TEACHING
QUALITY
Kingston University
117
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
59%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
79.6%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
121st
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
79th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
110th=
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
River House,
53–57 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1LQ View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
September 27; October 11
University Profile
Over the past five years Kingston has helped its graduates launch more companies than any other university – an increasingly important service at a time when self-employment is becoming a career choice for growing numbers of those completing a degree.
The university assisted with 270 start-ups in 2012-13, an increase of more than a third on the previous year, and was praised by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, in February as a result. There were 650 start-ups between 2010 and 2013.
"What struck me was that the entrepreneurial approach isn't just focused in one specialised part of the University - instead it seems to permeate through all the departments," Cable said. "The teaching is not only academically rigorous but also creative and strongly linked to students' future careers." Praise, indeed.
Kingston established an Enterprise Department more than a decade ago, giving advice to would-be entrepreneurs in any subject, offering them expert mentors and the possibility of financial support with start-up companies.
The scheme epitomises the career focus that runs through all Kingston’s courses. The university has the third-largest engineering faculty
However, it has slipped to 117 in our league table this year, its lowest ranking and a far cry from the time when it made it to the shortlist for Sunday Times University of the Year in 2000. A slight decline in student satisfaction, and bigger falls in entry standards and graduate job prospects – the entrepreneurs apart, presumably – are behind the latest six-place fall in our table.
The university markets itself as in “lively, leafy London”, making a virtue of its suburban, riverside location southwest of central London as well as its proximity to the bright lights.
Two of its four campuses are close to Kingston town centre; another, two miles away, is at Kingston Hill; the fourth is in Roehampton Vale, where a site once used as an aerospace factory now contains a new technology block.
Kingston has opened three impressive new buildings as part of a £123m programme to revitalise its entire estate. The centrepiece will be a £55m building on the Penrhyn Road campus, which will become the main reception point for all four campuses by 2017.
The university has already spent £20m on the John Galsworthy Building on the campus, which incorporates lecture theatres, flexible teaching space and information technology suites as well as a “Knowledge Centre” for students to do coursework.
The Business School acquired a new home in 2012, complete with atrium, modern teaching rooms and break-out spaces. A new learning resources centre is part of an £11m improvement programme at the University’s Knights Park campus, which includes the refurbishment of studio space, an upgraded reception and gallery area and external landscaping.
There have been extensive upgrades of the library facilities on each campus, bringing together library, computing and multimedia facilities to encourage interactive and group learning. There are bookable study rooms with multimedia facilities and specially equipped spaces dedicated to meeting the needs of disabled users.
The main centres are open 24 hours a day during term-time weekdays and a high-tech self-issue system makes borrowing much quicker and easier.
Approaching a third of the university’s submission to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise was rated world-leading or internationally excellent. The star performance was in history of art, architecture and design, where half of the submission was at least internationally excellent.
The Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences (run jointly with St George’s, University of London) now has more than 4,000 students, and has won two major NHS London contracts, which will increase numbers in nursing and physiotherapy.
Radiotherapists hone their clinical skills in a simulated cancer treatment room, while the Centre for Paramedic Science serves as a hub for course delivery and research projects. There is a link with the Royal Marsden School of Cancer Nursing and Rehabilitation, enabling students to spend up to half of their course on clinical placements working in hospital, primary care and community settings.
Kingston is to head the largest project in a new Government-funded programme to boost postgraduate study. Its aim is to encourage students who might not normally become postgraduates to continue on to Master's courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and then track how they progress.
Kingston has one of the most ethnically mixed student populations of any UK university, and many undergraduates are also the first in their family to experience higher education. More than a quarter of Kingston’s places go to mature students and 42% to those from working-class families.
Most students like the university’s location, although they complain about the high cost of living. A “one-stop shop” deals with student issues ranging from careers and accommodation to complaints and financial advice.
There is also a new unit, thought to be unique in the UK, offering free mediation of disputes involving local people. Each session is conducted by a student, but supervised by staff from the university law school who are accredited mediators.
More than £20m has been spent on halls of residence and Kingston’s sports facilities have improved. A new £2.65m sports pavilion, designed to suit both able-bodied and disabled users, and an upgraded sports ground opened in 2010.
The university assisted with 270 start-ups in 2012-13, an increase of more than a third on the previous year, and was praised by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, in February as a result. There were 650 start-ups between 2010 and 2013.
"What struck me was that the entrepreneurial approach isn't just focused in one specialised part of the University - instead it seems to permeate through all the departments," Cable said. "The teaching is not only academically rigorous but also creative and strongly linked to students' future careers." Praise, indeed.
Kingston established an Enterprise Department more than a decade ago, giving advice to would-be entrepreneurs in any subject, offering them expert mentors and the possibility of financial support with start-up companies.
