Edge Hill is a leading campus university with a strong focus on employability, delivering an outstanding student experience. When Edge Hill was awarded University of the Year title for 2014/15, Times Higher Education described it as "a great success story ... an institution that improves and impresses year after year". The award recognised its outstanding achievements in student satisfaction, staff engagement, graduate employment and innovation as well as its strengthening research profile, investment and growth. It also celebrated Edge Hill University's distinct role in "transforming lives" – reflecting a distinctive philosophy of creating opportunity from excellence.

Edge Hill University will provide an intellectually stimulating, creative and inclusive environment for its community. Teaching and learning of the highest standard, supported by pure and applied research of international significance, will provide a firm foundation for its graduates, and other stakeholders in a rapidly changing world. An international perspective, knowledge and understanding, and a life-long capacity to learn and adapt, is the surest way of securing an individual's and the nation's future.