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| Motto: | Latin: Generatim discite cultus |
| Motto in English: | "Learn each field of study according to its kind" |
| Established: | 1966 |
| Type: | Public |
| Endowment: | £2.7m[1] |
| Chancellor: | Lord Tugendhat |
| Vice-Chancellor: | Professor Glynis Breakwell |
| Students: | 14,255[2] |
| Undergraduates: | 9,030[2] |
| Postgraduates: | 5,225[2] |
| Location: | Bath, England, UK |
| Campus: | Rural/Suburban |
| Affiliations: | 1994 Group |
| Website: | http://www.bath.ac.uk/ |
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The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, England. It received its Royal Charter in 1966. The University has established a strong reputation in teaching and research, being consistently placed as one of the top elite universities in national university league tables. With 23 out of its 26 subjects being ranked within top 10 in the UK, Bath is placed the 6th in the table of Who's in Top Ten of Their Subjects from the Complete University Guide published by The Independent in April 2008.[3] In addition according to the Sunday Times University Guide, published in September 2008, Bath is ranked the 10th nationally.[4] Furthermore, in the latest Research Assessment Exercise released in December 2008, two thirds of Bath's individual subject submissions are ranked in the top ten nationally, including over a third in the top five.[5]
History
Despite being granted university status only forty years ago, the University of Bath can trace its roots to a technical school established in Bristol 100 years earlier, the Bristol Trade School of 1856. In 1885 the school became part of the Society of Merchant Venturers and was renamed the Merchant Venturers' Technical College, an institution founded as a school in 1595. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring city of Bath, a pharmaceutical school, the Bath School of Pharmacy, was founded in 1907. This became part of the Technical College in 1929.
In 1949, the college came under the control of the Bristol Education Authority and was renamed the Bristol College of Technology, which was subsequently changed again, in 1960, to the Bristol College of Science and Technology when it became one of ten technical colleges under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education. The college was mainly housed in the former Muller's Orphanage at Ashley Down, Bristol, which now houses part of the City of Bristol College.
In 1963, the government completed an inquiry into the state of higher education in the United Kingdom. This was known as the Robbins Committee report. It was this report that paved the way for the college (along with a number of other institutions) to assume university status.
Although the grounds of Kingsweston House were briefly considered, the City of Bristol was unable to offer the growing college a suitable site. Following discussions between the College Principal and the Director of Education in Bath, an agreement was reached to provide the college with a new home in Claverton Down, Bath, on a greenfield site overlooking the city of Bath.
Construction of a purpose-built campus in Bath began in 1964, with the first building, now known as 1 South, completed in 1965, and the Royal Charter was granted in 1966. Over the subsequent decade, new buildings were added as the campus took shape. A campus in Oakfield, Swindon, was opened in 2000.
In November 1966, the first degree ceremony was held at the Assembly Rooms in Bath.
Discoveries from city records reveal that there were plans in the 19th Century to build a college of the University of Oxford on the very same site, which would have resulted in a university of a very different character. Such plans, however, did not come to fruition.
Campus and facilities
The university's main campus is located on Claverton Down, two kilometres from Bath. The campus is compact; it is possible to walk from one end to the other in fifteen minutes.
Architectural plans of the university show that the design involved the separation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, with road traffic on the ground floors and pedestrians on a raised central thoroughfare, known as the Parade. Buildings would line the parade and student residences built on tower blocks rise from the central thoroughfare.
Such plans were mostly adhered to. At the centre of the campus is the Library and Learning Centre, a 24/7 facility offering computing services, information and research assistance as well as books and journals. A number of outlets, including restaurants, bars and fast-food outlets, plus three banks, a union shop, a small supermarket and an oriental supermarket, as well as academic blocks, are housed around the parade. Buildings are named based on their location relative to the library - 1 East, 2 East and so forth based on their distance from the library with the same applying to the south and west. Odd-numbered buildings are on the same side of the parade as the library, and even-numbered buildings are on the opposite side.