The scheme epitomises the career focus that runs through all Kingston’s courses. The university has the third-largest engineering faculty
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in London, for example, with its own Learjet and a flight simulator to support its highly-regarded aeronautical engineering courses.However, it has slipped to 117 in our league table this year, its lowest ranking and a far cry from the time when it made it to the shortlist for Sunday Times University of the Year in 2000. A slight decline in student satisfaction, and bigger falls in entry standards and graduate job prospects – the entrepreneurs apart, presumably – are behind the latest six-place fall in our table.
Two of its four campuses are close to Kingston town centre; another, two miles away, is at Kingston Hill; the fourth is in Roehampton Vale, where a site once used as an aerospace factory now contains a new technology block.
Kingston has opened three impressive new buildings as part of a £123m programme to revitalise its entire estate. The centrepiece will be a £55m building on the Penrhyn Road campus, which will become the main reception point for all four campuses by 2017.
The university has already spent £20m on the John Galsworthy Building on the campus, which incorporates lecture theatres, flexible teaching space and information technology suites as well as a “Knowledge Centre” for students to do coursework.
The Business School acquired a new home in 2012, complete with atrium, modern teaching rooms and break-out spaces. A new learning resources centre is part of an £11m improvement programme at the University’s Knights Park campus, which includes the refurbishment of studio space, an upgraded reception and gallery area and external landscaping.
There have been extensive upgrades of the library facilities on each campus, bringing together library, computing and multimedia facilities to encourage interactive and group learning. There are bookable study rooms with multimedia facilities and specially equipped spaces dedicated to meeting the needs of disabled users.
The main centres are open 24 hours a day during term-time weekdays and a high-tech self-issue system makes borrowing much quicker and easier.
Approaching a third of the university’s submission to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise was rated world-leading or internationally excellent. The star performance was in history of art, architecture and design, where half of the submission was at least internationally excellent.
The Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences (run jointly with St George’s, University of London) now has more than 4,000 students, and has won two major NHS London contracts, which will increase numbers in nursing and physiotherapy.
Radiotherapists hone their clinical skills in a simulated cancer treatment room, while the Centre for Paramedic Science serves as a hub for course delivery and research projects. There is a link with the Royal Marsden School of Cancer Nursing and Rehabilitation, enabling students to spend up to half of their course on clinical placements working in hospital, primary care and community settings.
Kingston is to head the largest project in a new Government-funded programme to boost postgraduate study. Its aim is to encourage students who might not normally become postgraduates to continue on to Master's courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and then track how they progress.
Kingston has one of the most ethnically mixed student populations of any UK university, and many undergraduates are also the first in their family to experience higher education. More than a quarter of Kingston’s places go to mature students and 42% to those from working-class families.
Most students like the university’s location, although they complain about the high cost of living. A “one-stop shop” deals with student issues ranging from careers and accommodation to complaints and financial advice.
There is also a new unit, thought to be unique in the UK, offering free mediation of disputes involving local people. Each session is conducted by a student, but supervised by staff from the university law school who are accredited mediators.
More than £20m has been spent on halls of residence and Kingston’s sports facilities have improved. A new £2.65m sports pavilion, designed to suit both able-bodied and disabled users, and an upgraded sports ground opened in 2010.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
117 (111)
Student experience
75.7
121st
Research quality
3.3
79th=
Ucas entry points
298
101st=
Graduate prospects
54.4
110th=
Firsts and 2:1s
59
100th
Completion rate
79.6
107th
Student-staff ratio
19.4:1
87th
Services/facilities spend (£)
1,378
81st
World ranking
-
501= (471=)
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
17,175
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
1,980
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
2,370
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
2,570
Applications/places
38,590/6,005
Applications/places ratio
6.4:1
STUDENT CITIES
Denza Gonsalves, students’ union president
The exciting and loud freshers’ fair is a one-stop shop to make new friends, pick up freebies and learn the town’s hotspots.
The horrible, ageing grey Town House building that was supposed to be temporary but still stands today.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Places in accommodation
2,365
Accommodation costs
£108-£137
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (international)
£11,000-£13,300
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£21,062
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
Household income below £25K, 420 bursaries of £2,000 in year 1.
>
Progression awards (£500–£1,500) in years 2 and 3 with conditions. Assistance from Study Support and Retention Fund.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
228.5, 82nd
Sport website
Student satisfaction
89.4%
88.4%
88.2%
86.6%
86.1%
84.0%
80.0%
79.5%
78.0%
76.6%
75.4%
74.3%
74.1%
74.0%
74.0%
72.4%
72.0%
72.0%
71.9%
69.4%
65.3%
61.3%
56.5%