Bath Spa University

Bath Spa University
Established	2005 - gained University Status 1975 - College of Higher Education
Type	Public
Endowment	£155,000[1]
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Christina Slade
Students	7,110[2]
Undergraduates	4,505[2]
Postgraduates	2,605[2]
Location	Bath, Somerset, England 51°22′32″N 2°26′18″W / 51.37556°N 2.43833°W / 51.37556; -2.43833Coordinates: 51°22′32″N 2°26′18″W / 51.37556°N 2.43833°W / 51.37556; -2.43833
Campus	Rural
Website	www.bathspa.ac.uk

Bath Spa University is a university based in, and around, Bath, England. The institution was previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College. It gained full university status in August 2005.

History

The institution can trace its roots back to the foundation of the Bath School of Art in 1852, following the impact of the Great Exhibition of 1851. In 1947 Bath Teacher Training College leased the Newton Park campus. The present institution was formed in 1975 as Bath College of Higher Education by the merger of the Bath College of Education and Newton Park College of Education. In 1992, the college was granted degree-awarding powers and in 1999 adopted the name Bath Spa University College. In March 2005 the institution was granted university status, becoming Bath Spa University in August 2005. It has since consistently ranked amongst the top 100 universities in the UK, generally placing somewhere in the 80s.^[3]

Campuses

Newton Park

The Newton Park campus of Bath Spa University

The Newton Park campus, located to the west of Bath near the village of Newton St Loe, is the largest of the university's three campuses. It is here that the majority of courses are taught, with the exception of Art and Design and some of the PGCE courses. The campus is based in Newton Park in grounds designed by Capability Brown and leased from the Duchy of Cornwall. The site has a lake, nature reserve, woodland and farmland.

This campus houses the Michael Tippett Centre which is the only purpose built concert hall in Bath.^[4] As well as being used for teaching music, the centre is used for exhibitions, musical performances and plays. The Newton Park Campus is home to the majority of the student accommodation, which consists of eight halls.

Sion Hill

The Sion Hill campus is in the north of Bath, in the Lansdown district. This campus houses the Bath School of Art and Design and Art and Design courses are taught here. Until 2009, the University also owned the nearby Somerset Place. The sale of this listed Georgian crescent was intended to finance a new campus in the city centre. This development, alongside the Dyson School of Design Innovation, did not proceed due to planning issues relating to the chosen riverside site.

Culverhay

The third, and smallest, site is based in the Southdown area of Bath. It is situated next to Culverhay School and was formerly the school's Humanities block. The campus is the home to most of the University's Postgraduate Certificate in Education Secondary and Middle Years Education courses, including History, Music, English, Geography, Mathematics and Religious Education. Facilities at the campus are not as extensive as those found in Newton Park but there are IT facilities and a common room.

Corsham Court

Corsham Court

The University has established a new centre in Corsham Court after an absence of more than 20 years. Corsham Court became the home of the Bath Academy of Art (now Bath School of Art and Design and part of the University) when its premises were destroyed during the Second World War. Walter Sickert, who taught in that School was also a mentor to Lord Methuen RA, owner of the Court. The centre will include development support for research projects, postgraduate and research studios and study areas for artists and designers undertaking Masters level study and Doctorates, facilities for project work for all undergraduate students, and a conference suite for the use of academic and support departments across the University.^[5]

Dartmouth Avenue

The university's School of Art and Design has established a new venture in Dartmouth Avenue. The site was developed as a series of painting and media studios as well as a project space for year two students. This was to offset the loss of space incurred with the sale of Somerset Place. The site has been expanded into an adjoining building to accommodate creative studios and a second, larger, project space (the first now being predominantly used for life drawing classes).

Transport

One of the "Bright Orange Buses" to the University

There are regular trains to Bath Spa Station which is on the main line served by, amongst others, London, Reading, Swindon, Chippenham and Bristol. From the station buses run to each of the campuses on a regular basis.

The Newton Park campus is served by the SPA1 service (advertised by First as the "Bright Orange Buses"), which run from the University to Bath city centre every twenty minutes during the day in term time. On week-nights and Saturdays, the service runs until 3 am, allowing students to get home from Bath's nightclubs. In the evenings and on Sundays and holidays, the bus only runs once an hour.

The Sion Hill campus is served by the 700 service which runs from the bus station. For the Culverhay campus the 20a service runs from the bus station once an hour and the 10 service runs every 10–20 minutes, again from the bus station. There is also service 42 which runs from the nearby Park and Ride at Odd Down every 12–15 minutes.

Plans

Plans have been proposed for the development of the university, most notably at Newton Park Campus where over a ten year period the student accommodation is to be demolished and new accommodation built in its place. The existing buildings will be modified to deal with the influx of students expected in the next few years.^[6] The Duchy of Cornwall, the university's landlord, is objecting to these plans.^[7]

Organisation

Schools of Study

The University has six schools of study.

• The Bath School of Art and Design is based at the Sion Hill and Dartmouth Avenue campus' and teaches art, fine art, graphic communication, interactive multimedia, media communication, materials based design, textile design studies and visual culture.

