The University of Winchester is a public new university based in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It received the power to award its own Research Degrees in August 2008. Winchester is a historic cathedral city and the ancient capital of Wessex and the Kingdom of England. . History
The main building of the University of Winchester
The origins of the University of Winchester date back to 1840 when the Winchester Diocesan Training School was founded as a Church of England foundation for the training of elementary schoolmasters. The school was initially quite small, located in a house at 27 St Swithun Street, Winchester. In 1847 the school moved to Wolvesey, the Bishop’s Palace, where it became Winchester Training College. Following an outbreak of cholera at Wolvesey a new building (now the main building on the university's King Alfred Campus) was established for the college in 1862, on land granted by the cathedral at West Hill, Winchester. The college was renamed King Alfred's College in 1928.
King Alfred's College trained thousands of teachers, at first men only, and then women too from 1960 onwards. Following changes in UK government policy towards further and higher education in the early 1970s, the College looked for partners to merge with and also sought to diversify its provision. Its educational partner, the University of Southampton, was lukewarm about offering other degrees, and the College sought approval for its own BEd and then BA degrees from the Council for National Academic Awards . Interdisciplinary degrees in History and English with Drama, Archaeology and American Studies were the first offered. Further programmes followed in the 1980s, but it was only when the college expanded in the early 1990s following CNAA approval for a modular degree programme that a large number of new fields of study grew at undergraduate level. At the same time Masters programmes were approved alongside an MEd programme. With the CNAA's demise in 1992, the College found itself once again accredited by the University of Southampton, resuming a partnership broken off 18 years earlier.
When in 1995 the UK government published criteria by which colleges of higher education could become universities, King Alfred's under its Principal, John Dickinson[disambiguation needed], set itself the target of becoming a university by 2005 by first acquiring Taught and then later Research Degree Awarding Powers.Paul Light, Principal from 2000, led the institution through the successful application for Taught Degree Awarding Powers in 2003 and a change of name to University College Winchester in 2004. His leadership culminated in the award of university title in 2005, achieving the target set 10 years earlier and entitling him to be the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winchester. In August 2008 the University was granted Research Degree Awarding Powers
Campus
The King Alfred Campus
The main University Campus, King Alfred, is located close to the city centre of Winchester. Some of the buildings on this campus are named after former staff or governors. The Tom Atkinson and Herbert Jarman buildings are named after former staff and the Kenneth Kettle and Fred Wheeler Buildings are named after long-standing Governors. Others are named after Anglo-Saxon saints: St Alphege, St Edburga, St Grimbald and St Swithun and St Elizabeth's. The Martial Rose Library is named after a former Principal. A subsidiary campus, home to the Winchester Business School, is located a short distance away at the West Downs site.The Campus suffers from limited parking. This has been partly mitigated by a park and ride bus service, but parking continues to be a problem for staff and students.
Recent and future campus development
Major redevelopment has taken place in recent years to modernise the campus. In 2007 work finished on the University Centre on site of the former refectory, at a cost of £9 million. The building includes a new Student Union as well as catering facilities, main reception, a bookshop, a mini-mart convenience store and a social learning space in the WiFi equipped Learning Café. It was designed by architects Design Engine.
In 2010 a new several storey student residence, Queens Road, was completed. In 2012 St. Alphage, a new teaching block which contains state of the art teaching spaces was opened. Work also finished on providing the University library with six new private study rooms for student use. In 2013, the Burma Road Student Village finished construction, providing the university with five blocks that make up a third student village. In 2013 the Kenneth Kettle building was converted into a second social learning space. Plans are underway to modernise the remaining buildings on campus.
