The University of East London (UEL) is a university based in the east end of London, England. According to the Sunday Times, UEL is the "embodiment of the modern university". UEL's strong commitment to widening access and regional development, in an area of England with a traditionally very low uptake of higher education, allied to multi-million pound investment in campuses and facilities, has seen a rapid growth in student numbers (from 12,000 to 20,000 in the last eight years).