It received its Royal Charter in 1948, but its predecessor institution, University College Nottingham, was founded in 1881. With campuses in China and Malaysia, the Times regards Nottingham as Britain's "only truly global university".[9]
With more than 49,000 applications for 5,500 places in 2012, Nottingham is the most popular university in the UK.[10] It is widely regarded as a "prime alternati
ve to Oxbridge".[11] It consistently ranks among the top ten in the UK in the most important world and national rankings and is known for its Law, Economics, Pharmacy, and Medicine courses, of which entry are among the most competitive in the UK. Offers for majority of courses range between A*AA and AAB at A-Level, with the average new student in 2011 obtaining close to 440 UCAS points (equivalent to A*AAa at A-level). In the past decade Nottingham produced two Nobel laureates, in the fields of Medicine and Economics. Lawrence, current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and CEO of pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty. Nottingham is placed in the international top 15 for the number of alumni listed among CEOs in 500 of the world's largest companies.[12]
In 2011, Nottingham was ranked by the University of Indonesia's Green Metric rankings as the most environmentally sustainable campus in the world;[13] the university came second in the 2010 rankings.[14]
Nottingham is a member of the Russell Group, Universitas 21, the Sutton Trust, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association and Universities UK.