Buildings along the east-west axis are mostly directly accessible from the parade, which is generally considered to be "level two", but later additions, such as 7 West, 9 West, 3 West North and 8 East, follow this rule less strictly. 7 West is generally only accessible via 5 West or 9 West, and 3 West North, 9 West and 8 East have entrances at ground level at varying distances from the main parade. Buildings on the south of the campus, 1 South to 4 South, are accessible via roads and pedestrian walkways by the university lake and gardens.
Buildings, like many so-called plate glass universities, were constructed in a functional, modernistic style using concrete, although such designs were later derided for lacking the charm of the Victorian red-brick universities or the ancient and medieval ones. In Bath, there is a particular contrast between the concrete campus and the Georgian style architecture of the World Heritage City of Bath.
The eastern part of the campus is dominated by the Sports Training Village, built in 1992 and enhanced in 2003 with an extension.
The northern perimeter of the university is bounded by student residences including Westwood, Eastwood and Solsbury and Marlborough courts. The original plan for students to be housed in tower blocks above the parade continues with Norwood House. However, the second tower block, Wessex House, now hosts a number of offices rather than residences.
The university also owns buildings in the City of Bath, mostly student residences dotted around town, although Carpenter House is also home to a life-long learning centre and a business facility (the Innovation Centre).
Today, major campus works continues, notably the completion of 3 West North in 2005, the reconstruction of 4 West, and the construction of student residences at the north-eastern perimeter.
In 2008, the grounds received recognition for their outstanding beauty with an award from Bath in Bloom.[6]
Oakfield campus
The university's Oakfield campus, based in Swindon, closed in July 2008.
Academics and courses
The university's major academic strengths have been the physical sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology. Today, the university is also strong in management, humanities and the social sciences. Courses place a strong emphasis on vocational education; the university recommends students to take a one-year industry placement in the penultimate year of the course, although it there is no formal recognition of these placements on students' final degree certificates. Tuition fees are charged during these periods at half rate.
According to the latest government assessments, Bath has 15 subjects rated "excellent" (the highest on the scale). These are: Pharmacy & Pharmacology; Business & Management (AMBA accredited); Architecture & Civil Engineering; Economics; Computer Science; Electronic & Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering (IMechE accredited); Mathematics, Statistics and Operational research; Education; Molecular Biosciences; Biosciences; Physics and Astronomy; Politics; Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation, Sport and Tourism; Social Policy and Administration.[7]
According to the Complete University Guide published by The Independent, Bath has 23 out of 26 subjects being placed within top 10 in the UK. In addition, Bath's biosciences, physics, mathematics and statistics all achieve maximum points (24/24) in the latest Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).[8]
Rankings
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times Good University Guide | 15th[9] | 11th[10] | 9th[11] | 13th | 11th=[12] | 5th | 4th[13][14] | 9th | 10th= | 10th= | 15th | 15th | 14th | 12th= | 13th= | 16th= | 10th |
| Guardian University Guide | 13th[15] | 10th[15] | 9th | 9th[16] | 13th[17] | 18th[18] | 26th[19] | 13th[13] | |||||||||
| Sunday Times University Guide | 10th[20] | 10th[21] | 10th[22] | 10th | 16th[21] | 12th[21] | 10th[21] | 13th[21] | 9th[21]= | 15th[21] | 20th[21] | ||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 9th[23] | 18th= | 18th[13] | ||||||||||||||
| FT | 12th[24] | 11th[13] | 7th[25] | 8th[26] | 8th[27] | ||||||||||||
| Independent / Complete | 14th[28] | 19th[28] |
Admissions and students
Admissions generally require top grades at A-Level with seven applications for each place,[29] the number of applications rising by 16 per cent in 2007.[30]
The university has grown rapidly, particularly in the last few years. As of December 2006, 11,965 students were studying at the university; of whom 8,985 (75%) were undergraduates (full-time and part-time) and 2,980 (25%) were postgraduates.
Over 25% of students are international students (those with non-British domicile), reflecting the university's strong international reputation, with the largest number coming from China (including Hong Kong), Germany and Greece.[31]
Housing and transport
[edit] Housing
Most students in the first year live in one of the 3,000 self-catered single study bedrooms located on and off campus. In subsequent years, students generally live in town in privately owned shared student houses, although a number may be offered excess rooms off-campus. Postgraduate students have the opportunity to choose between postgraduate campus residences and off-campus residences.
