This university is like a plant nurtured after proper pruning. It is a new university, but it has long roots in history. The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. Its roots go back to the Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, founded in 1822, and the teacher training academy founded by Charlotte Mason in the 1890s. It opened in 2007 as a university. The University of Cumbria was formed from the merger of St Martin's College, Lancaster, the Cumbria Academy of Art (formerly Cumbria College of Art & Design), and the Cumbria campuses of the University of Central Lancashire on August 1, 2007.

In 2012, they established the Innovation Institute for Leadership and Sustainability on the Ambleside campus. Major redevelopment work on the Ambleside campus began the following year, and in 2014, the Lake District campus officially became the home of the National Forestry School, Wildlife Conservation Centre, and off-campus courses. More students study outdoors than anywhere else. higher education institutions in Europe.

It is committed to providing an inclusive environment where staff, students, and visitors are encouraged to be themselves to enhance the individual and collective experience. As a university community, we share a social responsibility to foster this inclusive environment by appreciating, respecting, and celebrating differences to ensure that we create a sense of understanding and familiarity.

The university based its decision on the findings of a report by Sir Martin Harris. The plan calls for a university based on a "distributed learning network", so that education will take place both on the main campus of the university and at the county's higher colleges. This has solved a problem for remote areas that previously did not have direct access to higher education. Life and study at the University of Cumbria revolve around possibility," a world of possibility where the impossible becomes possible.

The current Vice Chancellor is Julie Mennell, former Vice Chancellor (Development) of the University of Sunderland. Most of the University of Cumbria campuses have sports teams representing them in UK university and college sports leagues. Teams include: Cricket, Netball, Soccer, Hockey, Rugby League, badminton, and Billiards.