TEACHING
QUALITY
University of the Highlands and Islands
121
st
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
70.6%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
67.4%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
102nd=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
94th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
120th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
126 Ness Walk, Inverness, IV3 5SQ View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
contact the colleges
University Profile
University status is helping to diversify disparate student communities that make up the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). Since its inception more than 20 years ago it has attracted a predominantly mature and part-time student population drawn largely from the Highlands and Islands.
Now, there is a growing number of recruits from the rest of Scotland, other countries in the UK and overseas. The applicants are getting younger, too. The university experience is quite unlike anywhere else in this guide, socially and aesthetically unique.
The 38% surge in applications in 2013 suggests the university’s time has come and enabled the university to take an additional 250 students.
UHI’s priority remains to give people living in the region local access to learning and research relevant to their needs and to those of local employers. And it fulfils this brief to the letter.
Students take a broad range of qualifications, from higher national certificates and diplomas and degrees to professional development awards. Teaching is increasingly carried out through “blended” learning, combining online and face-to-face teaching, with small class
UHI is widely acknowledged as a major asset to the regional economy, helping to create and sustain businesses, as well as championing local culture and the environment.
A federation of 13 colleges and research institutions spread across hundreds of miles in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, UHI is unlike any other in the UK. As such, it fits uneasily into our league table – it has proved impossible to calculate a meaningful staff/student ratio, for example, from the unique mix of part-time and full-time staff and students.
UHI’s colleges spread from Dunoon in the southwest to the village of Scalloway, the ancient capital of the Shetland Islands, in the north. But that does not begin to do justice to the university’s network of campuses.
Argyll College, for example, has 13 sites on the mainland and on islands such as Arran, Islay and Mull. UHI courses are also taught at more than 50 learning centres located throughout the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Perthshire.
Some colleges are relatively large and located in the urban centres of the region such as Perth, Elgin and Inverness. Others are smaller institutions, including some whose primary focus is research. The university insists, however, that all have a student-centred culture and an individual approach.
Several of the colleges are in spectacular locations. Lews Castle College UHI, in Stornoway, in the Outer Hebrides, for example, is set in 600 acres of parkland. It claims “possibly the UK’s most attractive location to study art” for its harbourside Lochmaddy campus in North Uist. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI is the only Gaelic-medium college in the world, set in breath-taking scenery on the Isle of Skye, while the Highland Theological College UHI is in Dingwall.
West Highland College UHI does not even have a central campus, although the single degree, in adventure tourism management, is taught in Fort William, close to Ben Nevis. North Highland College UHI has opened a new equestrian centre in Caithness, six miles from the main campus in Thurso, with international-sized outdoor and indoor arenas.
A report to the Highland Regional Council recommended the establishment of UHI in 1990 and envisaged that the process might take four years. The region had already waited a lot longer than that for a university: Perth was first identified as a suitable location for a university in 1425.
UHI’s development has come in stages since its establishment was formally recommended in 1992. As the UHI Millennium Institute, it became a higher education institute in 2001 and received degree-awarding powers in 2008. University status finally came in February 2011.
There are now 7,500 students taking more than 100 undergraduate courses at 70 learning centres across the region. Many courses are available entirely online. Degree courses intended to lead to careers in renewable engineering, tourism and hospitality, health care, and children’s services were among the options for 2014.
UHI was the first higher education institution to publish a Gaelic language plan, promising students more opportunities to learn Gaelic, improve existing skills, or study for qualifications entirely through the language. There is now a growing community of students with Gaelic skills throughout the UHI network and there are plans to extend the course portfolio.
Environmental science produced the best results and made by far the largest submission in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, but there was some world-leading research in Celtic studies and archaeology. There are a dozen research centres specialising in everything from agronomy and marine science to Nordic studies, diabetes and rural childhood.
Now, there is a growing number of recruits from the rest of Scotland, other countries in the UK and overseas. The applicants are getting younger, too. The university experience is quite unlike anywhere else in this guide, socially and aesthetically unique.
The 38% surge in applications in 2013 suggests the university’s time has come and enabled the university to take an additional 250 students.
