The University of Wales Institute in Cardiff has an international reputation for sport, but is no slouch in some academic fields either.

The combination has been attracting record numbers of applicants: like the other universities in Wales, UWIC saw a decline in the demand for places at the start of 2008, but there has been a succession of large rises earlier in the decade.

Students have a formal entitlement to individual tuition.

Extra places have been added, but plans for UWIC to become part of a much larger university through a merger with neighbouring Glamorgan or the University of Wales, Newport are on the back burner, despite enthusiasm from the Welsh Assembly.

Two thirds of UWIC’s 10,000 students are Welsh, half of them from Cardiff or the Vale of Glamorgan.

Access

More than 90 per cent attended state schools and, although little more than a quarter come from working-class homes, the 15 per cent who come from areas sending few students to higher education is close to the “benchmark” set according to the mix of courses.

The dropout rate is lower than the average for new universities. UWIC is one of Britain’s leading centres for university sport, with team performances to match some excellent facilities.

In recent years, the Institute has had British university champions in gymnastics, trampolining, athletics, rugby union, rugby league, boxing, squash, archery, weightlifting and judo.

More than 240 past or present students are internationals in 28 sports, world and Olympic champions among them.

The £7-million National Indoor Athletics Centre is UWIC’s pride and joy, but other facilities are also of high quality.

Academically, art and design is the star performer, with teaching in ceramics, fine art and interior architecture rated excellent, and the whole area considered nationally excellent for research.

Teacher training

All six teacher training courses are rated as excellent, but UWIC has slipped down the table in the latest National Student Survey. There were top scores for teaching quality in several sciences, but less than one academic in five was entered for the last Research Assess-ment Exercise, leaving UWIC near the bottom of the research table in terms of average grades per member of staff. Entrance requirements are generally modest, but the menu of largely vocational courses means that many students come with qualifications other than A levels.

About a fifth are mature students and there is a relatively high proportion from overseas. Many are among the 23 per cent postgraduates – the largest proportion in Wales. UWIC is spending more than £50 million on its four sites, all within three miles of the centre of Cardiff.

The Cyncoed campus, which houses education and sport, is the centre of activity, particularly for first-year students. The athletics centre is there, together with a multitude of outdoor facilities and also the Welsh Sports Centre for the Disabled. Student facilities, including the Institute’s largest bar, have been upgraded recently.

Facilities

A £2-million learning centre opened in 2005; the IT suite has 250 computers available 24 hours a day. Howard Gardens is the home of fine art, while the Llandaff campus hosts design, engineering, food science and health courses. A new £3-million student centre is at Llandaff, which includes a dyslexia support unit among a number of advice and representation services, and a learning centre with more than 300 computers opened in 2003.

Business, hospitality and tourism are taught at the Colchester Avenue campus. Students tend to like Cardiff as a city, and UWIC’s enterprising union does its best to make their time there as lively as possible. It owns a nightclub and bar in the city centre to add to the campus choices. Before the recent expansion, it was possible to guarantee accommodation to all first years, and 90 per cent still live in halls.

UWIC is the only university to have been awarded the Government’s Charter Mark four times, the judges commenting particularly on the level of satisfaction among students. This was not especially evident in the national surveys, and the improvement noted in 2006 did not continue in 2007.

Times recommends

• Graduates face debt and bleak job hunt
• Student of the Year Awards 2008 featuring Kelly Rowland
• Student bursary system 'penalises' the poor