Queen Margaret University

HISTORY

Queen Margaret University (formerly Queen Margaret University College and Queen Margaret College) is a modern university located in Musselburgh, East Lothian near Edinburgh in Scotland. It is named after Saint Margaret, wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland.

Queen Margaret University was founded in 1875, as The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, by Christian Guthrie Wright and Louisa Stevenson, both members of the Edinburgh Ladies’ Educational Association. The School was founded as a women-only institution, with twin aims of improving women’s access to higher education and improving the diets of working class families. Teaching was initially delivered via lectures at the Royal Museum, supplemented by a programme of public lectures and demonstrations delivered nationwide, but in 1877 the School established a base at Shandwick Place, in Haymarket.

The school moved in 1891 to Atholl Crescent, expanding its courses and offering residential places to students. In 1909, the School was designated a Central Institution and brought under the public control of the Scottish Education Department.

In 1961, the College acquired its Corstorphine campus, purchasing a portion of the Clermiston estate from developers. The campus was first occupied by the College in 1970, opened by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester who was Patron of the institution until her death in 2004. In 1972, the name Queen Margaret College was adopted to dissociate the College from the narrow field of domestic science. Thereafter, the College broadened its range of courses, especially in the paramedical and healthcare fields.

In 1992, the Privy Council granted Queen Margaret College powers to award its own taught degrees, and in 1998, the College was granted full degree powers, which enabled it to award its own research and higher degrees. As a result, in 1999 the College took the name Queen Margaret University College. After further improvements to the college, the institution was awarded full university status, becoming Queen Margaret University in January 2007.

COURSES

The university, which has over 6,000 students and more than 470 staff, is divided into two schools: the School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management; and the School of Health Sciences.

·         School of Arts and Social Sciences

Following restructing in early 2010, the Schools of Social Sciences, Media and Communication, Business, Enterprise and Management, and Drama and Creative Industries were merged. The School offers courses in ‘Business, Enterprise and Management’; ‘Governance, Justice and Public Management’; ‘Hospitality and Gastronomy’; Creativity and Culture’; and ‘Public Relations’.

QMU is part of the Scottish Drama Training Network which was set up by the Scottish Funding Council in 2010 to foster cohesion across stage and screen professional practice, education and training. Through the Network, QMU in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University delivers the BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen.

The School is the only institution in Scotland that is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations to deliver the postgraduate CIPR Diploma in Public Relations. The School’s Bachelor of Science (BSc) courses in psychology; MSc in Health Psychology are accredited by the British Psychological Society.

·         School of Health Sciences

The School of Health Sciences offers courses in dietetics, nutrition and biological sciences; nursing; speech and language therapy, audiology, occupational therapy and art therapy; physiotherapy; podiatry; radiography; art psychotherapy, dance movement psychotherapy and music therapy.

The subject area of Speech and Hearing Sciences won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for research into the clinical applications of speech technology in 2002 carried out in the Speech Science Research Centre.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Entry standards are subject to change. The student can find information on the individual course pages of their website.

ACADEMIC STRENGTHS

Queen Margaret University has academic flagship areas in Health and Rehabilitation, Sustainable Business, and Creativity and Culture.

Within these flagship areas, the university provides highly relevant professional education and research that informs policy and practice in health, performing arts, media and social science, and business, enterprise and management. Within the area of health and rehabilitation, flagships include food and nutrition, speech and hearing sciences, international nursing education and rehabilitation science.

The university’s work in Health and Rehabilitation has a global reach, not least through its Institute for International Health and Development (IIHD). Focused on the social determinants of health in globally and locally marginalised populations, IIHD provides post-graduate education, research and technical assistance to development agencies and governments. An excellent reputation for healthcare courses, particularly with an international reputation for excellence in the area of speech & language therapy.

They focus their research and knowledge exchange work through specialist centres: Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research; Centre for Applied Social Sciences; Centre for Person-centred Practice Research; Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre; Institute for Global Health and Development & Centre for Communication, Cultural and Media Studies.

In the National Student Survey (NSS) 2015, overall satisfaction with QMU stands at 85%. Research in Psychology resulted in outstanding impact. (This was the first time that Psychology had been submitted to REF and 29% of research in this area is internationally excellent.) QMU’s REF submission also reflects the University’s commitment to equality and diversity in research careers. The University was proud to submit a high volume of research from its early career researchers. In order to continue offering students the opportunity for broaden their horizons, QMU has initiated new exchange agreements with universities in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. 94.4% of QMU graduates find employment or go on to further training within 6 months of graduating. QMU is the first and only HE institution in the east of Scotland to host the Children’s University. The university now has over 2000 children aged between 5 and 14 taking part in the Children’s University.

TEACHING STANDARDS

Lecturing staff are actively engaged in ongoing research and collaborative work with external agencies, businesses and academics from other institutions. In the past few years their researchers have secured an increasing number of prestigious research grants from the UK Research Councils including the AHRC, ESRC and EPSRC and have also received funding from the Chief Scientist Office, NHS, central and local government, charities and industry. They are also very active in knowledge exchange work. Their research and knowledge exchange work helps ensure that teaching is up-to-date and relevant, benefiting from the latest thinking and developments in the field. QMU’s robust arrangements for securing academic standards and for enhancing the quality of the student experience were confirmed through its achievement of the highest level of judgement, i.e. ‘Effective’ in the Enhancement-led Institutional Review conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (2013).

CAREERS GUIDANCE

QMU’s Careers and Employability can help and support students throughout their studies, whether they are looking to find part-time employment, voluntary work, relevant work experience or graduate employment. The careers team encourage students to make the most of the service provided so that they are confident and able effectively to market their knowledge, skills and experience to potential employers. The team operates a Careers for Life service, which allows graduates to access the specialist careers service well beyond graduation. An online vacancy system allows students to explore local temporary, part-time and vacation work. Employers advertise jobs in our online vacancy system daily.

Volunteering and summer work opportunities are also available online.

• Employability advise and jobs QMU students and graduates have access to their online vacancy system 24/7. The careers advisers offer three drop-in sessions every week during the semester for existing students and recent graduates.
• Employer Mentoring Programme The Employer Mentoring programme offers third and fourth year students the opportunity to meet with an experienced professional who have relevant industry experience relating to each individual student’s course. Mentors will be willing to offer their support, advice and inside knowledge surrounding areas of interest and concern to students.