TEACHING
QUALITY
Buckinghamshire New University
116
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
53.3%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
82.9%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
119th=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
114th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
112th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, HP11 2JZ View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
October 11; November 19; December 11; February 18, 2015; April 25; June 17
University Profile
It is hard to explain the disconnect between Buckinghamshire New University’s consistently underwhelming performance in the annual National Student Survey (NSS) and its outstanding “Big Deal” package of student support.
Since the advent of £9,000 a year tuition fees, Bucks New has arguably paid more attention to the student experience than any other institution, an approach encapsulated in the Big Deal programme (first introduced before fees went up), which entitles students to free entertainment, recreational activities, events and sport. Last year, the scheme provided 2,000 free sessions in sports, events and recreational activities.
It is being extended in September 2014 through the ‘Big Deal on Course’ to coveressential textbooks, equipment and materials, photocopying credits, and a contribution to the cost of field trips, up to a value of £1,000 over three years. There will also be means-tested bursaries to cover essential field trip costs above the standard package, a fund to assist with travel costs to attend job interviews, work placements and internships, and the university will even pay for gown hire at graduation ceremonies.
The new offers should help to improve student satisfaction ratings
Bucks New now has some 9,000 students, three-quarters of them taking degree courses. More than a quarter of the undergraduates are over 25 years old and nearly 60% are female. Applications grew in line with the national average in 2013, but there was a small drop in enrolments.
The university had resisted charging the full £9,000 undergraduate fee until 2014. It has continued to do well against the Government’s benchmarks for widening participation in higher education: almost all the entrants are from state schools or colleges, and more than 40 per cent are from working-class homes.
The projected dropout rate for those who entered in 2011 was significantly lower, at less than 12%, than the national average for its subjects and entry qualifications.
Based in High Wycombe, the university has been carrying out a £200m redevelopment plan which allows most students to be based at the main campus. The exceptions are those taking nursing, who have moved into a new building in Uxbridge, on the northwest edge of London.
The prize-winning Gateway Building at High Wycombe has transformed the town centre campus with improved teaching, social and administrative space. The complex includes a new sports hall, gym, treatment rooms and sports laboratory, which are available to the public as well as to students.
At the same time, collaboration with two of the world’s biggest IT companies is resulting in one of the most advanced student networks in UK higher education. Further improvements, which should be complete this September, will include new student accommodation, changes to the exterior of the main building and additional space for the students’ union. Two new accommodation blocks at the student village in High Wycombe will add 108 bedrooms.
There will also be new laboratories and teaching rooms on the Uxbridge campus. In addition to the building projects, the university is planning further improvements to its online learning and IT capabilities.
Sport is an important part of life at the new university, which partners the London Wasps rugby union team in a relationship which trades coaching for Bucks students for courses for Wasps players. But the university’s main aim is to contribute to the social and economic life of the region, embracing workplace learning and close ties with local businesses.
Employees of the bed company Dreams, which is based in High Wycombe, take a Foundation degree in retail management while at work, for example. The National School of Furniture works with local employers and further education colleges, offering qualifications from certificate level to PhD. Bucks has also won awards for its training of commercial pilots and courses for music industry management.
Other foundation degrees include animation and visual effects, protective security management, and sports coaching and performance, all run at partner colleges. Among the new courses introduced in 2014 was a degree in Event and Festival Sustainability Management, and a Foundation degree in kitchen design.
The nursing provision is the largest in the London area and has growing links with the Imperial College London Healthcare Trust, including a joint appointment designed to promote innovation. The child nursing courses attract particularly good ratings. Only 26 staff were entered for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise – half of them in art and design, which registered the only world-leading research.
However, an official audit of academic standards was positive.
The university’s overall low ranking in our league table is explained not just by the poor scores in the NSS and the 2008 research ratings, but also a low ranking for graduate prospects, entry standards and staffing levels. Only the spend on services and facilities puts the university among the top half of those we surveyed.
Since the advent of £9,000 a year tuition fees, Bucks New has arguably paid more attention to the student experience than any other institution, an approach encapsulated in the Big Deal programme (first introduced before fees went up), which entitles students to free entertainment, recreational activities, events and sport. Last year, the scheme provided 2,000 free sessions in sports, events and recreational activities.
