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Coventry University

NATIONAL
RANK

66.1%

FIRSTS
2:1s

87.6%

COMPLETION
RATE

Key Stats

n/a

TEACHING
QUALITY

1st

STUDENT
EXPERIENCE

92nd=

RESEARCH
QUALITY

43rd

GRADUATE
PROSPECTS

Contact details

ADDRESS

Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB View on map >

Telephone

024 7615 2222

studentenquiries@coventry.ac.uk

Website

www.coventry.ac.uk

Open days

October 4 and 25; November 8. September 23; October 25; November 29 (University College)

University Profile

Our Modern University of the Year for the second year running, Coventry has achieved the highest ever ranking for an institution created in 1992 or later, rising three places to 42 in our league table.

It has also topped our analysis of the National Student survey, winning University of the Year for Student Experience and gaining a second successive shortlisting for overall University of the Year. Last year’s ranking and achievements in this guide looked hard to surpass – but Coventry has achieved it.

Coventry has been more innovative than many other universities since it became clear that higher fees would usher in much greater competition between universities. It was among the first provincial universities to offer courses in London and then took its rivals by surprise by opening its own university college in 2012.

Its courses lead to Coventry degrees or diplomas, but fees in 2015 will be less than £7,000 a year because most campus facilities are not available. Fees on the main campus will range from £8,331 to £9,000 for specialist subjects such as automotive engineering.

The

university traces its origins back to 1843 and it is in the throes of a £150m scheme to rejuvenate its 33-acre campus close to the city centre. Much of the 10-year programme involves student facilities such as the showcase turreted library, which cost £20m. The latest development, the £55m engineering and computing building, includes a dedicated ethical hacking lab, an ex-RAF Harrier Jump Jet and a wind-tunnel built by the Mercedes F1 team, all of which are used by undergraduates.
The Hub contains the students’ union, a music venue, plenty of informal study space, shops and restaurants. Other facilities have already been added, including more residential accommodation, an arts centre and a sports centre.

The next addition will be a new Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, developed in collaboration with Unipart. New undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in manufacturing engineering have been designed to provide students with an academic learning environment blended with access to real industry projects.
Coventry has adopted an innovative approach to computer-assisted learning, supported by an expanded computer network. The university was chosen to house national centres of excellence in teaching for e-learning in health and social care, as well as in maths, and transport and product design.
A strong showing in our graduate prospects indicator is no coincidence. There is a focus on employment, which is reflected in a predominantly vocational curriculum. The Add+vantage scheme is designed to help full-time undergraduate students improve their employability while studying. Its modules cover a wide range of skills and help students gain work-related knowledge and prepare for a career.

Student City

Jo Ah Yow, students’ union officer

The Institute for Applied Entrepreneurship (IAE) helps students and small firms to start up and growing a business.

Among the initiatives to improve the student experience has been the introduction of tangible rewards for excellent teaching and further development of electronic learning. The Centre for Academic Writing offers advice on essays and theses, with group sessions and one-to-one appointments, while the Maths Support Centre includes a statistics advisory service and specialist support service for students with dyslexia.

The majority of students exercise their right to take “free-choice modules” that cover the full range of university provision, with IT skills and languages particularly popular.

Research grades improved in the 2008 assessments, when small amounts of world-leading work were recognised in seven of the sixteen areas the university submitted. Art and design and electrical and electronic engineering produced the best results.

Design benefits from a £1.6m digital modelling workshop, sponsored by the Bugatti Trust, which provides full-scale vehicle modelling facilities. The university also has a Technology Park, housing start-ups and small knowledge-based businesses.

The civic-minded approach of the university has created many town–gown links. The university’s main buildings open out from the ruins of the bombed cathedral, as university and public facilities mingle in the city. Student residences are within easy walking distance of the campus and city centre.

The London campus, which opened in 2013, is business-oriented and mainly for international students. A degree in global business management includes a workplace project and a period of study abroad, while one-year top-up programmes give international students entry into the final year of a BA degree. The campus includes a simulated financial trading floor and is offering a new range of gas and oil management courses.

More than 40% of undergraduates have working-class backgrounds, and almost all attended state schools. For the second year in a row, the projected dropout rate had improved significantly in the latest survey. At only 8.2%, it is running at only two-thirds of the national average for the university’s courses and entry qualifications.

Students in Coventry welcome the relatively low cost of living there, and the city is not short of student-oriented nightlife, with Birmingham offering further options close by.

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Detailed Statistics

PERFORMANCE