So close are links with the North Sea oil and gas industries that Robert Gordon has dubbed itself the Energy University, but nursing and the health sciences are now equally important.

The university’s mission statement has switched the emphasis from vocational to professional education; the creative industries are also a growth area.

There is a full portfolio of courses in business, health, design and engineering.

Flexible programmes, with credit accumulation and transfer, make for easy movement in and out of the university for an often mobile local workforce.

Employability

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 more than a third of the undergraduates coming from working-class homes and almost a fifth from areas sending few students to higher education.

The dropout rate has improved over recent years, but the 18 per cent projection in the latest survey is still higher than the UK average for RGU’s subjects and entry qualifications. Only two of the subjects assessed in the main rounds of teaching assessment were rated Excellent, but a majority of the rest were considered Highly Satisfactory.

Research

Just 120 academic staff were entered for the last Research Assessment Exercise and none of the subjects featured in the top three of the seven categories. But the university has committed itself to winning international recognition for applied research in the current decade.

There are now about 140 degrees to choose from. There was serious consideration of a merger with Aberdeen University in 2002. Although this was eventually abandoned, collaboration between the two institutions continues.

Students from the city’s two universities mix easily, and there is healthy academic rivalry in some areas, despite the obvious differences. 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 (with 3,000 students).

Development

Another £110 million of improvements is planned for Garthdee over the next few years. 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 Scottish Government has provided £500,000 in European funding to help more people from disadvantaged communities to take courses.

Access

The university already 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. The university is pinning many of its hopes on new technology. An awardwinning virtual campus was launched with an online course in e-business for postgraduates, again with European funding. It also enables management undergraduates to receive course materials via an intranet, and other degree and short courses are available.

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. An £11-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.

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