It is being extended in September 2014 through the ‘Big Deal on Course’ to coveressential textbooks, equipment and materials, photocopying credits, and a contribution to the cost of field trips, up to a value of £1,000 over three years. There will also be means-tested bursaries to cover essential field trip costs above the standard package, a fund to assist with travel costs to attend job interviews, work placements and internships, and the university will even pay for gown hire at graduation ceremonies.
The new offers should help to improve student satisfaction ratings
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that are in the bottom five for all universities and have helped hold the university back in our league table. The university’s own annual survey, carried out by independent academics, has been more positive, as have online reviews of its courses and lecturers, but scores in the NSS have remained stubbornly low.Bucks New now has some 9,000 students, three-quarters of them taking degree courses. More than a quarter of the undergraduates are over 25 years old and nearly 60% are female. Applications grew in line with the national average in 2013, but there was a small drop in enrolments.
The university had resisted charging the full £9,000 undergraduate fee until 2014. It has continued to do well against the Government’s benchmarks for widening participation in higher education: almost all the entrants are from state schools or colleges, and more than 40 per cent are from working-class homes.
Based in High Wycombe, the university has been carrying out a £200m redevelopment plan which allows most students to be based at the main campus. The exceptions are those taking nursing, who have moved into a new building in Uxbridge, on the northwest edge of London.
The prize-winning Gateway Building at High Wycombe has transformed the town centre campus with improved teaching, social and administrative space. The complex includes a new sports hall, gym, treatment rooms and sports laboratory, which are available to the public as well as to students.
At the same time, collaboration with two of the world’s biggest IT companies is resulting in one of the most advanced student networks in UK higher education. Further improvements, which should be complete this September, will include new student accommodation, changes to the exterior of the main building and additional space for the students’ union. Two new accommodation blocks at the student village in High Wycombe will add 108 bedrooms.
There will also be new laboratories and teaching rooms on the Uxbridge campus. In addition to the building projects, the university is planning further improvements to its online learning and IT capabilities.
Sport is an important part of life at the new university, which partners the London Wasps rugby union team in a relationship which trades coaching for Bucks students for courses for Wasps players. But the university’s main aim is to contribute to the social and economic life of the region, embracing workplace learning and close ties with local businesses.
Employees of the bed company Dreams, which is based in High Wycombe, take a Foundation degree in retail management while at work, for example. The National School of Furniture works with local employers and further education colleges, offering qualifications from certificate level to PhD. Bucks has also won awards for its training of commercial pilots and courses for music industry management.
Other foundation degrees include animation and visual effects, protective security management, and sports coaching and performance, all run at partner colleges. Among the new courses introduced in 2014 was a degree in Event and Festival Sustainability Management, and a Foundation degree in kitchen design.
The nursing provision is the largest in the London area and has growing links with the Imperial College London Healthcare Trust, including a joint appointment designed to promote innovation. The child nursing courses attract particularly good ratings. Only 26 staff were entered for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise – half of them in art and design, which registered the only world-leading research.
However, an official audit of academic standards was positive.
The university’s overall low ranking in our league table is explained not just by the poor scores in the NSS and the 2008 research ratings, but also a low ranking for graduate prospects, entry standards and staffing levels. Only the spend on services and facilities puts the university among the top half of those we surveyed.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
116 (113)
Student experience
76.4
119th=
Research quality
0.7
114th=
Ucas entry points
250
120th
Graduate prospects
53.7
112th
Firsts and 2:1s
53.3
113th
Completion rate
82.9
83rd=
Student-staff ratio
22.2:1
115th
Services/facilities spend (£)
2,051
26th
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
5,560
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
2,640
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
290
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
720
Applications/places
10,245/2,315
Applications/places ratio
4.4:1
STUDENT CITIES
Matt Gilbert, students’ union president
Unpack as fast as you can so you can meet your flatmates and collectively find out what’s going on.
We haven’t many open green spaces, but having a small campus means you’ll get to know everyone quickly.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
FEES
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
Support package to be announced. It will include support for social and academic engagement for all students and targeted support for priority groups.
>
‘Big Deal' package which encourages participation in a range of sporting, recreational and social activities.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
224, 83rd
Sport website
Student satisfaction
85.5%
83.7%
80.3%
78.7%
78.2%
75.9%
75.7%
75.5%
74.0%
72.7%
69.8%