Edge Hill has moved up our League Table, having corrected data that underestimated its performance in its first appearance in The Times Guide.

University status brought the biggest rise in applications at any institution – more than 40 per cent – and there was another big rise in the number of people seeking places in 2008.

Results have been good in the first three National Student Surveys. Edge Hill was in England’s top 20 for student satisfaction in 2007 and it was among the leaders for nursing, management and physics.

There were high levels of satisfaction, too, in education, history and English. Although one of the universities to gain the title most recently, Edge Hill has been training teachers since the 19th century.

Having moved to its 75-acre landscaped campus in Ormskirk, near Liverpool, in the 1930s, it has long since expanded into other subjects and has seen rapid growth in recent years.

Expansion

Student numbers have increased by more than 150 per cent in the current decade to more than 18,000. Over £60 million has been spent on the main campus and more is on the way. A new £14-million home to house the SOLSTICE e-learning centre and a 900-seat theatre is due to be completed in 2008.

There are also seven satellite campuses in Liverpool and the North West to facilitate local learning. The largest is based in the grounds of University Hospital Aintree, where students in the Faculty of Health can see at first-hand how a busy hospital runs. In addition, a range of further education colleges in the North West teach the university’s Foundation degrees.

Edge Hill is determinedly vocational – 85 per cent of graduates leave with professional accreditation. The university is the largest provider of secondary teacher training and courses for classroom assistants. It has also won the lion’s share of funding to deliver further training for qualified secondary school teachers.

Other big recruiters are health subjects, business and media courses. A £5-million expansion of resources for the performing arts opened in 2005 and there are industrystandard facilities for animation, TV and other media areas.

Scores in the early years of teaching quality assessment were patchy, but the last six subject reviews have produced commendations. All students have a personal tutor, as well as access to counsellors and financial advice.

Outreach

There is a high proportion of working class students and more than a quarter come from areas without a tradition of higher education. Almost two thirds of the university’s fee income goes on bursaries and outreach activities. Edge Hill won an award for a student finance support package that rewards achievement, as well as encouraging students to complete their studies, rather than simply offering incentives for enrolling.

However, while the dropout rate has been falling, the latest projection of one in five is still marginally worse than the national average for the university’s courses and entry qualifications. There are almost 700 hall places on the Ormskirk campus, and 25 acres of sporting facilities.

The £3.9-million Sporting Edge complex, which was part funded by a Lottery grant, is open to staff, students and the local community. The university has been chosen as a pre-Olympic training centre for athletics, road cycling and archery.

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