October 2023, Anglia Ruskin University became the first university in the United Kingdom to sign UNISON's Anti-Racism Charter.
In 2024, Writtle University College merged with Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), becoming ARU Writtle.
In 2025, ARU became the host institution for the Arc Universities Group, which aims to deliver "innovation, sustainability and inclusive growth across the Oxford-Cambridge corridor".
Former students include the Victorian poet Augusta Webster, who signed John Stuart Mill's petition for women's suffrage in 1866. Past lecturers include Odile Crick, the wife of Francis Crick, who created the iconic image of DNA. The musician Syd Barrett, songwriter and lead guitarist of the band Pink Floyd, is also an alumnus. Author Tom Sharpe served as a lecturer in history at CCAT from 1963 to 1972, and Anne Campbell, the Labour MP for Cambridge from 1992 to 2005, was previously a lecturer in statistics at CCAT.
Lord Michael Ashcroft is an alumnus of ARU and he served as the Chancellor of the university for 20 years. The business school buildings in Cambridge and Chelmsford are named after him.
=== Controversies ===
In a BBC News article from 3 June 2014, it was reported that Anglia Ruskin University received more complaints and appeals from its students than any of the other 120 universities that responded to freedom of information requests. In the 2012/13 academic year, the university received 992 "complaints and appeals." In response, Lesley Dobree, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), stated that only 9 of the 992 recorded complaints were actual complaints; the others were protests regarding examination and assignment marking.
==== Pok Wong ====
In 2019, Hongkonger Pok Wong, a 2014 graduate of Anglia Ruskin University, received a £61,000 out-of-court settlement from the university after suing for false advertising, alleging a low quality of teaching. The university has maintained that the payout does not indicate fault on its part. In 2018, the London County Court ruled in favor of the university and …
