Edinburgh Building
City Campus
Chester Road
Sunderland
SR1 3SD
Tel 0191 515 3000
student.helpline@ sunderland.ac.uk
www.sunderland.ac.uk
Open days October 7 and 24

PERFORMANCE

Sunday Times ranking 87 (72)

Student satisfaction 77.8%
Head teacher ranking 111= (96=)
Peer ranking 114= (79=)
Research quality 46.5%
A-level/Higher points 221
Unemployment 13.3%
Firsts and 2:1s 50.2%
Student/staff ratio 16.7:1
Dropout rate 20.6% (16.7%)

Multimedia

• The Times University Guide table

VITAL STATISTICS

Undergraduates 7,528 (7,516)
Postgraduates 1,593 (1,071)
Teaching staff 419
Applications/places 9,831/2,526; 3.9:1 (+10.9%)
Clearing entry 12.7%
Live in 20% (100%) £44-£123
Bursaries £525-£844
Scholarships 100%: £322

SOCIAL MIX

EU/overseas 3.8%/2.6%
Mature 24.4%
State school 97.4%
Lowest social classes 41.5%
Low-participation areas 26.6%

Sunderland has one of the best records for widening participation in higher education. A range of access initiatives bear fruit in figures that show a quarter of the intake are recruited from areas where there is a poor record of progression into higher education (and that means strong local and regional recruitment) and about half are drawn from working-class backgrounds.

The result is a student body that appreciates the chance Sunderland has given them; their fierce loyalty evident in the results of the national student survey, which has placed the university in the top 30 nationally for student satisfaction in each of the past two years.

All students qualify for a success scholarship amounting to £965 over three years, with further means-tested support worth £525 a year offered to those from homes where income is less than £39,305.

The university is intertwined with the economic life of the region it serves. Its long-standing relationship with Nissan has been geared more recently towards offering training and development opportunities as the car-maker has struggled, along with others in the industry.

The first phase of a £75m refurbishment of the City campus opens this month. The CitySpace development houses a sports hall, climbing wall, fitness suite and a sports injury centre, as well as social, catering, leisure and exhibition spaces.

Sunderland’s second site, the Sir Tom Cowie campus close to the mouth of the River Wear, is home to the school of business, law and psychology, the David Goldman informatics centre, and the media centre, which runs many of the courses for which Sunderland is perhaps best known.

Shared student accommodation starting from just under £44 a week makes Sunderland among the cheapest places to live.

STUDENT VIEW

Lucy West, students’ union president:

First impressions The university welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home. Staff were happy to help with all the inquiries I had.
Worst feature Being split between three campuses can make things tricky.
Facilities An amazing new CitySpace building houses social areas, cafes and a gym. It’s given a real lift to our original campus.
Deal clincher Great academic courses, a vast amount of sports and societies and good-value accommodation.

Rated excellent (10)
Allied health professions (podiatry); anatomy and physiology; business and management; communication and media studies; history; molecular biosciences; nursing; organismal biosciences; pharmacy and pharmacology; social policy and administration and social work.

Student satisfaction
Law 96.3; English-based studies 86.9; Psychology 83.5; Education studies 82.7; Management 81.7; Business 80.9; Initial Teacher Training 80.5; Social Work 78.3; Performing Arts 77.3; Medical Science and Pharmacy 77.1; Computer Science 75.5; Other Creative Arts 74.1; Sports Science 73.1; Media studies 72.5; Communications and Information studies 71.5; Art and Design 71.3; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 70.1; History and Archaeology 69.4; Mechanically-based Engineering 63.8

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