University of Central Lancashire

History

• University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) started out in 1828 as the Preston Institute for the Diffusion of Knowledge.
  After a series of further incarnations, the university adopted its current name in 1992.
• With a staff and student community approaching 38,000, UCLan is  located in the heart of Preston with further campuses at Westlakes in West Cumbria (nuclear and energy related research programmes), Llangollen in North Wales (outdoor education) and Burnley, the newest campus which opened in 2009.

Location and transport

• Excellent road and rail links. The first section of the M6 motorway was completed at Preston!
• The university is 50 minutes away from Manchester and Liverpool and a little over 2 hours from London by train. On the doorstep of the Lake District, the city of Preston is surrounded by beautiful countryside but is also in easy reach of the coast.
• The city is served by an excellent local bus network with several services stopping frequently at university locations.
• Preston and South Ribble benefit from over 50km of traffic-free cycle paths and the 20mph zones around the campus mean that it is safer to cycle on the campus roads too. There are bike racks across campus. Cycling is the best way to explore Preston's canals, docks and parks. In particular, the Canal Cycle Route is a great way of getting from the University to the UCLan Sports Arena.

Entry standards

• Average of 300 UCAS tariff points (ranging froom 280 to 320 points). Get more details about entry requirements at UCLan online.

Student mix

• 44% male: 56% female (HESA 2010–11 – undergraduate students).
• 91% home: 9% overseas (HESA 2010–11 – undergraduate students).
• 98.6% state schools (HESA Performance Indicators).
• Applications to places ratio 5:1.

Course flexibility

• Over 500 undergraduate courses and approximately 180 taught postgraduate programmes.
• Opportunities for part-time and distance learning.
• Electives are used to broaden the curriculum, so that up to 11% of a student's time is spent on subjects outside their normal range.
• For new UK/EU students starting in 2012, the UCLan Advantage package offers the provision of a guaranteed structured work experience opportunity for every student who requests it.
• In addition, close links with a wide range of employers and partners across the globe has enabled UCLan to also guarantee every student the opportunity to have a global experience or study period abroad.
•  Free access to UCLan’s world-class sports facilities, to be used as official training venues for the Olympic Games and the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, is also included in the package. 
• Another key feature of the UCLan Advantage is a system of portable financial credit to offset, for example, accommodation or on-site food costs; as well as access to a personal academic tutor and a personal advisor who will advise on how to make the most of the UCLan university experience.

Teaching standards

• The University has an established reputation for providing its students with an outstanding student experience. In the 2011 National Student Survey, Fine Art, Tourism, Transport & Travel, Media Studies, Sports Science, Drama and Law were ranked in the top 25% nationally. 
• UCLan has consistently performed well in subject reviews and institutional audits undertaken by the Quality Assurance Agency over a period of fifteen years and is recognised in particular for its "strategic, thorough and effective institutional approach to quality enhancement".  (2008 QAA Institutional Audit)

Research standards

• UCLan prides itself on conducting world-leading research with real world impact. It has achieved global recognition from its peers, with 11 areas of research judged as ‘world-leading’ in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008). These areas are: Linguistics; Communications, Cultural and Media Studies; Nursing and Midwifery; Social Work and Social Policy & Administration; History; Allied Health Professions and Studies; Physics; Architecture and the Built Environment; Business and Management Studies; Psychology; and Archaeology.
• In addition a further seven areas contain research which has been graded as ‘Internationally Excellent’. These are: Art and Design; Education; General Engineering and Mineral and Mining Engineering; International Studies; Law; and Politics.
• It is the application of UCLan’s research that makes it special: from identifying human remains in mass disasters to developing new sign languages.
• Our research of health issues, including nutrition, strokes, brain tumours and the treatment of cancer, is helping to change lives around the world.
• The University consistently invests in its international research centres which include the UK's first International Centre for Sign Language and Deaf Studies; the John Tyndall Nuclear Research Institute; and a nanotechnology research base in China's Shenzhen Virtual University Park. The University's Confucius Institute promotes and supports the development of Chinese language and culture throughout the North West region.
• Recent research funding awards include a £1-million, three-year partnership with BAE Systems to conduct research into energy management. Other notable awards include £800,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families for research into evaluating social work; nearly £630,000 of funding for research into after-stroke care from the National Institute of Health Research; and a £450,000 funding award for research into Health Inclusion and Citizenship from the Big Lottery Fund.
• An example of the scale of the research undertaken is seen with astrophysics which benefits from two observatories in Britain and a share in the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project (in which the University is a lead partner). SALT is the largest single dish telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and enables UCLan students and researchers to see distant stars, galaxies and quasars a billion times too faint to be seen with the unaided eye – as faint as a candle flame at the distance of the moon.
• UCLan is working closely with NASA to investigate, store, manage and ultimately share the images produced by the space agency’s new solar observing satellite, the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
• UCLan is one of the only UK universities to incorporate 3D technology into its games development and teaching through a unique industry partnership with the Stereoscopic 3D group at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
• UCLan’s Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme draws students from across the arts, sciences, health and business disciplines to work on a huge range of research projects for a period of up to 10 weeks.  Since the scheme launched in 2008, nearly 100 interns have been sponsored to work directly with researchers on projects as diverse as digital publishing, wind power, facial composites and business triangles. 
• UCLan students have formed an Undergraduate Research Society – believed to be the first in the UK.  The Society funds conference visits and organises special events for students and is one of the reasons that UCLan was chosen to host the first British Conference of Undergraduate Research in April 2011.