UHI’s priority remains to give people living in the region local access to learning and research relevant to their needs and to those of local employers. And it fulfils this brief to the letter.
Students take a broad range of qualifications, from higher national certificates and diplomas and degrees to professional development awards. Teaching is increasingly carried out through “blended” learning, combining online and face-to-face teaching, with small class
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sizes and extensive use of video conferencing.UHI is widely acknowledged as a major asset to the regional economy, helping to create and sustain businesses, as well as championing local culture and the environment.
A federation of 13 colleges and research institutions spread across hundreds of miles in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, UHI is unlike any other in the UK. As such, it fits uneasily into our league table – it has proved impossible to calculate a meaningful staff/student ratio, for example, from the unique mix of part-time and full-time staff and students.
UHI’s colleges spread from Dunoon in the southwest to the village of Scalloway, the ancient capital of the Shetland Islands, in the north. But that does not begin to do justice to the university’s network of campuses.
Argyll College, for example, has 13 sites on the mainland and on islands such as Arran, Islay and Mull. UHI courses are also taught at more than 50 learning centres located throughout the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Perthshire.
Some colleges are relatively large and located in the urban centres of the region such as Perth, Elgin and Inverness. Others are smaller institutions, including some whose primary focus is research. The university insists, however, that all have a student-centred culture and an individual approach.
Several of the colleges are in spectacular locations. Lews Castle College UHI, in Stornoway, in the Outer Hebrides, for example, is set in 600 acres of parkland. It claims “possibly the UK’s most attractive location to study art” for its harbourside Lochmaddy campus in North Uist. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI is the only Gaelic-medium college in the world, set in breath-taking scenery on the Isle of Skye, while the Highland Theological College UHI is in Dingwall.
West Highland College UHI does not even have a central campus, although the single degree, in adventure tourism management, is taught in Fort William, close to Ben Nevis. North Highland College UHI has opened a new equestrian centre in Caithness, six miles from the main campus in Thurso, with international-sized outdoor and indoor arenas.
A report to the Highland Regional Council recommended the establishment of UHI in 1990 and envisaged that the process might take four years. The region had already waited a lot longer than that for a university: Perth was first identified as a suitable location for a university in 1425.
UHI’s development has come in stages since its establishment was formally recommended in 1992. As the UHI Millennium Institute, it became a higher education institute in 2001 and received degree-awarding powers in 2008. University status finally came in February 2011.
There are now 7,500 students taking more than 100 undergraduate courses at 70 learning centres across the region. Many courses are available entirely online. Degree courses intended to lead to careers in renewable engineering, tourism and hospitality, health care, and children’s services were among the options for 2014.
UHI was the first higher education institution to publish a Gaelic language plan, promising students more opportunities to learn Gaelic, improve existing skills, or study for qualifications entirely through the language. There is now a growing community of students with Gaelic skills throughout the UHI network and there are plans to extend the course portfolio.
Environmental science produced the best results and made by far the largest submission in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, but there was some world-leading research in Celtic studies and archaeology. There are a dozen research centres specialising in everything from agronomy and marine science to Nordic studies, diabetes and rural childhood.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
121 (116)
Student experience
78.9
102nd=
Research quality
2
94th=
Ucas entry points
298
101st=
Graduate prospects
49.1
120th
Firsts and 2:1s
70.6
45th=
Completion rate
67.4
122nd=
Services/facilities spend (£)
545
122nd
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
4,160
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
2,825
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
65
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
375
Applications/places
1,675/2,410
Applications/places ratio
0.7:1
STUDENT CITIES
Rachel Parker, students’ association president
Our mix of demographics and more mature students.
If you make the move up to Skye you’ll never want leave.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation contact
FEES
Scots/EU fees
£0-£1,820
RUK fees
£7740 (£9000 max £27,000)
Fees (international)
£8,700-£10,320
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£18,056
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
For RUK students , household income below £20K, £1,590 bursary; £20K–£22.5K, £1,060 ; £22.5–£25K, £530 bursary, all for three years.
>
Other bursaries and special funds are available.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
68, 105th
Student satisfaction