The oldest of the Welsh universities, Aberystwyth has changed its title to emphasise its independence.

Although its degrees will still come from the University of Wales, the title of Aberystwyth University will make its status clear, especially for overseas applicants.

Aber has long prided itself on a modern outlook: the modular degree system has been running since 1993, covering academic and vocational courses, and the principle of flexibility was established long before that.

Uniquely in the UK, every student is offered the opportunity of a year’s work experience in commerce, industry or the public sector, either at home or abroad.

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Success

Students who have taken advantage of the scheme have achieved better than average degrees and enhanced their employment prospects.

The mix served Aberystwyth well in the national student satisfaction survey, winning it a place in the top ten and making it the clear leader in Wales. Geography and environmental science, history and archaeology, modern languages and biology all produced outstanding results.

Aber is always heavily oversubscribed even though the number of places has increased. Almost a third of the students are from Wales. An agreement to collaborate with Bangor University in a range of subjects, from business to science, emphasises teaching in Welsh.

An attractive seaside location does the university no harm when the applications season comes around, although the demand for places was down at the start of 2008, in common with other Welsh universities. The college has expanded significantly in recent years, with a new School of Management and Business as well as a department of Sports and Exercise Science among the additions.

Developments

A £3.6-million centre for theatre, film and television studies, and a purpose-built sports and exercise science centre are among the latest developments on the Penglais campus, which overlooks the town.

A new building for the highly rated International Politics Department opened in 2006 and a £10-million Visualisation Centre followed in 2007, providing virtual reality facilities for academic and industrial partnerships. More than 90 per cent of the undergraduates come from state schools or colleges – a far higher proportion than the mix of subjects would imply – but less than 30 per cent come from working-class homes and only about half that number hail from areas that send few students to higher education.

However, the dropout rate of around 10 per cent is the lowest at any university in Wales. The Institute of Rural Sciences allows Aber to claim the widest range of landrelated courses in the UK. The institute shares the Llanbadarn campus with information and library studies and a further education college.

Ratings

Teaching ratings were impressive, especially in the arts and social sciences. Offers of places are made on the basis of the UCAS tariff, which not only recognises general studies as full A or AS levels, but also gives credit for Key Skills qualifications. Celtic studies and politics were rated internationally outstanding in the latest research assessments, while theatre, film and television studies reached the next rung of the ladder. Criminology was added to the degree portfolio in 2006 and psychology has followed.

Entrance scholarships and bursaries are available in a range of subjects, even though Welsh students have been spared the full impact of top-up fees. Aber boasts one of higher education’s most informative websites and also publishes a 12-page guide for parents. There is 24-hour access to the computer network, and the four university libraries are complemented by the National Library of Wales.

The town of Aberystwyth is compact and travel to other parts of the UK slow, so applicants should be sure that they will be happy to spend three years or more in a tight-knit community.

The students’ guild is the largest entertainment venue in the region and the arts centre has been extended at a cost of £3.5 million. The highly professional Alternative Prospectus, produced by students, has stopped describing the seaside town of 25,000 people as the “Welsh California”, but a recent survey rated it students’ favourite university town in the UK.

There is plenty of out-of-season accommodation to supplement the university’s 3,700 places, all of which are now online. Sports facilities are good for the size of institution, with 50 acres of pitches, a newly refurbished swimming pool, a climbing wall and specialist outdoor facilities for water sports.

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