Newport saw applications rise by 76 per cent in four years following its change of status from college to university.

Growth in the demand for places stalled in 2008, as it did throughout Wales, but the upward trajectory resumed at the start of 2009, with an impressive 12 per cent increase in applications.

Students have been attracted by a range of new courses in areas such as creative sound and music, cinema studies and script-writing, computer games design and internet technologies.

Newport had already embarked on an ambitious expansion strategy before attaining full membership of the University of Wales. A futuristic riverside campus that will practically double the number of students has begun to take shape, housing the Business School and part of the School of Art, Media and Design from 2010.

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At the same time, Newport will pursue closer links with the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, which was already a partner in a number of subjects.

Increase in research

There has been a significant increase in research activity with the launch of a dedicated Research and Enterprise Department. The university entered only 28 staff for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, but their work was highly rated compared with most of their peers in similar institutions.

More than half of it was considered world-leading or internationally excellent. A joint submission with the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, in art and design was particularly successful, while mechanical engineering and social work also did well.

Newport also did well in the first national student satisfaction survey, finishing in the top ten, but it has slipped down the table subsequently and was close to the bottom in 2008. Only social work and social studies recorded satisfaction levels of more than 80 per cent. A poll of local employers was particularly positive about the university, however, and Estyn, the Welsh schools inspectorate, gave the best grades in Wales to the teacher-training courses.

Access

The university, which was previously Gwent College of Higher Education, now has over 9,000 students. Virtually all the full-time undergraduates come from state schools and nearly four in ten come from working-class homes.

However, the projected dropout rate of 26 per cent is still higher than the benchmark set according to the subject mix. Newport operates a number of access schemes, including a compact agreement with local schools and colleges.

The university is actively involved with a range of local businesses. It was rated the number one university in Wales for enterprise education by the Knowledge Exploitation Fund. Among its innovations is the Corus to Campus project for redundant steelworkers (previously employed by Corus), and it is also a leading player in the Community University of the Valleys. The university also hosts the International Film School Wales, whose graduates include double-BAFTA winner Asif Kapadia, and Justin Kerrigan, director of the cult movie Human Traffic.

Campuses

There are currently two campuses. The smaller, Allt-Yr-Yn, campus focuses on engineering and computing, business and professional and social studies. The larger Caerleon campus is further out, with impressive views, and caters for humanities, science, education and art, media and design.

This is also where the student village of 661 self-catered study bedrooms is located, and a new building for fashion and the Wales International Study Centre opened in 2008. Free buses link the two sites, which are officially among the safest in Britain: Newport was the first educational establishment to pass an industry-standard security inspection.

A well-equipped sports centre at Caerleon has transformed facilities that previously compared unfavourably with those of other universities.

The city of Newport is undergoing a £2billion regeneration programme and has established a reputation for producing successful rock bands and has plenty of clubs and entertainment venues, but students in search of serious cultural or clubbing activity gravitate to nearby Cardiff.

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