TEACHING
QUALITY
University of Huddersfield
77
th=
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
60%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
81.6%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
59th=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
94th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
49th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
October 29 and 30; December 5
University Profile
Huddersfield is Times Higher Education magazine’s university of the year, in recognition of its contribution to its town and its region, as well for consistently good records for student satisfaction and graduate employment.
The judges were particularly impressed by the university’s Graduate Opportunities Programme, which provides careers advice and guidance to all unemployed graduates – whatever their former university – who live in the areas of Calderdale and Kirklees.
It had also been one of the dwindling band of universities persevering with fees of less than £9,000, but it will be charging the maximum in 2015-16. Those on placement years will pay only £500, the lowest fee at any university in England.
With one third of the students taking sandwich courses – one of the highest proportions in the UK – and all of them doing some work experience during their studies, Huddersfield’s good record on graduate employment is no mystery.
The university’s links with employers helped it to become Entrepreneurial University of the Year for 2012, an award which also recognised the way in which degree courses embed entrepreneurship
The university lives up to its mission to widen participation in higher education. Over 46% of full-time undergraduates are from working-class homes – far more than the national average for the university’s courses and entry qualifications – and the numbers coming from areas without a tradition of higher education (17.6%) are among the highest in the country.
The university has opened satellite centres in Barnsley and Oldham to widen participation further. The dropout rate has improved, and the latest projection of 13% matches the national benchmark.
Imaginative conversions and new buildings have brought the university together on one town-centre campus. The university capitalised on Huddersfield’s industrial past to ease the strain on facilities that were struggling to cope with student numbers that have now passed 24,000.
Canalside, a refurbished mill complex, provided extra space for mathematics and computing, and education occupies another mill site. The university has created “pocket parks” and a landscaped area along the reopened Narrow Canal to provide additional green space.
It spent £4m on a new students’ union, allowing drama courses to take over the existing union complex. The union building includes alcohol-free social areas to encourage participation by those overseas students and ethnic minorities who would otherwise avoid the facilities.
Recent developments include a striking creative arts building, which cost around £16m, and a similar sum was spent on a new business school. A £22.5m Learning and Leisure Centre opened in 2014, bringing together library, computing, sport, leisure, eating, social and meeting facilities. The centre is part of a £58m investment in teaching and research facilities.
The 19th-century Ramsden Building, the historical heart of the university, has been refurbished and there are ultra-modern facilities behind its carefully preserved exterior.
A tradition of vocational education dates back to 1841, and the university has a long-established reputation in areas such as textile design and engineering. The university was awarded an £8m Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Other strengths include music and social work, as well as teacher training, for which Huddersfield was awarded a national centre of excellence. Fourteen academics have been selected as National Teaching Fellows, the largest total in the UK.
Most of the areas in which Huddersfield entered the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise contained at least some world-leading work. A third of the university’s submission was placed in the top two categories, with music producing by far the best results and social work also doing well.
The university has sealed partnerships recently with the National Physical Laboratory, the Food and Environment Research Agency and the Royal Armouries in developments that it expects to benefit undergraduates as well as researchers.
The most popular courses are in human and health sciences. Many arts and social science courses have a vocational slant, for example, politics features a six-week placement, which often takes students to the House of Commons. The university’s Chancellor, the actor Sir Patrick Stewart, teaches drama students in his capacity as professor of performing arts, as well as undertaking other duties.
Most residential accommodation is now concentrated in the Storthes Hall Park student village, but additional housing is available at Ashenhurst, just over a mile from the campus. Town–gown relations are good, although students tend to base their social life around the students’ union. There is easy public transport access to Leeds and Manchester.
The judges were particularly impressed by the university’s Graduate Opportunities Programme, which provides careers advice and guidance to all unemployed graduates – whatever their former university – who live in the areas of Calderdale and Kirklees.
It had also been one of the dwindling band of universities persevering with fees of less than £9,000, but it will be charging the maximum in 2015-16. Those on placement years will pay only £500, the lowest fee at any university in England.
With one third of the students taking sandwich courses – one of the highest proportions in the UK – and all of them doing some work experience during their studies, Huddersfield’s good record on graduate employment is no mystery.