There are 4 senior resident tutors and 33 resident tutors spread amongst the campus and off-campus residences. Resident tutors are usually PhD students who live with students to ensure the provision and maintenance of welfare, health and safety, social activities and good order for students living in University residential accommodation. In addition Carpenter House and Thornbank Gardens are the most popular off-campus residences to live in for exchange students that come to the university.
Transport
"Bright Orange" buses operated by First Somerset & Avon run between Bath and the campus, running at a 20 minute interval during off-peak hours and every 6 minutes during peak times. There is also an hourly circular service to the suburbs of Bath. Articulated (bendy) Wright Eclipse Fusion buses are used, for their maximum standing capacity.
[edit] Sports and recreation
Sports and TeamBath
The University sports operation is branded TeamBath. The University is host to Team Bath F.C. as well as some of the UK's top Olympic athletes. It has one of the best sports facilities in a United Kingdom University,[34] spread over three main sites: two on the Claverton Down campus, known as the Founder's Hall and Sports Training Village (which also hosts the English Institute of Sport for South West England); and also at the Sulis Club, a short distance away.
Facilities at the university include a fitness suite, four squash courts, 25- and 50-metre indoor swimming pools, indoor (110m) and outdoor (400m) athletics tracks, multi-purpose sport halls (including basketball, netball and badminton courts), an eight-court indoor tennis hall, a judo/karate/jitsu dojo and centres for sports science and sports medicine.[35] Outdoor synthetic and natural pitches and grounds cater for football, rugby union, field hockey and lacrosse, while the Sulis Club hosts the university's American football team, the Bath Killer Bees.
There are also semi-competitive, recreational sporting events. The largest of these is the Interdepartmental Football Cup (IDFC).
Societies
The university has a Students' Union with over 100 clubs and societies including sports clubs, cultural, arts, interest and faith societies:
- Bath Rag collects money for local and national charities by running events to bring the town and student communities closer.
- The Arts Union performs plays and other shows to audiences both on campus and in the town, with support provided by Backstage Technical Services.[36]
- The Students' Union faith groups include Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Jewish, etc.
- Bath University Guides and Scouts (BUGS) is the university's SSAGO unit. It provides outdoor activities for students and also helps with Scouting and Guiding in the community.
Student media
The university is home to three student media outlets: a bi-weekly student newspaper, Student Impact; a radio station, 1449AM URB; and a television station, Campus TV.
Bath Impact newspaper features news, sport, entertainment, comment and features relevant to Bath Students and all contributions are written and edited by students of the university.
1449AM URB has been in operation since 1973 serving students at the university with music, news & campus information. It broadcasts 24 hours a day on campus on 1449AM and online at URB Online.[37]
Campus Television provides information and entertainment.
Alongside broadcast output, CTV also supply services to students themselves. CTV can provide filming of plays, musicals, concerts and other events, as well as video conversion facilities and a video to still service.
Expansion
- Claverton Down
- The university continually upgrades its Claverton Down campus with new teaching blocks. A proposal to move the boundary of the greenbelt from where it crosses the campus to its edge, to facilitate further development, was agreed in October 2007 by the local council following a public inquiry.
- In July 2005, building 3 West North (officially opened on 27 October) was completed.
- The deconstruction of the asbestos-contaminated 4 West was completed in mid-2005 and the new 4 West building is being constructed.
- The ICIA Arts Complex is planning to expand by adding a new building adjacent to the theatre. It is hoped to start work in 2008.
- Due to be completed by summer 2008 is the new R5 building, to be known as Woodland Court. This student accommodation is expected to house 355 students.[38] The design has been awarded an excellent rating for environmental performance by BREEAM.[39]
- Swindon
- Under the Gateway Project, the university had planned to build a major new campus next to the Great Western Hospital and the Coate Water nature reserve. The project had met opposition from environmentalists and locals[40] but had met with Government approval.[41] The University withdrew from the project in March 2007 citing "prevailing planning and funding conditions".[42]
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