Coventry is investing £160 million over ten years in its 33-acre campus close to the city centre, much of it going on student facilities.

The showpiece turreted library cost £20 million and is almost entirely naturally ventilated and lit.

The £5-million student centre, opened in 2006, contains everything from the accommodation and careers services to the Finance and Academic Registry, as well as lounge space.

Next on the list are a student enterprise centre, containing a new students’ union and featuring a roof garden among its many facilities, and a new home for the Faculty of Engineering and Computing.

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The university has already added other facilities, including more residential accommodation, a £7-million arts centre and a sports centre, during a decade in which student numbers doubled to more than 20,000.

Coventry traces its origins back to 1843 with the foundation of the College of Design and its links with the motor industry of the Midlands were reflected in its earlier title of Lanchester Polytechnic, named after a leading engineering figure. It has adopted an innovative approach to computer-assisted learning, supported by an expanded computer network.

The university was chosen to house national centres of excellence in teaching for e-learning in health and social care, as well as in maths, and transport and product design.

Networking

The university has a focus on employment, which is reflected in a predominantly vocational curriculum. The Start-Up Café encourages business networking and local employers are engaging with the programme of work-based learning.

The Add+vantage Scheme is designed to help full time undergraduate students improve their employability whilst studying. Its modules cover a wide range of skills and help students gain work-related knowledge and prepare for a career.

The majority of students exercise their right to take “free-choice modules” that cover the full range of university provision, with IT skills and languages particularly popular. Coventry has been building up its portfolio of courses, introducing eye-catching degrees in subjects such as ethical hacking and network security, disaster management, forensic chemistry, criminology and boat design.

Languages and economics produced the best scores in an otherwise mediocre set of results in the National Student Survey published in 2008. Research grades improved in the 2008 assessment exercise, when small amounts of world leading work were recognised in seven of the 16 areas in which the university made submissions.

Art and design and electrical and electronic engineering produced the best results. Design benefits from a revolutionary £1.6-million digital modelling workshop, sponsored by the Bugatti Trust, which provides full-scale vehicle modelling facilities for undergraduates as well as researchers.

Among the initiatives to improve the student experience has been the introduction of tangible rewards for excellent teaching and further development of electronic learning. The Centre for Academic Writing offers advice on essays and theses, with group sessions and one-to-one appointments, while the Maths Support Centre includes a statistics advisory service and specialist support service for students with dyslexia.

Access

Almost 40 per cent of the undergraduates have working-class backgrounds, many from areas of low participation in higher education. Applications have been healthy and were up by more than the national average at the start of 2009, following a good year in 2008. The projected dropout rate had improved in the latest survey, but still stands at 20 per cent.

More than most universities, Coventry is a creature of its city, and the civic-minded approach of the university has created many town–gown links. The main buildings open out from the ruins of the bombed cathedral, as university and public facilities mingle in the city. Student residences are within easy walking distance of the campus and city centre. Students welcome the relatively low cost of living in Coventry, and, as at most modern universities, the student body encompasses a wide range of ages.

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