The Lancashire institution picked up the coveted title at the ?held in London yesterday evening at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. The gala was attended by more than 1,000 staff from universities and colleges across the UK.

Judges were impressed with how Edge Hill had steadily built its reputation with strong performances and year-on-year improvement since it gained university status in 2006.?This was capped with an exceptional year in 2012-13, when it was one of only four universities in England to benefit from an increase in applications in the first year of higher fees.

John Gill, Times Higher Education editor, said: ¡°Edge Hill is a great success story, having quietly established itself as an institution that improves and impresses year after year.?Its achievements in student satisfaction and graduate employment were noted by our judges, as was its financial performance and the part it plays in transforming lives in the local region.¡±

Other winners at the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane included Mike Shattock, visiting professor of higher education management at the Institute of Education, University of London and former University of Warwick registrar, who won the Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award; and James Pickering, lecturer in anatomy at the University of Leeds, who was named Most Innovative Teacher of the Year.

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The University of Sheffield picked up three awards: one for Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers, another for Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year and a third for Outstanding International Student Strategy.

Anglia Ruskin University won Entrepreneurial University of the Year; the University of Nottingham won Research Project of the Year; and the University of Salford won for its Outstanding Contribution to Innovation and Technology. Salford¡¯s Business School also picked up the award for Business School of the Year.

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The award for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community went to the University of Manchester for the second year running; the University of Greenwich was named as organising the International Collaboration of the Year; and Norwich University of the Arts picked up the title for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts.

Other winners included Nottingham Trent University for Outstanding Support for Students, Plymouth University for Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative, and The Open University for Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year.

Cardiff Metropolitan University won the title for Most Improved Student Experience and the University of York won the Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development award.

The ceremony was conducted by the comedian Jack Dee.

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Download the THE Awards 2014 booklet profiling all of the winners

• The Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award
  Professor Mike Shattock
• Excellence and Innovation in the Arts
  Norwich University of the Arts
• Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community
  University of Manchester
• Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers
  University of Sheffield
• Research Project of the Year
  University of Nottingham
• Outstanding Contribution to Innovation and Technology
  University of Salford
• Most Improved Student Experience
  Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Outstanding Support for Students
  Nottingham Trent University
• Outstanding International Student Strategy
  University of Sheffield
• Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative
  Plymouth University
• Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year
  The Open University
• Business School of the Year
  Salford Business School, University of Salford
• Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year
  University of Sheffield
• Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development
  University of York
• International Collaboration of the Year
  University of Greenwich
• Most Innovative Teacher of the Year
  James Pickering, University of Leeds
• Entrepreneurial University of the Year
  Anglia Ruskin University
• University of the Year
  Edge Hill University

The following institutions were also highly commended by our judges:

• University of Glasgow
  Outstanding Contribution to Innovation and Technology
• Kingston University
  Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year
• University of Stirling
  Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development
• St George¡¯s, University of London
  International Collaboration of the Year