The University of the Year award, which honours outstanding university achievement, was one of Thursday's accolades, which are known as the Oscars of the UK university sector.

In acknowledgement of its position as an anchor institution in an area that has experienced fast transformation in the 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, Ulster University received first place and was praised by judges as a "force for good in fostering peace, prosperity, and cohesion."

London Metropolitan University, the University of Stirling, the University of Leicester, the University of Sunderland, and the University of Surrey faced Ulster University.

The prize celebrated the opening of Ulster University's £364 million Belfast campus, which established a crucial link with a traditionally underprivileged population and was supported by a school program aimed at increasing the number of young men in the city who pursue higher education.