Keele has set itself the goal of becoming the “ultimate 21st-century campus university” and is investing more than £70 million to provide the necessary facilities.

The broad Foundation course and four-year degree that made the university’s name is a fading memory, but it remains committed to breadth of study in order also to be the leading interdisciplinary institution in Britain.

The majority of the degree courses are two-subject Dual Honours degrees, with single honours degrees in health, law and other professional subjects.

Popular combinations include criminology and psychology, geology and physical geography, history and politics, and biology and forensic science.

Multimedia

• The Times University Guide table

Related Links

• Keele University

Multimedia

• Keele University official site

More unusual pairings include geology and music and mathematics and sociology. Students have a choice of over 500 degree courses in all. Most provide the opportunity of a semester abroad - an option open to students on almost all subject combinations.

Research

An emphasis on research since an improved set of results in the 2001 assessments brought limited success in the 2008 exercise. A total of 45 per cent of the work submitted was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent, but Keele was still towards the bottom of the traditional universities on this measure. The most successful subjects were history and music.

Green issues have been rising up the university’s agenda as it achieved the Carbon Trust Standard. A degree in environment and sustainability is being introduced in 2009 entry and an innovative research hub for the study and development of sustainable forms of energy is planned.

Health

However, health subjects have been the main focus of development. First degrees in physiotherapy and nursing and midwifery have been added to the well-established postgraduate medical school. Keele has also been teaching a five-year undergraduate medical course. Some 130 students each year are taught in new facilities on the Keele campus, three miles away at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and at the Associate Teaching Hospital at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust in Shropshire. Students now take the new Keele undergraduate degree programme (MB ChB), which is in the process of validation by the GMC. A part-time BSc in osteopathy has been introduced in collaboration with the College of Osteopaths and a well-equipped School of Pharmacy opened in 2006, building on a long-established track record in the subject at postgraduate level.

All Keele’s courses are modular, with the academic year divided into two 15-week semesters, with breaks at Christmas and Easter. The university remains small by modern standards – around 7,600 full-time students – despite 75 per cent growth during the 1990s. The proportion of postgraduates has also been growing, with a quarter of the students now taking higher degrees. The demand for undergraduate places bounced back spectacularly at the start of 2009 after two disappointing years. An 18 per cent increase was more than double the national average.

Ratings

Keele has a good record in the National Student Survey, with 88 per cent of final-year undergraduates satisfied overall. There was total satisfaction in anatomy, physiology and pathology and in medical science and pharmacy. The university has recovered from a blip in last year’s statistics to record a projected dropout rate of less than 9 per cent – well above the benchmark set according to the university’s subjects and entry qualifications. Nine out of ten undergraduates are state-educated, a figure exceeded by only two traditional universities in England, and more than a quarter come from working-class homes. Keele has been proactive in trying to broaden its intake, targeting 12- and 13-year-olds with a special website, as well as running masterclasses in local schools and hosting a summer school at the university.

The attractive 617-acre campus outside Stoke-on-Trent is the largest in England. Nearly 70 per cent of all undergraduates live on campus, which inevitably dominates the social scene as well as providing part-time employment for hundreds of students. The students’ union offers entertainment on campus every night of the week and houses five bars and two purpose-built entertainment venues. The university’s sports facilities have benefited from investment in a new all-weather pitch, and the leisure centre has recently refurbished its fitness suite. Keele has an active athletic union with over 30 different sports clubs. The cost of living is also relatively low in the Potteries and the surrounding area.

Times recommends

• Students face big rise in university fees
• Students to rate lecturers online
• Lord heads team to look at raising tuition fees