Northumbria University

History

• Northumbria University has a rich history going back through its constituent colleges, including the Rutherford College of Technology, to the late 19th century. It delivers programmes in 30 of the 32 most popular subject areas to some 36,000 students. A further 4,000 students come from outside the European Union to study on campus, and a similar number of students study Northumbria University degrees overseas.
• Northumbria offers courses through its eight Academic Schools: Arts and Social Sciences; Newcastle Business School; Built and Natural Environment; Computing Engineering and Information Sciences; Design; Health Community and Education Studies; Law; and Life Sciences.

Location and transport

• Northumbria University is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, a city voted the best place in the UK for students by the MSN.com travel survey for three years in a row. In addition to the vibrant city life, the University is within easy reach of Northumberland's historic coastline, beaches and national park.
• The majority of subjects are taught on the city centre campus which now boasts one of the most attractive learning environments in the country. Health, Education and Community Studies students are based at Coach Lane Campus just a short distance from the main campus. 
• The University’s School of Design has a satellite campus in London.
• Northumbria University is international in its reach and operations and enjoys excellent worldwide transport links from its Newcastle base via road, rail, sea and air. Northumbria University is less than two hours by train from Edinburgh, three hours from central London and less than one hour by air from  Northern Ireland.  Many major airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Eastern Airways and Brussels Airlines provide global links to Newcastle via international hubs including Paris, Dubai, Amsterdam and London.

Entry standards

• Entry grades are among the highest in the new universities with an average of 339 points now achieved which exceeds some traditional universities.
• Northumbria also accepts a number of other qualifications including BTEC, Cache, Cambridge Pre-U, International Baccalaureate, OCR Nationals, Progression Diplomas, Scottish and Irish qualifications and Access Diplomas.
• Free one-day taster courses run throughout the year to give prospective students an idea of what studying at Northumbria would be like.

Student mix

• Applications have risen by almost 50% per cent since 2007 with more than 60% of applications from outside the region.
• Northumbria has a diverse, multicultural student population with a broad range of students from the UK and EU, overseas.
• Northumbria is one of the top 15 recruiters of students from outside of the European Union

Course flexibility

• Programmes are generally made up of a number of compulsory and optional modules which broaden study and personal development.
• Options may be programme-specific, from another area or occasionally from another School. This allows students to study a subject which augments their main course or one which is of particular interest.
• Many programmes offer opportunities for student placements or sandwich years, allowing students to gain industry experience.
• Strong links with an EU exchange programme means there are plenty of opportunities to study abroad.

Teaching standards

• Scores in the 2011 National Student Survey exceeded the sector average with a student satisfaction rate of 83%.
• A successful Institutional Audit by the Quality Assurance Agency in Spring 2010 led to the panel expressing broad confidence, the highest possible rating, in all areas of academic activity at Northumbria University
• Northumbria is one of only eight institutions to hold maximum Ofsted grades for its primary teacher training provision and one of only five to reach the highest standard for secondary teaching provision.
• In 2011 its PGCE teacher training was rated second only to Cambridge by the Good Teacher Training Guide with results based on the percentage of graduates able to gain employment after graduation.

Research standards

• Northumbria is a research engaged and business focused university which is working to double its capacity in research and enterprise over the next five years. It has invested £18m in appointing new academic and research staff. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, all areas of Northumbria’s submission were considered to be 'world-class' or 'internationally excellent'.
• The University promotes research that makes a difference to the economy, culture and society, prioritising interdisciplinary research and research collaborations.
• The University has the UK’s first ecologically-valid sleep research centre.
• State-of-the-art sport, teaching and research facilities are housed in the award-winning Sport Central – a £30-m sports facility. An environmental chamber allows researchers to experience conditions equivalent to anywhere in the world.

