309 Regent Street
London W1B 2UW

Tel 020 7915 5511

course-enquiries@wmin.ac.uk

www.wmin.ac.uk

Sunday Times ranking 89= (91)

Teaching excellence 36%

Student satisfaction 67.7%

Head teacher ranking 109= (117=)

Peer ranking 66 (59)

Research quality 17.2%

A/AS-level points 255

A-levels for entry 63%

Unemployment 10.6%

Firsts and 2:1s 53.9%

Student/staff ratio 17.6:1

Dropout rate 17% (20%)

Undergraduates 11,780 (6,948)

Postgraduates 2,751 (4,602)

Teaching staff 751

Applications/places 23,796/4,741; 5:1 (+8.4%)

Clearing entry 22%

Bursaries 1,650: £305

Scholarships 130: £2,000-£4,000

EU/overseas 7.7%/9.8%

Mature 32.2%

State school 95%

Lowest social classes 42%

Low-participation areas 12%

Live in 10% (73%) £71-£98

Westminster’s name and location ensure healthy recruitment from overseas; about one in five students come from abroad, making the university as cosmopolitan as the city it calls home. A near 10% rise in home-grown applications this year demonstrates Westminster’s popularity among UK students, too, although last year 22% of undergraduates gained places here through clearing.

Unlike many of the modern universities (those gaining their title since 1992), Westminster offers a stable programme of courses. It knows its strengths and this confidence is born of the fact that it has nine top-rated subjects for teaching (with notable prowess in languages) and four internationally renowned research centres – in law, linguistics, Asian studies and media studies – the latter achievement unparalleled in the modern university sector.

It has invested heavily in its four campuses – three in the West End and one in Harrow. Recently completed is a £35m spend on the Cavendish campus, home to the schools of biosciences, informatics and integrated health. Acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, nutritional therapy, herbal medicine and therapeutic bodywork can all be taken to degree level with Chinese massage (Qigong Tuina) offered to diploma standard.

Westminster has a good record for widening participation, with almost half the students drawn from working-class backgrounds and almost all recruited from state schools.

The bursary structure aims to assist the many rather than overly reward a few; so the 60% on any level of state maintenance grant get an annual flat-rate payment of £305. Scholarships are rather more renumerative with about 130 a year available paying up to £4,000; however, only degree students in the school of integrated health are eligible. Academic excellence is rewarded and students’ financial circumstances and other disadvantages are taken into account.

There is only a small amount of student accommodation and not everyone gets a room. Those that do pay just over £70 a week. Half the accommodation is on the Harrow campus. Sports pitches are somewhat distant from the campuses, being in Chiswick, although there are gyms at the Regent Street and Harrow campuses. But the three central sites offer plenty else: immersion in a great capital city, for a start.

Open days October 13.

Student view Vanessa Patel, students’ union officer:

USP Being immersed in London culture.

Worst feature Four separate campuses, but this year we are trying to integrate and get everyone involved.

Location We are so central you will be spoilt for choice.

Social scene Intermission is our brand new central London social space.

Rated excellent (9) Building; communication and media studies; east and south Asian studies (Chinese); French; hospitality, leisure, recreation, sport and tourism; Middle Eastern and African studies (Arabic); politics; psychology; subjects allied to medicine.

Student satisfaction 67.7% Electronic and Electric Engineering 82.8; Tourism, Transport, Travel and others in Business and Administrative studies 79.5; Art and Design 74.6; Other Creative Arts 74.2; English-based studies 72.8; Psychology 71.4; Other subjects allied to Medicine 71.2; Politics 70.1; Management 68.4; Biology and related Sciences 67.6; Law 66.7; Business 66.1; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 65.5; Media studies 64.1; Computer Science 64.0; Other Languages and Area studies 61.5; Architecture, Building and Planning 61.1

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