University News


Nation’s Highest Education Honour


Lancaster University has collected its Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education from their Majesties the King and Queen at a special ceremony held at St James’s Palace, in London.


The nation’s highest education honour has been awarded to Lancaster for pioneering work that is helping to drive a global transformation in digital literacy.


Computing researchers at Lancaster played a key role in the creation and development of the BBC micro:bit, a pocket-sized programmable computer.


Through the efforts of many partners, led by the not-for-profit organisation the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, micro:bit has helped 70 million children in 85 countries – around 2% of all children on the planet – to become coders and technology creators.


Lancaster University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Rebecca Lingwood, Pro-Chancellor the Rt Hon Alistair Burt, and Professor Joe Finney collected the award on behalf of the University at the ceremony.


2025 Honorary Graduates and Alumni Awards


Honorary degrees were awarded to the following in 2025:


Professor Susan Gathercole OBE – Cognitive Psychologist, Fellow of the British Academy.


Professor Graham Hitch – Former Chair at Lancaster University in Psychology.


Muyiwa Oki – Former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).


Pauline Neville-Jones DCMG – Conservative member of the House of Lords.


Net Zero On The Horizon


Professor Dato’ Elizabeth Lee – Group CEO of Sunway Education.


Sir Hamid Patel CBE – Chief Executive of Star Academies.


Alumni Awards were presented to the following in 2025:


Geoff Barton CBE (English, 1984, Pendle) – Former General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.


Philip Long OBE (Visual Arts, 1987, Pendle) – Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland.


Jacqueline Bowen (Theatre Studies & English, 2007, Grizedale) – Inspirational teacher.


The University has taken a giant leap towards net zero, regularly generating 100% of its own electricity for the first time this spring through a new solar farm.


Designed to include an agrivoltaics field demonstrator – a facility to inform how farming and electricity production might be designed to work alongside one another – the solar farm is just one part of a major campus-wide drive to cut carbon emissions and invest in renewable energy sources.


The University has already slashed its energy related carbon emissions from a peak of 25,900 tonnes CO2e in 2005 to 10,900 tonnes CO2e in 2025.


16 | STEPS 2026


And together, the University’s wind turbine, new solar farm, and heat pump array and expanded district heat network (under construction) are expected to reduce University related energy emissions to net zero by 2030.


As well as implementing research- informed energy saving measures, the University has radically transformed the way it is powered and heated thanks to a series of carbon-slashing investments.


According to figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, Lancaster University is one of the highest producers of renewable energy of all UK universities.


Pro-Chancellor, the Rt Hon Alistair Burt with Prof Susan Gathercole


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