Academic strengths

• A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses available.
• New courses launched regularly and all are academically rigorous with tailored employment pathways–for example, new programmes were recently launched in pharmacy and architecture as well as the first new School of Dentistry for over a century.
• Strong focus on employability for all courses. Many of UCLan’s courses include employability features such as live projects, work experience and workplace learning. As a result of close links with a huge range of employers such as BAE Systems, the NHS, BNFL and NASA, visitors from industry contribute to career development activity while students can undertake short-term internships and longer-term work placements to gain essential work experience and enhance employability skills. 
• Many UCLan courses are accredited by professional and statutory bodies, for example Lancashire Business School works with key UK accounting professional bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to maximise professional exemptions for those who wish to follow careers in the accounting professions.
• The School of Built and Natural Environment runs courses accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institute of Building, the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists and the Chartered Institution of Waste Management
• The 2011 Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey acknowledged UCLan as one of the country’s most entrepreneurial and business friendly universities. The University came top in the North West and fifth in the UK for generating student start-up businesses and a sector-leading 77% of those businesses are still thriving three years on.
• UCLan’s futurescentre brings together advice on careers and work placements, employability and enterprise course electives, business start-up and self-employment services. Futureswas ranked top in the International Students Barometer (ISB) survey and has achieved matrix accreditation – a sought-after quality seal.
• The University offers a truly international experience. UCLan’s Travel Bursaries have been taken up by hundreds of students, keen to experience an overseas work placement, study period or assignment during their time at UCLan and adding a truly international aspect to their CV. For example, four journalism undergraduates were funded to report from the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
• Students are also offered the opportunity to study a range of world languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian. 
• UCLan draws on its links across the globe to provide keynote lectures, seminars and talks to help enrich and enhance student employment opportunities. The University is also actively engaged in international research collaborations: a research team from UCLan won The Times Higher Education’s International Collaboration of the Year Award 2010 for their work with the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Pakistan and the South Asian population in Blackburn. UCLan has also recently opened a base in China’s Shenzhen Virtual University Park, where a team is conducting research in nanotechnology. In 2010, UCLan was the only UK University to be newly admitted to the QS World University Rankings.
• UCLan was selected by the National Skills Agency for Nuclear to develop foundation degrees and other awards for the entire nuclear industry. A new suite of nuclear postgraduate courses was launched in 2011.
• Media Access Bureaux launched and available on both Preston and Burnley campuses.
• The British Council has selected UCLan to develop engineering education collaborations with China which will help boost the UK's future competitiveness. UCLan is one of only three universities in the UK to receive a second, two-year grant from the prestigious Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education (PMI2). UCLan has also won two further awards under PMI2. The first is to develop an Entrepreneurship training programme for University lecturers in Nigeria. The second is to work with South China Agricultural University to develop entrepreneurial fashion graduates.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• Over £100 million recently invested in teaching, learning and leisure activities.
• 24/7 access to a recently refurbished library with a fantastic range of new facilities including group and individual study pods, laptops to borrow and a cafe.
• 24-hour access to computers, with more than 2,000 situated throughout the university.
• Excellent online resources and Europe's largest 3D lecture theatre.
• Careers advice and guidance for life via thefuturesservice.
• Through UCLan's futures award scheme, students can gain credit in a host of different ways the recognition of work experience or volunteering activities, language development, industrial placements, live student projects, mentoring work and much more. Possession of the futures award enables UCLan graduates to demonstrate clearly a range of practical skills demanded by employers such as communication, initiative and leadership.