• The Graduate School is responsible for the higher degrees.

• The School of Education teaches Education Studies as an academic subject, and also has responsibility for PGCE provision and for postgraduate studies in education.

• The School of Humanities and Cultural Industries has responsibility for undergraduate courses in English Literature and in Creative Writing (including Writing for Young People) and the MA in Creative Writing (MACW). It also teaches subjects such as history, cultural studies, the study of religions, media communications, and film studies.

• The School of Music and the Performing Arts is responsible for courses in music, dance, drama, and performing arts.

• The School of Science, Society and Management is responsible for the teaching of biology, environmental science, food nutrition, geography, tourism management, psychology, sociology, health-care and business studies.

The Wessex Partnership

The University has formed partnerships with a number of regional Further Education Colleges, known as the Wessex Partnership. Under the Partnership, students take the first year of their Higher Education course in their local college and, if successful, the rest of their course at Bath Spa University.

The partner colleges are;

• Bridgwater College
• Cirencester College
• City of Bath College
• City of Bristol College
• New College, Swindon
• Norton Radstock College
• Weston College
• Weymouth College

Student life

Rugby

Bath Spa University Rugby Football Club competes in the BUCS Western Men's Conference 3A against other south western universities such as Bournemouth, Southampton, Exeter and University of Bath's 4th team. They finished bottom of the 3A league in 2010.^[8] Overall league positions (2010), Bath Spa (rank 68), Bath (rank 10).^[9] In the 2010-2011 season a second team was organised for the first time. The players also compete in 7's competitions throughout the country, but mainly in their host competition "Jon Ball 7's", which is a charitable tournament held at the Newton Park campus every May. In the Bath Derby (for the 2010-11 season) Bath Spa 1st XV succumbed 66-0 to rival Bath Uni's 4th XV.^[10]

Noted faculty

• Tessa Hadley, novelist
• Julia Green, novelist and course leader for MA Writing for Young People
• Joe Bennett, song writer and critic
• Carrie Etter, poet
• William Hughes, editor and critic
• Tim Liardet, poet and critic
• Gerard Woodward, novelist and poet
• Steve Voake, children's author
• Nicholas Campion, cultural historian

Notable alumni

• Mary Berry, Food writer
• Roger Deakins, cinematographer
• Kate Garraway, television presenter
• Peter Flannery, scriptwriter, author of Our Friends in the North^[11]
• Jason Gardener, athlete, Olympic gold medallist^[11]
• Jules Williams, writer, Director, Producer author of The Weigh Forward^[12]
• Mo Hayder, British crime novelist
• Sir Howard Hodgkin, artist, Turner Prize winner^[11]
• Daren King, contemporary English novelist
• Glenn Brown, English painter, Turner Prize winner
• Gordon Moakes, Bloc Party bassist and backing singer
• Anita Roddick, businesswoman, founder of The Body Shop^[11]

References

External links

• Bath Spa University

v t e Universities in the United Kingdom England London University of London Birkbeck CSSD Courtauld Goldsmiths Heythrop ICR IoE King's LBS LSE LSHTM Queen Mary Royal Academy of Music Royal Holloway RVC St George's SOAS UCL Other Brunel City East London Greenwich Kingston Imperial London Met London South Bank Middlesex RCA RCM Roehampton UAL Westminster West London Midlands Aston Birmingham Birmingham City Coventry De Montfort Derby Keele Leicester Lincoln Loughborough Northampton Nottingham Nottingham Trent Staffordshire Warwick Wolverhampton Worcester North Bolton Bradford Central Lancashire Chester Cumbria Durham Edge Hill Huddersfield Hull Lancaster Leeds Leeds Metropolitan Liverpool Liverpool Hope Liverpool John Moores Manchester Manchester Metropolitan Newcastle Northumbria Salford Sheffield Sheffield Hallam Sunderland Teesside York York St. John South Anglia Ruskin Bath Bath Spa Bedfordshire Bournemouth Brighton Bristol Buckingham Buckinghamshire New Cambridge Canterbury Christ Church Chichester Cranfield Creative Arts East Anglia Essex Exeter Gloucestershire Hertfordshire Kent Oxford Oxford Brookes Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Southampton Southampton Solent Surrey Sussex UWE Winchester Northern Ireland Queen's Ulster Scotland Aberdeen Abertay Dundee Dundee Edinburgh Edinburgh Napier Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian Heriot-Watt Highlands and Islands Queen Margaret Robert Gordon RCS St Andrews Stirling Strathclyde UWS Wales Aberystwyth Bangor Cardiff Cardiff Metropolitan Glamorgan Glyndŵr Newport Swansea Swansea Metropolitan UW Trinity Saint David Overseas territories University of the West Indies Bermuda College Cayman Islands Law School International College of the Cayman Islands St. Matthews University University College of the Cayman Islands University of Science, Arts and Technology American University of the Caribbean Non−geographic Lambeth degrees Open University University of London International Programmes Related List by size List by date of foundation (Third oldest in England) List by endowment Colleges within universities Degree abbreviations National Union of Students Rankings Undergraduate degree classification UCAS Category Commons List