The university’s links with employers helped it to become Entrepreneurial University of the Year for 2012, an award which also recognised the way in which degree courses embed entrepreneurship
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into the curriculum and in particular the university’s BA in enterprise development. Seven out of ten students receive a professional qualification alongside their degree.The university lives up to its mission to widen participation in higher education. Over 46% of full-time undergraduates are from working-class homes – far more than the national average for the university’s courses and entry qualifications – and the numbers coming from areas without a tradition of higher education (17.6%) are among the highest in the country.
Imaginative conversions and new buildings have brought the university together on one town-centre campus. The university capitalised on Huddersfield’s industrial past to ease the strain on facilities that were struggling to cope with student numbers that have now passed 24,000.
Canalside, a refurbished mill complex, provided extra space for mathematics and computing, and education occupies another mill site. The university has created “pocket parks” and a landscaped area along the reopened Narrow Canal to provide additional green space.
It spent £4m on a new students’ union, allowing drama courses to take over the existing union complex. The union building includes alcohol-free social areas to encourage participation by those overseas students and ethnic minorities who would otherwise avoid the facilities.
Recent developments include a striking creative arts building, which cost around £16m, and a similar sum was spent on a new business school. A £22.5m Learning and Leisure Centre opened in 2014, bringing together library, computing, sport, leisure, eating, social and meeting facilities. The centre is part of a £58m investment in teaching and research facilities.
The 19th-century Ramsden Building, the historical heart of the university, has been refurbished and there are ultra-modern facilities behind its carefully preserved exterior.
A tradition of vocational education dates back to 1841, and the university has a long-established reputation in areas such as textile design and engineering. The university was awarded an £8m Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Other strengths include music and social work, as well as teacher training, for which Huddersfield was awarded a national centre of excellence. Fourteen academics have been selected as National Teaching Fellows, the largest total in the UK.
Most of the areas in which Huddersfield entered the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise contained at least some world-leading work. A third of the university’s submission was placed in the top two categories, with music producing by far the best results and social work also doing well.
The university has sealed partnerships recently with the National Physical Laboratory, the Food and Environment Research Agency and the Royal Armouries in developments that it expects to benefit undergraduates as well as researchers.
The most popular courses are in human and health sciences. Many arts and social science courses have a vocational slant, for example, politics features a six-week placement, which often takes students to the House of Commons. The university’s Chancellor, the actor Sir Patrick Stewart, teaches drama students in his capacity as professor of performing arts, as well as undertaking other duties.
Most residential accommodation is now concentrated in the Storthes Hall Park student village, but additional housing is available at Ashenhurst, just over a mile from the campus. Town–gown relations are good, although students tend to base their social life around the students’ union. There is easy public transport access to Leeds and Manchester.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
77= (66)
Student experience
82.3
59th=
Research quality
2
94th=
Ucas entry points
334
65th
Graduate prospects
69.5
49th
Firsts and 2:1s
60
95th
Completion rate
81.6
95th
Student-staff ratio
18.3:1
71st=
Services/facilities spend (£)
1,288
94th
World ranking
-
701=
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
13,600
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
2,910
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
1,730
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
2,195
Applications/places
20,715/4,385
Applications/places ratio
4.7:1
STUDENT CITIES
Josh Elderfield, students’ union president
Our new £22.5m Student Central, where there are excellent facilities for work and play.
The amount of awards we’ve won means that as a student here you have a lot to live up to.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (placement year)
£750
Fees (international)
£12,000-£13,000
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£18,230
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
1,000 bursaries of £1,000 in year 1 to students with household income below £25K and either a minimum of 280 UCAS points or joining Foundation programmes in Science and Engineering.
>
Enhanced retention and career development programme.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
137, 95th
Sport website
Student satisfaction
91.6%
90.8%
90.5%
88.4%
88.3%
88.3%
88.2%
88.2%
87.8%
86.4%
84.7%
84.5%
83.9%
82.9%
80.8%
79.6%
78.2%
77.5%
76.5%
76.5%
75.5%
72.1%