Disability services

• Visit the website for information about the disability services at UCLan.
• To contact  the Disability Advisory Service at UCLan, telephone/textphone 01772 892593, fax 01772 892939 or email.
• You can view an accessibility guide for UCLan on the Disabled Go website.

• The award-winning SU has one of the largest student venues in the country: the £6.5-million '53 Degrees' (with a 1,500-capacity venue on the ground floor and a more intimate 400-capacity club upstairs) hosts concerts, club nights and comedy. Voted SU of the year in 2005, the venue won the Best Campus Venue award from Live UK Music in 2011.
• Five students elected each year lead the union body, with offices centrally-based within the university campus.
• An independent advice service makes sure you are properly represented.
• Diverse range of sporting clubs, societies and a 'give it a go' programme ensures you have the opportunity to get involved.

Sport

• The new £13-million on-campus Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre offers a wide ranging programme of activities for indoor team games, racket sports and martial arts as well as exercise classes and a fully equipped fitness suite.
• The double sports hall (eight badminton courts) has a wooden sprung floor for international standard badminton, basketball, fencing, 5-a-side football, indoor hockey, netball, tennis, volleyball, and several martial arts. There is bleacher seating for circa 300 spectators, a viewing gallery and a squash court.
• The extensive fitness suite has 100 stations (cardiovascular and resistance machines, free weights) including a cardiozone and is fully air conditioned. Two large studios have wooden sprung floors and host over 25 health and fitness classes per week including aerobics, belly dancing, boxercise, circuits, kombat aerobics, step, studio cycling, studio weights, zumba, pilates and yoga. The activities room caters for pilates, table tennis, yoga and martial arts. There are various tournaments and events throughout the year, for example, badminton, dodgeball, 5-a-side, rowing, 3v3 basketball, table tennis and ultimate challenge.
• UCLan Sports Arena provides for a wide range of outdoor sports including cycling, athletics, cricket, football, rugby, hockey, tennis, netball and rounders as well as a quality strength and conditioning room, an 18-station fitness suite and spaces for meetings, teaching and children’s parties. 
• UCLan’s partner institution Myerscough College boasts the International Centre for Golf Education.
• UK/EU full time new undergraduate students starting in September 2012 enjoy free access to UCLan sporting facilities under the UCLan Advantage package – see website for more details.
•  UCLan has been officially named as a training camp for athletes from 15 Pacific countries in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The University is also a host for the 2012 Corporate Games and has recently been chosen as the only UK University to act as an official training venue for the Rugby League World Cup in 2013.

Recent/prospective new builds

• Over the past five years, UCLan has invested over £100m in enhancing its campus environments, infrastructure and technological support for both academic and non-academic activities
• Recent new facilities include the £12.5-m JB Firth Building housing the University’s renowned forensic science, fire engineering and chemistry courses and the £13-m Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre.
• Other recent developments include a new School of Dentistry, the restoration of the Tyn Dwr Outdoor Sports Centre in North Wales, the redevelopment of Westlakes Campus in Cumbria and a student-informed upgrade of the library.
• The University also invested over £15m in a Media Factory which incorporates state-of-the-art facilities for digital media and performing arts students and a business incubator facility. The University has the largest 3D lecture theatre in Europe which is used for teaching purposes across the academic portfolio.
• The University has announced ambitious plans to open the UK’s first private University campus in Bangkok in 2014. UCLan will invest £7.5m in the venture.
• Built to an exacting UCLan specification, and subject to the granting of an educational licence, the new facility plans to open the doors to its first cohort of students in June 2014. 
• The campus will offer full-time and part-time undergraduate, postgraduate and foundation degree courses in subject areas that include business, built and natural environment, engineering, creative and performing arts and languages.
• Located within the Bangkok metropolitan area and within easy reach of the city centre, the new facility will initially be home to 800 students with a planned capacity of 5000 in ten years.
• It is envisaged that the student body will blend those from Thailand and South East Asia with expats, UCLan students based in the UK and those from other international locations to create a vibrant international community.

Availability of part-time work

• The Bridge, a job shop run by the Students' Union, avertises part- and full-time jobs to fit in and around students' timetables.
• Plenty of opportunities for part-time work in retail and bar work.
• Volunteering opportunities to help students build a CV are also advertised.

Notable alumni

• Victoria Derbyshire – broadcaster, BBC Five Live.
• Simon Kellner – former Editor of the Independent.
• Richard Frediani – Programme Editor of ITV’s early evening news programme.
• Carl Lygo – CEO and Head of BPP University College.
• Dr Waqar Azmi OBE – Chairman of Waterhouse Consulting Group and EU Ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue.
• Alfred Hitchcock – Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police and former Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service.