University of Stirling

HISTORY

The University of Stirling is a public university founded by Royal charter in 1967. It is a plate glass university located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airthrey Castle estate close to Stirling. Since its foundation, it has expanded to four faculties, a Business School, a Graduate School, and a number of institutes and centres covering a broad range of subjects. It is among the top 50 universities in the world that are under 50 years old, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and among the top 40 in the UK in the Complete University Guide. In the 2014 assessment of research in the UK, the Research Excellence Framework, it was ranked 5th in Scotland and 40th in the UK for research intensity.

The university attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds, with more than 14,000 part-time and full-time students in 2016/17. Stirling is an international university with over 120 nationalities represented on campus. It has international degree programme partnerships in China with Hebei Normal University, Singapore with Singapore Institute of Management, Oman and Vietnam. The university has two other Scottish campuses – in Inverness and Stornoway.

Stirling was the first new university to be established in Scotland for nearly 400 years. The original site of the campus was selected from a shortlist of competing sites, which include Falkirk, Perth and Inverness.

A department of Business studies was set up in 1982. The Institute of Aquaculture, a research institute specialising in fish farming and genetics, opened the same year. In 1983 it sold 300 acres of land to Wang Laboratories. The R.G. Bomont Building (named after the second University Secretary), which houses the Faculty of Social Science, was completed in 1998. The Iris Murdoch building was opened in 2002 to house The Dementia Services Development Centre, and the Colin Bell Building was completed in 2003.

COURSES

In August 2016, the University reorganised into four faculties, the Stirling Management School and the Stirling Graduate School.

• Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Applied Social Sciences
  • Education
• Faculty of Arts and Humanities
  • Communications, Media and Culture
  • History and Politics
  • Law and Philosophy
  • Literature and Languages
  • London Academy of Diplomacy
• Stirling Management School
  • Accounting & Finance
  • Economics
  • Management, Work and Organisation
  • Marketing and Retail
  • Centre for Advanced Management Education
  • Centre for Graduate Research in Management
• Faculty of Natural Sciences
  • Aquaculture
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences
  • Computing Science and Mathematics
  • Psychology
• Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport
  • Sport
  • Health Sciences

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

If the students do not obtain the grades the university has asked for, they will review their application, paying particular attention to the personal statement, reference and past academic performance. They may, therefore, still be offered a place despite not having achieved the exact conditions required.

Offers will normally be made on a basis equal to three A levels, although all applications will be considered individually and offers may be given with less.

ACADEMIC STRENGTHS

At the forefront of research and learning that helps to improve lives.

Working with academic, commercial, public, private and voluntary sector partners.

Key strengths are Health and Wellbeing, Environment, Culture and Society, Sport, Enterprise and Economy.

Specialisms include patient centred cancer care, sports science, dementia, aquaculture, management, education, media studies, retail studies and social marketing.

TEACHING STANDARDS

Gained best possible result in the 2011 QAA enhancement led institutional review with QAA reporting ‘broad confidence’ in the university’s teaching and learning provision.

Excellence in teaching is recognised by RATE (Recognising Achievement in Teaching Excellence), a student-led teaching awards scheme.

CAREERS GUIDANCE

Stirling seeks to embed employability in the curriculum, and offers additional career support to students via the Career Development Centre (CDC).

The CDC offers high-quality careers information, education, and guidance while empowering students to make informed career decisions.

Stirling is ranked 7th in the UK for graduate employability; 96% of their graduates are in employment, or further study, within six months.