Leeds Metropolitan University

History

• Tracing its foundation back to 1824, Leeds Metropolitan University has been providing access to education in Leeds for over 180 years with the founding of the Leeds Mechanics Institute, its predecessor institution, in 1824.
• Today it is one of the largest and most popular universities in the UK, with over 25,600 students and 3,000 staff.
• Leeds Business School celebrated its 85th birthday in 2010–11.

Location and transport

• Leeds is a vibrant and student-friendly Yorkshire city, located at the heart of northern culture and heritage, and the largest financial district outside London.
• An extensive rail, road and air network makes travelling to Leeds both quick and easy from around the country.
• The University has two campuses; City Campus (in the city centre) and Headingley Campus (4 km/3 miles north of city centre).

Entry standards

• The University is firmly committed to widening participation and lifelong learning. Entry requirements are flexible, generally ranging from between 120 and 300 UCAS tariff points.
• Academic qualifications are only one of several criteria taken into consideration.

Student mix

• Men 48%, women 52%.
• UK 89%, EU and other countries 11%.
• Over 9,000 part-time students.
• 1,800 students from around the world.

Course flexibility

• The University offers a range of standard part-time and full-time undergraduate courses, including distance and work-based learning.
• A growing number of fast-track undergraduate and postgraduate awards.
• A range of professional qualifications and CPD are also available.

Teaching standards

• We were subject to our QAA Institutional audit in May 2009 and audit of collaborative provision in June 2011.
• International students rated us top in the UK for language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces (International Student Barometer 2010).
• 77% of final year students were satisfied with their experience at Leeds Metropolitan (National Student Survey 2011).

Research standards

• Five new interdisciplinary research centres are planned as part of our University’s new Research & Enterprise strategy.
• The Institute for Health and Wellbeing opened in November 2011 and Leeds Sustainability Institute is planned for launch in March 2012.
• Research active staff and students produced over 1,268 research outputs such as conference papers and journal articles in 2010–11.
• We have over 2,200 research students, whose work features in the annual pan-university postgraduate conference. We secured Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) worth £1.5m per annum, making the University the most successful post-92 university in the funding strain.

Academic strengths

•  We have 9 teacher fellows and 7 Higher Education Academy national teaching fellows.
• A new undergraduate curriculum launched in September 2012 with graduate attributes embedded – all students will be enterprising, digitally literate and have a global outlook.
• Every undergraduate course will include at least two weeks work based-learning as part of their course.
• Many of our courses include work placements and are accredited by professional bodies.
• A range of undergraduate and post graduate courses are offered along with professional and CPD short courses.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• The 24/7 library has been awarded the government's prestigious Customer Service Excellence Standard.
• The University holds the Investors in People accreditation.
• Over £1.5 million is spent each year on books, journals and electronic resources. The library contains over 330,000 books and has are over 1.5 million visits each year.
• There are 780 computer workstations across Leeds Met campuses and accommodation, each with free guest wireless access.

Disability Services

Students' Union

• Students' Union facilities are available at both campuses and include events space, a bar, deli and food facilities, and social space.
• CALM, Community action at Leeds Met, is a student-led, social action, volunteer project at Leeds Met Students' Union with over 300 student volunteers.
• Some of the top bands and artists in the country play at the Students' Union.
• The Students' Union offers an independent Student Advice Service to support students in all areas including counselling, finance and housing.

Sport

• Leeds Met is ranked first in the country for women's sport and third in the country overall for student sport.
• The University’s Headingley Campus boasts outstanding and extensive indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, covering around a third of the 90 acre estate, which provides excellent sport and participation opportunities, as well as space for academic and research activity.
• These facilities include a significant investment over the summer of 2011 in two synthetic turf pitches, which will provide excellent sporting opportunities for the student and local communities. In early 2012 the University will receive further investment from England Basketball to develop a multi-sport arena with court side seating for around 700 people.
• The University supports over 50 scholars, playing and competing at national and international levels. The nationally recognised Carnegie Coach Education unit supports coach education and CPD opportunities for over 3,000 individuals each year.

