Robert Gordon was the top new university in The Times league table last year and is still among the leaders. It has improved substantially in research quality, one of its weaker areas in previous years, after a much better performance in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Almost a third of its submission was considered world-leading or internationally excellent, with library and information management the star performer.

So close are links with the North Sea oil and gas industries that Robert Gordon used to dub itself the Energy University. But, with nursing and the health sciences now equally important, it has gone for the broader soubriquet of the Professional University. The creative industries are a growth area and there is a full portfolio of courses in business, design and engineering.

Prospects

Flexible programmes, with credit accumulation and transfer, make for easy movement in and out of the university for an often mobile local workforce. Work placements, lasting up to a year, are the norm, helping an employment record that has been Scotland’s best for several years and consistently one of the leaders in the UK.

Efforts to extend access beyond the normal higher education catchment have produced a diverse student population, with a third of the undergraduates coming from working-class homes and almost all attending state schools or colleges. The dropout rate has improved considerably over recent years and, at 14 per cent, is only marginally higher than the UK average for RGU’s subjects and entry qualifications.

There are now about 140 degrees, some of which involve collaboration with Aberdeen University. Students from the city’s two universities mix easily, and there is healthy academic rivalry in some areas, despite the obvious differences. There is also a partnership with Aberdeen College, which has become an associate college of the university to encourage progression from school to higher education.

Named after an 18th-century philanthropist, Robert Gordon has two sites around the city and an attractive field study centre at Cromarty, in the Highlands. The historic Schoolhill site adjoins Aberdeen art gallery in the city centre, while Garthdee, where 70 per cent of undergraduates are taught, is a mile away overlooking the River Dee. The university has spent £100 million on its buildings and facilities, with Sir Norman Foster designing the business school, while other recent developments made room for art, architecture and the faculty of health and social care. Another £110 million of improvements is planned for Garthdee over the next few years.

Access

Like most new universities, especially in Scotland, RGU recruits most of its students locally, 60 per cent of them female. However, overseas recruitment has been growing sharply and the overall demand for places has been stronger than at most universities north of the border. The university offers four-week intensive access programmes in mathematics, engineering, chemistry and computing during August and September for applicants who narrowly miss the entry requirements to top up their qualifications. If they prefer, prospective students may take access units in these subjects by distance learning, using study packs and with the support of an assigned tutor.The scheme, which runs all year round, is recommended for aspiring students without traditional academic backgrounds.

Development

The university is pinning many of its hopes on new technology. An award-winning virtual campus was launched with an online course in e-business for postgraduates. It also enables management undergraduates to receive course materials via an intranet, and other degree and short courses are available. The new Moodle system is used across Robert Gordon’s courses for both on-campus and distance learning students.

Aberdeen is a long way to go for English students, but train and air links are excellent, and the city regularly features in the top ten for quality of life. A £12-million sports and leisure centre opened in 2005, providing a centre of excellence for the region in hockey, as well as a 25-metre swimming pool, three gyms, a climbing wall and bouldering room, a café bar, three exercise studios and a large sports hall. Although private accommodation can be expensive, low prices in the students’ union partially compensate, and there are enough residential places to guarantee accommodation to first years from outside the local area.

Times recommends

• Oxford releases sample interview questions
• Britain takes over in world’s Top Ten
• Students face anxious wait for loans