Academic strengths

• Northumbria has excellent links with employers and the University has the highest number of employed graduates amongst the North East universities.
• More than 600 employers sponsor undergraduate programmes and accreditation from almost 50 professional bodies means many students leave with professionally certified qualifications. In 2010, Northumbria had the second largest number of employer-sponsored students in the UK. Many degrees are available as sandwich courses, with placements of up to a year in business or industry.
• Nine academics have now been awarded National Teaching Fellowships.
• The University has a partnership with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and has recently appointed a BALTIC Professor of Contemporary Visual Art to head a new institute that will transform higher education in this field and introduce unique learning opportunities for students worldwide.  The new Northumbria University gallery inside BALTIC was used for the Turner Prize exhibition in 2011 – the first time the exhibition and prize-giving was hosted outside a Tate building.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• Large-scale investment over recent years includes a £7-m refurbishment of the 24/7 library.
• Northumbria’s library’s services ranked in the top 20% in the UK in the NSS 2011.
• Award-winning search engine, NORA, provides access to more than 500,000 books, 30,000 journals and in excess of 300 databases at any one time.
• Northumbria University’s Library has secured Government endorsement from the Cabinet Office for outstanding customer service.
• All students have personal MyNorthumbria web page which allow them to maintain personal information, view class and exam timetables, enrol onto programmes, make online payments, apply for accommodation and view availability of IT workstations in all buildings.
• E-learning portal – a virtual learning environment containing lecture materials, messages, study notes, reading lists, discussion forums, podcasts and vodcasts.
• Desktop ANYWHERE software enables students to access their emails and files from anywhere in the world.
• An out-of-hours IT helpline and online support is available 24/7.

Disability services

• The Disability Support team offers information, advice, guidance and support to disabled students and those with a long standing medical condition or specific learning difficulty which may affect their study at the University. For more information email sv.disability@northumbria.ac.uk.

Students' Union

• Northumbria’s Students’ Union was named NUS Student Union of the Year award in 2011.
• Run by students for students, the union provides quality entertainment, societies and activities as well as advice on a range of issues.
• A £7-m renovation of the Students’ Union building has created an impressive space for learning, recreation and support. It features three award-winning bars and club venues, and a newly-refurbished performing arts and live music centre.
• All students automatically become union members and can benefit from the wide-range of benefits and discounts available.
• Northumbria Students’ Union runs a host of volunteering activities and students receive formal recognition through the University’s Global Citizenship Award.

Sport

• In sport, Northumbria is consistently among the top 20 in the British Universities and Colleges Sport rankings. Its sport scholarship programme has supported over 250 athletes from more than 40 sports in the past ten years and it now offers a number of full-fee sport scholarships. Northumbria graduates include: Victoria Pendleton, Olympic and world championship gold medal winning cyclist; Martin Corry, former England Rugby Union captain and British Lions representative; athlete Brendan Foster; athlete Steve Cram MBE; and Paralympic world record holder Stephen Miller.
• Northumbria has a leading Performance Sport Programme for talented athletes as well as a Volunteer Community Programme.
• The University operates an extensive sports and leisure programme for all, including opportunities to become qualified coaches.
• Facilities at the award-winning Sport Central include a 3,000-seater indoor arena, a 25m swimming pool, a climbing wall, golf simulators, squash and aerobics courts and fitness centre.

Recent/prospective new builds

• With a £160-m investment in its city centre campus, Northumbria now boasts one of the most attractive inner-city sites in the country. The redevelopment of part of its main campus, known as City Campus East, is home to over 9,000 staff and students from the Schools of Business, Design and Law. This development has won numerous regional awards and won a national award for Low Carbon New Build Project of the Year.
• The School of Health, Community and Education Studies is based at Coach Lane campus and incorporates a learning resources centre with a fully integrated library, a clinical skills centre, where students can learn in simulated hospital environment, new sports facilities, as well as teaching and seminar rooms.

Availability of part-time work

• There is a huge range of part-time work available across Newcastle and the Student Job-Shop is there to help.
• Many students actually find work on campus supporting a range of student, sporting and recruitment activities.
• The university advises students they should only work a maximum of 16  hours per week during term-time.

Notable alumni

Amongst its most prominent Alumni:

• Sir Jonathan Ive KBE – Vice President of Industrial Design, Apple Computers and designer of the iMac.
• Gordon Sumner (Sting), CBE – Internationally renowned musician, songwriter and actor.
• Kevin Whately – television actor, best known for his role as Lewis in Inspector Morse.
• Steve Cram, MBE – one of the world's most successful middle distance athletes of all time.
• Amanda Berry – BAFTA Chief Executive.
• Mark Leckey – Turner Prize winning artist.