Recent/prospective new builds

• Leeds Met has two main campuses – one in the city centre of Leeds and one in the nearby suburb of Headingley. In October 2010, Broadcasting Place was named the best tall building in the world by a global council of architects, beating off stiff competition from taller buildings in Dubai.
• In December 2010, a new world class learning environment, the Carnegie Pavilion, was opened by celebrity chef James Martin. The Carnegie Pavilion is situated at the Headingley Stadium, the home of the world famous Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The building has won acclaim for its design, and was awarded the Best Commercial Building at the local authority building control (LABC) awards and has been recognised for its sustainability, achieving the BREEAM excellent standard.
• Leeds Metropolitan has remained one of the 'greenest' in the UK, achieving a first class degree in People & Planet's fifth annual green league table.
• The University has 4,500 beds in its student accommodation across the city and guarantees a place in its accommodation to all first year students applying before the end of June.
• The award winning Carnegie Village student accommodation is made up of a number of townhouses and is located on Headingley Campus, close to the sports centre. It was built to Passivhaus standard, a unique sustainable design and a first for university accommodation, utilising the latest technology in sustainable building to keep utility costs to a minimum.

Availability of part-time work

• Leeds Met's Job & Careers service is the University's in-house employment agency, one of the largest in the country.
• The service works with some of the biggest employers in the region to secure temporary/part-time jobs for students designed to fit alongside studying.

Notable alumni

Arts

• Marc Almond, Musician, Soft Cell
• Dave Ball, Musician, Soft Cell
• Peter Cattaneo, Film Director (Full Monty)
• Jeremy Dyson, Writer (League of Gentlemen)
• Green Gartside (Paul Strohmeyer), Musician (Scritti Politti)
• Charlotte Harris, Artist (National Portrait Gallery portrait prize 2003)
• Mark Herman, Writer & Director (Little Voice, Brassed Off)
• Jack Higgins (Harry Patterson) , Author
• Robert Norbury, Actor (Hollyoaks)
• Peter O’Toole, Actor
• Alexander Skarsgard, Actor (True Blood)
• Ricky Wilson, Musician, Kaiser Chiefs

Politics

• Colin Burgon, Member of Parliament (Lab), Elmet
• Michael Clapham, Member of Parliament (Lab), Barnsley West & Penistone
• Eric Pickles, Member of Parliament (Con), Brentwood & Ongar
• Phil Willis, Member of Parliament (LD), Harrogate & Knaresborough
• Michael Wood, Member of Parliament (Lab), Batley & Spen

Sport

• Sarah Bailey, Swimming & Cycling (GB Paralympic medallist)
• Guin Batten, Olympic silver medallist (Rowing, Sydney Olympics 2003)
• Geoffrey Boycott, Cricket (Yorkshire)
• Dee Caffari, Sailing
• Matt Diskin, Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos – Player)
• Brendan Foster, Athletics (GB Olympics & Commonwealth Games 3,000m, 5,000m, 10,000)
• Frank Hadden, Rugby Union (National Coach, Scotland)
• Austin Healey, Rugby Union (Leicester, England, British Lions)
• Mick Hill, Athletics (GB Olympics & Commonwealth Games, Javelin)
• Jo Jackson, 20K Women’s Walk (GB Commonwealth Games Gold medallist, Delhi 2010)
• Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos – Player)
• Stewart Lancaster, Rugby Union (Former Coach, Leeds Carnegie)
• Ian McGeechan, Rugby Union (Coach, Scotland & Wasps)
• James Parrack, Swimming (GB Commonwealth Games Silver medallist)
• Willie Poching, Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos – First Team Coach)
• Will Porterfield, Cricket (Ireland)
• Sam Ramsamy, Olympics, Member, International Olympic Committee (South Africa)
• Kevin Sinfield, Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos - Player)
• Howard Wells, Soccer, Chief Executive, Irish FA

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