The largest of the nine new universities created in 2005, Southampton Solent also has the broadest range of programmes, stretching from Foundation courses for those without the qualifications to begin degrees, to PhDs.

The 10,600 students embrace civil and mechanical engineering, as well as media, arts and business, with a separate maritime centre capitalising on the coastal location.

The subject mix explains why the former Southampton Institute is now one of the few universities with a majority of male students.

The rebranded Solent Curriculum plays to the university’s strengths in vocational courses, with an eye to maintaining a good graduate employment record. There is a strong representation of “non-traditional” disciplines, such as yacht and powercraft design, computer and video games, and comedy writing and performance.

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A new range of courses for 2008 included degrees in fashion management, television and music production, and coaching and sport development.

Facilities

A Graduate Enterprise Centre provides advice and rent-free offices for those hoping to start their own businesses, while the Warsash Maritime Centre is an internationally renowned training and research facility for the shipping and offshore oil industries.

Solent entered fewer academics for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise than any university in England – less than one in ten of those eligible. But two of the three areas in which it made a submission contained some world-leading research, with art and design achieving much the best results.

Applications

It was also only three places off the bottom of the student satisfaction table in 2008. Only in sociology and social studies were more than 85 per cent of the students satisfied, and the proportion dropped to less than a third in fine art and the performing arts.

Nevertheless, applications have been healthy and had risen by nearly 12 per cent at the official deadline for courses beginning in 2009. Demand for places remains especially strong in marine-based courses.

Watersports

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