Major big-city universities seem to take it in turns to be fashionable – Manchester gave way to Nottingham, and then to Newcastle.

However, four years of static or falling applications suggest that the mantle may have been passed on again.

Scaling back numbers in the medical school prevented Newcastle from sharing in the general rise in applications in 2007 and the fall at the start of 2008, with the switch from six choices per applicant to five, was above the national average.

Development

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The university has embarked on a £200-million programme of investment in its campus and facilities.

The first phase involves a five-story, glass-fronted building costing £35 million, which will house all the main student services, as well as a visitor centre, creating a welcoming “front door” to the university. A partnership with a private sector provider of language programmes and other courses preparing overseas students for degree level study will also put £49 million into accommodation and teaching facilities.

Science and engineering laboratories have already been upgraded, disabled access improved and thousands of students provided with internet connections in university flats and halls of residence. Originally Durham University’s medical school, Newcastle’s excellence in that area was confirmed by maximum points for teaching in medicine, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology and pharmacy, reviewed jointly with molecular biosciences, psychology and its department of speech. Dentistry only just missed out on the same score.

The medical school’s reputation was confirmed by its selection as a national centre to disseminate best teaching practice in medicine. The school has gone back into partnership with Durham, with about a third of trainees spending their first two years at Durham’s Stockton campus.

Subjects

Newcastle has also been chosen to house a national centre of teaching excellence in music. Other academic developments include the creation of nine new research institutes, housed in new buildings costing over £30 million. Research grades improved in the last assessments, with biological sciences, clinical laboratory sciences, music and psychology all rated internationally outstanding.

Six out of ten academics entered for the exercise were in departments placed in the top two categories. New courses have included a Natural Sciences degree, complementing Newcastle’s designation as a “Science City”, Britain’s first degree in folk and traditional music, and a four-year business and accounting degree, which provides a fasttrack to professional qualifications.

Newcastle already had a number of unusual features for a traditional university, such as a fine art degree which attracts up to 15 applicants per place. It also has a longstanding reputation for agriculture, which recorded good scores for both teaching and research, with the benefit of two farms in Northumberland.

The campus is spacious and varied, occupying 45 acres close to the main shopping area, civic centre, Northumbria University and Newcastle United’s ground. The university also boasts an expanded and refurbished theatre, an art gallery and three museums, which it hopes to bring together in a “cultural quarter” for the city.

The university expanded dramatically in the 1990s, and now has more than 17,000 full-time students. It has become popular with independent schools, whose applicants take almost a third of the places, but the university has stepped up its contacts with local state schools in order to broaden its intake. The 300 students recruited through the programme have been doing at least as well as those with higher entry grades. Alumni and other friends of the university have raised £6 million in two years to add to the bursaries available for students from less affluent backgrounds. Official performance indicators reveal a healthy 92 per cent completion rate – better than anticipated, given the subject mix.

Student scene

Few students regret choosing Newcastle for a degree, even if southerners can find the winter temperatures a shock. The city’s nightlife is legendary – eighth best in the world, according to one survey – and the university topped a student poll based on computer facilities and student services, as well as the social scene. The cost of living is reasonable and town–gown relations better than in many cities.

Sport is a particular strength, Newcastle claiming to be one of the top ten universities both in terms of performance and facilities. A £5.5-million sports centre opened on the campus in 2005, supplementing the two existing centres, which have refurbished fitness suites, massage clinics and all the normal indoor services. The main outdoor pitches are two miles from the university. Over £30,000 is awarded annually in sports bursaries for elite athletes.

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