Once a university that gloried in the absence of traditional academic disciplines, Bournemouth is subtly changing its image.

Its latest corporate plan speaks of a university “geared to the professions with passionate commitment to academic excellence”.

Research has moved up the agenda with a £1-million investment in 80 PhD studentships, and the aim is to increase undergraduates’ entry qualifications year on year.

Bournemouth’s forte has always been in identifying gaps in the higher education market and then filling them with innovative programmes.

Innovative

Degrees in public relations, retail management, scriptwriting and tax law are among the examples. The university also boasts the National Centre of Computer Animation.

The mix has been popular with students – applications held up well in 2008, when the cut in the number of choices for each student prompted a decline elsewhere.

This followed a 10 per cent rise in applications in the previous year, when design, engineering and computing all registered increases of more than 50 per cent.

The university claims a number of firsts in its growing portfolio of courses, notably in the area of tourism, mediarelated programmes and conservation.

Vocational

It was no surprise to find the university among the pioneers of Foundation Degrees – two-year highly vocational courses, which remain at the heart of the Government’s expansion plans for higher education.

Now much expanded, the courses are being delivered in further education colleges from Cornwall to Wiltshire, supporting the needs of business in the creative arts, media and tourism. Many of Bournemouth’s courses have an international focus and all students are encouraged to improve their linguistic ability.

A majority of undergraduates take sandwich courses, and 70 per cent do work placements. The result is an employment rate which is the university’s proudest achievement: four out of five graduates go straight into jobs. The Retail Management degree notched up eight successive years of full employment and is still running at over 90 per cent.

Students are offered personal development planning, both online and with trained staff, while 1,400 first-years also take advantage of peerassisted learning, receiving advice from more experienced undergraduates. Archaeology, television and video production, media studies and nursing achieved the best teaching grades, while psychology was the star performer in the first national student satisfaction survey.

Strengths

Media courses are a particular strength, with entry requirements well above the university’s modest average. State-of-theart equipment includes a motion capture facility for real-time animation, which is used in teaching and available for use by outside companies, and a £3.5-million Centre for Excellence in Media Practice is on the way.

Computer animation was the star performer in the 2001 research assessments, which saw much-needed improvement on 1996. Among the new developments planned is the world’s first fully commercial teaching hotel, a four-star establishment with public- and private-sector backing, which is due to open in 2009.

New teaching and residential accommodation has been added in recent years, with more to come. A multimillion-pound library opened in 2003. There are now two campuses – the original Talbot site in Poole and a dedicated campus in Bournemouth town centre – with associate colleges in Yeovil, Bournemouth and Poole, Cannington, Salisbury and Weymouth.

The southern seaside location and the subject mix attract more middle-class students than most new universities, although over 90 per cent attended state schools and colleges. Students are discouraged from bringing cars (which are banned within a mile of the town-centre campus), but many still do.

The area has plenty to offer students during the summer season. Although it naturally becomes less lively in the winter months, Bournemouth no longer shuts up when the tourists go home. The students’ union’s Old Fire Station bar is the favourite among many nightlife options. Bournemouth offers a wide range of accommodation, from 1,700 places in university halls to bed-and-breakfast lets and shared houses.

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