Essex has long since moved out of the shadow of its radical past, acquiring a reputation for high-quality research, especially in the social sciences.

It did well in the last research assessments and was in the top 10 in our last League Table for teaching.

There were some good results, too, in the first three national student satisfaction surveys – notably in sports science and politics in 2007 – although Essex did not do quite as well as some universities of similar size.

There are still fewer than 9,000 full-time students, a quarter of whom are postgraduates.

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Subjects

Law was top-rated in the early teaching quality assessments and sociology is among the leading departments in Britain, attracting a series of prestigious research projects as well as a high score for teaching.

Both sociology and government achieved their second successive 5* grades in the latest research assessments, with economics joining them on the top grade. With eight subjects on grade 5, three quarters of the researchers are in departments where most work is judged to be of international quality.

The social sciences are Essex’s main strength, but the university has been building up its science departments – the biological sciences department is one of its largest. Electronic engineering recorded a perfect score for teaching quality to add to an improved research rating, and biosciences almost repeated the feat. Computer science is also strong and a BSc in computer games and internet technology shows Essex keeping pace with changing demands in graduate employment.

The last four teaching assessments – for sports science, economics, philosophy and politics – all produced full marks. But improvements in the university’s academic performance could not disguise the fact that the glass and concrete campus, set in 200 acres of parkland on the outskirts of Colchester, was showing distinct signs of a quarter of a century’s wear and tear.

Development

The university has been carrying out a programme of refurbishment at the same time as expanding student facilities. Teaching and administration blocks, which cluster around a network of squares, are gradually being transformed and extra catering and residential facilities added.

First-years and all overseas students are guaranteed university accommodation, all of which is now networked to the university IT system and equipped with telephones giving free access to the internal phone system. Some ground-floor flats on campus have been adapted for disabled students.

The library has been extended to provide 1,100 reader spaces and is open for over 84 hours a week, with the Large Reading Room open 24 hours a day Monday to Thursday. A new Networks Centre for computer science and electronic systems engineering features a powered floor system for robotics and an iDorm laboratory. Another £6 million has been spent on two 500-seat lecture theatres which can be combined for exhibitions, conferences or graduation ceremonies. And work has started on a new social sciences building.

The incorporation of the East 15 acting school, in Loughton, has enhanced the university’s provision in theatre studies, and was the university’s first venture beyond Colchester. However, a £75-million campus offering courses in business, health, education and the arts opened in Southend in 2007, in partnership with South East Essex College. And Essex is collaborating with the University of East Anglia on University Campus Suffolk, which will be based in Ipswich and have smaller centres in Bury St Edmunds, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Otley.

The first building should be ready in September 2008 and students will be awarded degrees jointly by the two universities. Essex degrees are also on offer at Writtle College, near Chelmsford, which specialises in agriculture, horticulture and related subjects. Essex champions academic breadth, and in each of the four faculties, students follow a common first year before specialising. They may take four or five different subjects before committing themselves to a particular degree.

Student scene

The student population is unusually diverse for a traditional university, with high proportions of mature and overseas students. Nearly a third of the undergraduates are from working-class homes and over 90 per cent went to state schools or colleges – a significantly higher proportion than the subject mix would suggest.

Social and sporting facilities are good, the more so following an extension of the Sports Centre and the refurbishment of the students’ union bars. There are now four bars, an enlarged and refurbished nightclub and numerous cafés on campus. Some 40 acres of land are devoted to sports facilities, used extensively by individual students and over 40 university sports clubs.

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