Bath Spa is one of the growing number of new “teaching-led” universities created under Government reforms.

But it is far from new in other respects and not without research strengths.

Its Newton Park headquarters, four miles outside the World Heritage city of Bath, is in grounds landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century, with a handsome Georgian manor house as its centrepiece and owned by the Prince of Wales.

A second campus, housing the Bath School of Art and Design, is undergoing a £6m redevelopment and boasts facilities that are among the most modern in the country.

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The history of the predecessor colleges goes back 150 years, with some famous alumni, including Body Shop founder Anita Roddick and Turner Prize winner Sir Howard Hodgkin.

Growing

In recent years, the new university has undertaken its biggest-ever building programme to cater for growing student numbers. However, applications were down in 2008 and a 3 per cent increase at the start of 2009 was well below that national average. With around 7,000 students, it is still comparatively small, but the range of courses has been growing steadily.

At Newton Park, the base for all students except those taking art and design subjects, the students’ union has practically doubled in size, a library extension has added about 120 workstations and £4.8 million has been spent on an impressive university theatre with a 200-seat auditorium.

A new creative writing centre is housed in the 14th-century gatehouse, bringing it into student use for the first time.

Bath Spa has been awarding its own degrees since 1992 – much longer than some of the other new arrivals on the university scene. Subjects assessed for teaching quality averaged 22 points out of 24 and results in all the National Student Surveys have been good, especially for teaching quality.

Creative industries

The university has been designated a national centre for excellence in teaching and learning in the creative industries, bringing significant investment in the Schools of Music and Performing Arts, English and Creative Studies, and Art and Design.

Half of the subjects in which the university entered the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (art and design, communication, cultural ad media studies, English, history and music) were judged to have some world-leading work. About a third of the students are postgraduates, including a large cohort training to be teachers. The university now has the power to award its own research degrees.

Despite a setting that would seem to be a magnet for applicants from independent schools, 95 per cent of the home intake is state-educated and nearly a quarter are from working-class homes.

Two thirds of the students are female, reflecting the arts and social science bias in the curriculum, and 25 per cent are over 25. The latest projected dropout rate, of 10 per cent, is significantly better than the national average for the university’s courses and entry grades. There are about 500 overseas students from a variety of countries.

Foundations

The university has a number of partner further education colleges in the region, where a range of two-year Foundation degrees are delivered, the latest of which include musical theatre, professional musicianship, contemporary circus and physical performance, and further education management.

Many students then progress to the university campuses to complete an honours degree. About 85 per cent of first years attending Bath Spa itself are offered hall places.

Students like the “small and friendly” atmosphere, which the university is anxious to retain in spite of the temptation to go for more substantial growth. Sports facilities are not extensive, but a new gym is being built and the countryside – on and off campus – is a major draw.

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