Swansea’s attractive coastal location and easy access from outside Wales have helped to make it a popular choice for students. Applications were up by more than 7 per cent at the start of 2009. Most of those who take up places seem to enjoy their time there: Swansea has won awards for the best student experience in the UK and has become established among the best performers in the National Student Survey. The university has been in and around the top 20 in every year of the survey, with English, sports science, law and geography registering particularly high levels of satisfaction.

Swansea became independent of the University of Wales in 2007 and entrants in 2010 will receive a Swansea degree. Independence is intended to reflect confidence in the future, as well as helping with international recruitment and research partnerships. There are now about 500 degree courses in the modular scheme, and undergraduates are encouraged to stray outside their specialist area in their first year.

International

The university has links to more than 90 Continental institutions and offers a variety of degrees that include opportunities to study abroad. It has won European funding for some of its projects, including Graduate Opportunities Wales, which steers students towards small firms through industrial placements and vacation jobs.

The most important academic development, however, has come with the opening of the School of Medicine and the subsequent development of a full four-year graduate entry medical degree to be launched in 2009. Previous entrants have spent half of their course in Cardiff, but the new degree is linked to a new University NHS Trust and the £50-million Institute of Life Science. The institute’s six-storey building is home to the IBM “Blue C” Supercomputer, one of the fastest computers in the world dedicated to life science research.

Development

Another recent addition is the £4.3-million Digital Technium Building, housing the media and communication studies department. And the University’s commitment to aerospace engineering recently included investment in a £250,000 single-seat flight simulator facility, housed in the School of Engineering.

Despite its international links, Swansea has not forgotten its local responsibilities. The Department of Adult and Community Education teaches mature students in locations throughout the Valleys and elsewhere in South Wales. Compacts with the region’s schools encourage students in areas of economic disadvantage to aspire to higher education.

Access

Swansea makes a particular effort to cater for disabled students, which are coordinated through a £250,000 assessment and training centre. Other access measures have been successful: almost 10 per cent of the students come from areas of low participation in higher education, while the 93 per cent share of places going to applicants from state schools and colleges is significantly higher than the UK average for the university’s courses and entry grades. The projected dropout rate is a respectable 12 per cent.

Location

The attractive parkland campus two miles from the centre of Swansea overlooks the sea and offers ready access to the Gower Peninsula, the UK’s first area of outstanding natural beauty. Apart from Singleton Abbey, the neo-Gothic mansion which houses the administration, most of the buildings are modern. The university has recently opened two new halls of residence, providing a further 350 study bedrooms that takes the total to over 3,000.

The University’s £20 million Sports Village includes a 50-metre pool, a warm-up pool, athletics track, all-weather pitches, indoor athletics training centre and gym, which attract top performers. The 1,800 computers available for student use represent one of the best ratios at any university. The campus is the focal point of most students’ leisure activities, but the city has a good range of leisure facilities, including the new LC2 Leisure Centre, which includes Wales’ largest indoor water-park and the world’s first deep water standing wave machine - the Boardrider.

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