University of Wolverhampton

HISTORY

The University of Wolverhampton is an English university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre, with a second campus at Walsall and a third in Telford. There is an additional fourth campus in Wolverhampton at the University of Wolverhampton Science Park. The university also operates a Health Education Centre in Burton-upon-Trent for nursing students.

The University is currently second in the UK for graduate employability – 96% of students who graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 2015 were in work or further study six months after they had left – for universities of its size (with 2,000-3,000 full-time undergraduate graduating students), according to the Destinations of Leavers From Higher Education (DHLE) survey.

In addition, the university was commended with the highest level of commendation by the Quality Assurance Agency in 2015 for the ‘enhancement of student learning opportunities’, whilst the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise rated all submitted Research Centres as having ‘world-leading’ elements.

The university’s roots lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen’s and Mechanics’ Institute founded in 1827 and the 19th-century growth of the Wolverhampton Free Library (1870) whose evening classes were formalised as the Science, Technical and Commercial School in 1899, and grew into the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Technical College in 1926. It was renamed Wolverhampton and Staffordshire College of Technology in 1951 and became Wolverhampton College of Technology in 1966 following county boundary changes. Wolverhampton School of Art was founded in 1851, becoming the Municipal School of Art in 1878, and finally Wolverhampton College of Art in 1950. Wolverhampton College of Technology merged with Wolverhampton College of Art in 1969 to form The Polytechnic, Wolverhampton in 1969. The Polytechnic changed its name to Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1988 and gained university status as the University of Wolverhampton in 1992.

The roots of the University of Wolverhampton lie in the 19th-century growth of the Wolverhampton Free Library (1870), which developed technical, scientific, commercial and general classes, and the Municipal School of Art, founded in 1878.

By 1964, with the further expansion of Higher Education the college began to provide BA degrees with options in English, Geography, History, Music, and Economics among others. By 1965 the college was offering a degree in Computer Technology. The college was renamed Wolverhampton College of Technology following county boundary changes.

In 1969 the College of Technology and the College of Art amalgamated to become Wolverhampton Polytechnic. The formal opening ceremony took place on 14 January 1970. Wolverhampton Polytechnic was operational by the creation of five faculties; Applied Science, Art and Design, Arts, Engineering and Social Sciences. The functional units were operated by committees such as the Academic Board, Faculty Boards, Planning and Standing Committees, Committee of Deans.

In 1992 the Polytechnic was granted university status and became the University of Wolverhampton.

The new School of Technology launched on 1 September 2010. In 2011, the university in partnership with Walsall College opened the Black Country University Technical College, one of the first University Technical Colleges in England.

COURSES

The university has four faculties, comprising twenty-two schools and institutes. It has 19,790 students and currently offers over 500 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university is noted for its success in encouraging wider participation in higher education.

The faculties are:

Faculty of Arts:

Wolverhampton School of Art

School of Humanities

School of Media

School of Performing Arts

Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing:

Institute of Education

Institute of Health Professions

Institute of Psychology

Institute of Public Health, Social Work and Care

Institute of Sport

Academic Institute of Medicine

Faculty of Science and Engineering:

School of Architecture and Built Environment

School of Sciences

School of Engineering

School of Mathematics and Computer Science

School of Pharmacy

Faculty of Social Sciences:

University of Wolverhampton Business School

University of Wolverhampton Law School

School of Social, Historical and Political Studies

International Academy

Centre for International Development and Training

Centre for African Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible to apply for a place at the University, the students will need to meet the general requirements and any additional requirements that some courses ask for, such as interviews or tests.

Apart from academic achievements, they look at a wide range of experience and qualifications when we consider their application. They also take into account your personal/work experience and achievements, references, and any interviews or assessments.

The qualifications they consider are GCSEs or equivalent such as Key Skills, GCE AS/A Levels, Access to Higher Education qualifications, BTEC qualifications.

ACADEMIC STRENGTHS

The university is noted for its success in encouraging wider participation in higher education. A third of the places are filled by mature students.

According to the Times Higher Education’s league tables for the RAE of 2008, Wolverhampton was ranked at equal 93rd from 132 institutions for research. Wolverhampton was the joint fourth best university in the UK for linguistics and is the highest-rated new university in that subject area. The Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group was joint second in the country for library and information management.

A University of Wolverhampton academic, Mike ‘Rodney’ Thelwall, was ranked number one in the world in a list of leading researchers in the field of informetrics. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced a 1,290% increase in funding allocation for Wolverhampton’s Quality Research (QR).

The university achieved its best ever results in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014, with all Research Centres that submitted rated as having ‘world-leading’ elements.

TEACHING STANDARDS

Between 2005 and 2009 five staff were awarded National Teaching Fellowships.

The University of Wolverhampton won two Lord Stafford Awards in 2007, recognising its excellence in innovative work with businesses. Rachel Westwood of SkinScientists Ltd won the “Entrepreneurial Spirit Award” for her innovative brand of “cosmeceuticals” especially formulated for men. Robert Harris, Principal Lecturer Corporate Programmes, University of Wolverhampton Business School, won the “West Midlands Knowledge Transfer Champion Award” for his contribution to knowledge transfer activities between the university and companies in the West Midlands.

In May 2008 the university was awarded an unprecedented seven Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, securing its top position in the West Midlands. In September 2009 it was awarded £24.3 million for knowledge transfer, bringing it to 2nd place nationally for the number of KTPs it runs. The university will lead a consortium of all 12 of the universities in its region to increase the number of partnerships from 70 to 210 over the next three years.

In April 2009, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) institutional audit found that confidence can reasonably be placed in the soundness of the institution’s present and likely future management of both the academic standards and the quality of the learning opportunities available to students. Following this, the university was commended with the highest level of commendation by the Quality Assurance Agency in 2015 for the ‘enhancement of student learning opportunities’.

The results of the ninth National Student Survey in 2013 revealed an overall student satisfaction rate at Wolverhampton of 83%, compared to 80% in 2012. Satisfaction with the learning resources (which includes IT and library facilities) also went up three per cent, with 88% of students saying they were satisfied. In addition, 83% of students reported that they were satisfied with the teaching on their course. An improved satisfaction rate was reported when the National Student Survey 2016 found that 84% of students at the University of Wolverhampton were satisfied overall with their course.

In June 2013, a university team won a Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Award (THELMA) in the category of Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year for its “one-stop shop” approach to promoting services to businesses.

In May 2016, the university was awarded ‘Business of the Year’ at the Express & Star Business Awards, where its contribution to the region’s economy was hailed as ‘truly outstanding’.

CAREERS GUIDANCE

The University of Wolverhampton’s careers centre is there to help the students with all aspects of career planning and to help them become more employable. They offer practical advice on many areas including:

1) How to succeed in interviews

2) How to best use your qualification to achieve career success

3) How to market themselves to ensure they stand out from their peers

4) How to build an outstanding CV

5) Troubleshooting to help them avoid things that limit their chances of success