2021, published on 12 May 2022, it was confirmed that Royal Holloway sits within the top 25 per cent of UK universities for "world-leading" and "internationally excellent" research. In the REF assessment, 88 per cent of Royal Holloway's research is rated as world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*), which is an increase of 8.6 per cent from REF 2014, which is the last time an exercise on this scale was conducted. In addition, 42 per cent of Royal Holloway's research is rated as world-leading (4*), which is an increase of 40 per cent on 2014 when 30 per cent of Royal Holloway's research was ranked in this category. In particular, Royal Holloway's 4* research output has increased to 43% in 2021, up from 27% in 2014.
In 1998, Royal Holloway's Information Security Group (ISG) was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of its work in information security. The ISG introduced a MSc in Information Security in 1992, making Royal Holloway the first university to offer a postgraduate course on this subject. Currently the ISG hosts one of only two UK Centres for Doctoral Training in cyber security.
On 14 March 2014, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were welcomed to Royal Holloway when they attended a ceremony to celebrate the Regius Professorship being bestowed on the Department of Music: the first of its kind. The Music Department was awarded the Regius Professorship by the Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee. The prestigious award acknowledges the university's exceptionally high standards of music teaching and research.
The current research policy chief of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, David Sweeney and his predecessor Rama Thirunamachandran were both sourced directly from Royal Holloway.
=== Admissions ===
New students entering the university in 2020 had an average of 128 points (the equivalent of ABB at A Level). According to the 2023 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, approximately 10% of Royal Holloway's undergraduates come from independent …
