 2.1 60.6
Middlesex 3.7 7.3 37.0 1.6 6.5 56.1
Newcastle 5.4 8.8 100.7 7.5 11.5 133.9
Newman 3.9 6.1 59.8 0.9 1.5 72.2
Northampton 4.8 10.8 111.5 5.2 3.7 136.2
Northumbria 5.7 9.8 101.1 7.3 11.1 134.9
Norwich University of the Arts 2.9 5.2 78.3 7.3 2.8 96.4
Nottingham 1.7 4.8 33.2 3.5 1.7 44.9
Nottingham Trent 3.9 6.7 67.2 3.2 5.8 86.9
Oxford 1.2 4.2 58.4 16.9 18.8 99.5
Oxford Brookes 0.7 4.6 31.0 5.7 1.8 43.7
Portsmouth 2.9 5.2 74.2 4.1 2.8 89.2
Queen Mary, University of London 6.7 10.4 45.4 6.4 17.4 86.3
Queen's, Belfast 3.0 8.6 87.1 5.5 2.7 107.0
Reading 1.4 6.0 45.9 6.4 3.0 62.7
Roehampton 1.7 6.5 31.1 1.4 2.2 42.8
Royal Agricultural University 0.2 4.3 30.2 1.1 0.4 36.2
Royal Holloway, University of London 0.5 2.1 30.0 1.7 0.6 34.8
Sheffield 2.1 8.0 42.9 2.4 4.7 60.1
Sheffield Hallam 3.8 10.7 66.9 3.5 6.9 91.9
SOAS, University of London 14.1 11.5 52.9 7.4 65.4 151.4
Solent 5.1 11.6 103.0 5.7 5.4 130.8
South Wales 1.4 7.2 59.0 5.8 2.9 76.3
Southampton 1.9 7.7 61.7 3.5 1.9 76.7
St George's, University of London 3.5 6.4 32.0 2.3 5.7 49.9
St Mary's, Twickenham 1.6 6.1 21.4 5.1 2.6 36.9
Staffordshire 3.4 13.3 83.1 4.9 2.4 107.0
Suffolk 1.6 4.7 57.5 3.0 1.9 68.7
Sunderland 3.9 10.9 82.2 2.8 6.0 105.8
Surrey 1.0 1.9 55.4 1.7 1.8 61.9
Sussex 1.3 4.1 39.1 2.9 1.6 49.0
Swansea 0.9 4.7 56.8 4.3 2.5 69.1
Teesside 9.1 14.9 145.2 5.5 6.0 180.8
Trinity Saint David 0.8 3.9 60.5 2.4 2.2 69.9
Ulster 2.0 6.6 70.7 3.8 1.5 84.6
University College London 14.0 12.1 52.5 7.1 67.2 153.0
University for the Creative Arts 1.4 3.5 49.8 2.9 2.4 60.0
University of the Arts, London 7.8 9.6 41.1 4.4 24.1 86.9
Warwick 2.9 7.1 51.8 3.5 2.8 68.1
West London 3.1 6.5 35.3 2.0 5.2 52.1
West of England, Bristol 3.8 7.8 56.1 5.4 2.6 75.7
Westminster 8.0 9.8 52.1 3.1 26.2 99.2
Winchester 0.3 4.0 39.8 1.6 0.7 46.3
Wolverhampton 11.2 13.1 134.5 5.5 7.3 171.6
Worcester 1.4 5.3 51.5 3.4 1.2 62.8
Wrexham Glyndwr 0.8 5.2 75.5 1.5 1.4 84.4
York 0.6 3.5 32.7 8.4 1.0 46.2
York St John 1.2 5.7 58.4 11.8 2.6 79.7

How we compile the crime table

Following professional advice, the data presented is of the crimes most relevant to students: robbery, burglary, violent and sexual crimes, bike theft or theft of items stolen from the person. The total is based on the combined rate of all five crimes occurring in the past 12 months.

The crime rates are taken from the areas where students live during term time. The official data for crime specifically against students isn’t available – these figures are based on all the victims in the vicinity, not just students.

This data aims to help students with their university decision process when their prospective universities can’t provide the relevant information. Check out our region and city guides to find out more about the location you are moving to, as well as our tips on keeping safe at uni.

Notes

  • These data are supplied by UKCrimeStats.com based on official police crime statistics
  • The figures in the table are the weighted average crime rates per thousand population for the postcode sectors where students at the HE Provider are living (only postcode sectors where students in rented or provider-maintained accommodation are included)
  • The crimes included are those most relevant to students
  • Comparable data are not available for Scotland
  • Bolton, Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Royal Northern School of Music, Salford, and Exeter, Falmouth, Plymouth Marjon, and Plymouth are omitted from the table due to issues with the data supplied by the relevant police forces.

Police glossary of terms

  • Burglary includes offences where a person enters a house or other building with the intention of stealing
  • Robbery includes offences where a person uses force or threat of force to steal; it includes crimes like mugging
  • Theft from the person includes stealth theft like pickpocketing; it could also include snatch theft such as quickly taking a bag off a shoulder where the victim is not hurt
  • Violent and sexual crime includes offences against a person such as common assault, grievous bodily harm (GBH) and sexual offences

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