The oldest of the Welsh universities, Aberystwyth has changed its title to emphasise its independence and is now awarding its own degrees.

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.

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

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Ratings

The mix served Aberystwyth well in the national student satisfaction survey, winning it a place in the top 10 per cent of UK universities and making it the clear leader in Wales. Geography and environmental science, sport and exercise science, Welsh and physics all produced outstanding results.

Aber is always heavily oversubscribed even though the number of places has increased. Over 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. The demand for places was up by more than any other university in Wales in 2008 and a 12 per cent increase at the start of 2009 underlined its popularity.

The university 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. 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 one of the lowest in Wales.

Development

In 2008 Aberystwyth established the new Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) following a merger with the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research. With over 300 staff and an annual budget in excess of £25 million, IBERS is one of the largest groups of scientists and support staff working in this field in Europe, and caters for more than 1,000 undergraduate and research students. Its remit is to look for creative solutions to some of the major challenges faced by the world today in the areas of sustainable land use, climate change, renewable energy and the security of food and water supplies. The institutegives Aber the widest range of land-related courses in the UK.

Over the next five years, £55 million will be invested in new teaching and research facilities and academic appointments at Aberystwyth. International politics produced the best results in the 2008 research assessments, with 40 per cent of work rated ‘world-leading’. Computer science, geography and earth sciences, Welsh, and theatre, film and television also did well.

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.

Location

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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