We’re 60! We know, we don’t look a day over 59, but the evidence is hard to argue with. To celebrate our big birthday, we’re revisiting every decade since our founding in 1966.

Words by Amy Jones

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A university is born

What’s that on top of the hill?
The University of Bath almost never happened. It took a chance conversation during a school play interval in 1963 for everything to change. Bristol College of Science and Technology principal, Dr George Moore, mentioned his struggle in finding an expansion premises to the city of Bath’s Director of Education, Mr H Brand, who knew just the place: Claverton Down.

From that moment, things moved quickly. By 1966, the Royal Charter was granted, establishing Bath University of Technology.

First students arrive...
1,145
^{undergraduates}
115
^{postgraduates}
470
^{members of staff,
many transferring
from Bristol.}

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What's in a name?

Ten years in, Bath had outgrown its own name. A broadening of subjects and specialities meant that Bath University of Technology no longer cut it, so the Charter was amended, and the University of Bath was officially born.

It was a decade of firsts, with buildings popping up quicker than you can say Claverton Down. Student residences opened in 1970, the Chaplaincy Centre in 1972 and URB went on air in 1973, and our beloved ducks had settled into their new lakeside abode.

Perhaps the most significant first came in sport. Bath became the first university in the country to award sports scholarships, with the first given to British Canoe Slalom champion Martyn Hedges.

By 1976,
^{Bath was home to}
2,891
^{undergraduates}
451
^{postgraduates}

¹⁹⁸⁶
Thespians unite

‘Mother of drama’ Pat Bishop was awarded an Honorary MA for her work as Director of Drama and the Arts. Never missing her cue, the late Dame Maggie Smith graced Bath with her presence to collect her Honorary DLitt.

In 1986, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences secured a £1 million donation from the EEC Commission – at the time, one of the largest research grants ever awarded to a British university, equivalent to more than £3 million today.

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A milestone for night owls

In 1995, Bath hosted the European Youth Olympic Days, bringing the best young athletes in Europe to campus, with Roger Bannister opening a gleaming new athletics track.

The ’90s gave birth to Team Bath as we know it – the blue and gold branding that would come to define sports at Bath.

For students burning the midnight oil, life got a little easier too – with the library becoming the first in the UK to go 24/7 following a transformation of the building in 1995.

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Top ten at forty

In 2005, Bath was rated by the Sunday Times as one of the UK’s top ten universities. Quite the accolade for a medium-sized institution like ours.

In 2006, alumnus Dr Raymond Schinazi (BSc Chemistry 1972; PhD Chemistry 1976) was awarded a well-deserved honorary DSc. His research is estimated to have saved over three million lives, with around 94% of HIV patients taking one of his drugs.

It was a cracking year for sport too. 2006 was the year Team Bath Netball won the inaugural Super League title – they’d later go on to become the competition’s most successful franchise.

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Fifty and thriving

Bath turned 50 and celebrated in style. The extensive celebrations included a service at Bath Abbey attended by Chancellor HRH Prince Edward and a huge community festival on campus, complete with a skydive display by the Red Devils.

Not bad for a university that almost
never happened.

Who says you can’t try new things at 50? The One Young World partnership was launched in 2016, sending student leaders out into the world to tackle pressing challenges.

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The best is yet to come

What does a university in Bath have to do with unlocking the secrets of the universe? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In 2026, Bath joined CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid experiment in the hunt for exotic particles and dark matter.

Named Sports University of the Year 2026, Bath’s reputation for excellence has never been stronger.

What do you think the next
60 years at Bath will look like?