The redevelopment of the University’s sports grounds at Bar End in Winchester was completed in 2008 after Sport England formally pledged the £908,514 funding required for the project’s completion, in partnership with Winchester City Council. The facilities at Bar End include an Olympic standard 400m eight-lane athletics track with supporting field events, an all-weather hockey and general sports pitch, floodlighting and an extended pavilion.Rankings
In the Times and The Sunday Times University Guide 2014 Winchester was identified as making the second biggest leap up the league table, rising 18 places from the previous year’s ranking. Winchester is ranked as the 10th best university in the South East and equal seventh for the award of best modern university. The Complete University Guide 2014 showed a seven place rise from 76th to 69th out of 124 institutions. In their 2014 rankings The Guardian found the University of Winchester to be the fifth fastest rising university in the country. The University of Winchester is the only university in the UK to be awarded five-star accreditation rating for overall organisational excellence by the British Quality Foundation, under its ‘Recognised for Excellence’ scheme, which uses the EFQM Excellence Model. The University of Winchester is ranked among the top five universities in the South East of England and top 25 universities in England by full-time students for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2013. The PTES 2013, conducted by the Higher Education Academy in conjunction with 89 higher education institutions in the UK, revealed that the University of Winchester was over 10 percentage points higher than the sector average in terms of Teaching and Learning and Career and Professional Development.
Student Life
The Students Union
Winchester Student Union is an organisation run for and by the students of The University of Winchester. It runs many sports, student societies, bars, and a shop and helps support and represent students. The Student Union is based in the University Centre and has an 850 capacity venue that includes a cinema screen, three bars and a shop. BOP, Comedy Central & Detention are regular events held there during the semester.
All student media are the responsibility of the Communications officer for the Student Union, except for the weekly internet bulletins released, produced, and created by "Winchester News Online" or WINOL, as part of the BA Journalism Course.
Halls of residence
University accommodation is available on campus and in the West Downs Student Village nearby. The halls of residence are:
West Downs Student Village
Alwyn Hall
St Elizabeth's Hall
Beech Glade
Queens Road Student Village
Burma Road Student Village
Course Flexibility
- The majority of programmes can be studied full-time and part-time.
- A range of programmes is available, including many Combined Honours programmes.
- Students are encouraged to tailor-make their degree programme according to the available modules to suit their interests and ambitions and every student is assigned a personal tutor.
Teaching Standards
- The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) institutional audit concluded 'broad confidence' (the highest level of confidence possible within an audit) in the quality of academic awards and student experience.
- Ranked highly overall in student satisfaction but particularly in Social Work, Creative Writing, Education Studies, Childhood Studies, Business Management, Initial Teacher Education, Event Management, Archaeology, Choreography and Dance, History and Journalism.
- Teacher training provision is recognised at the highest level, with the last Ofsted inspection rating Winchester as 'Outstanding'.
- In 2014, the University of Winchester received the British Quality Foundation's (BQF) Excellence 600 certification for performing to an exceptionally high standard.
Research Standards
- All full-time staff are engaged in research and they ensure that it informs and enhances all teaching.
- Winchester has a diverse, dynamic and supportive research community.
- A Research and Knowledge Exchange Centre provides the focus of all research activity at the university.
- Eighty-two per cent of the University of Winchester’s research submitted to the REF was considered to be of quality that is ‘recognised internationally’ or better in terms of originality, significance and rigour. The overall profile of seven out of eight units included research of ‘world-leading’ (4*) quality, the highest grade possible.
Academic Strengths
- Winchester has a leading reputation for teacher training and is strong in the fields of business, performing arts, psychology, archaeology, history, creative writing, modern liberal arts, and theology and religious studies.
Student Facilities
- The award-winning University Centre is at the very heart of social life. The Student Union is located there, plus key student facilities such as the Food Hall, Learning Café, book shop, Terrace Bar, the Union shop, the Games Room.
- The Martial Rose Library offers, 300,000 printed books as well as academic journals, e-books and databases for all subject areas. There are over 450 study spaces, with 175 networked PC’s and 12 study rooms for group work.
- There is extensive Wi-Fi across the campus, and 750 networked PC’s. There is 24-hour access to these PC’s in our social learning spaces, the Learning Café and the Kenneth Kettle Building There is also a PC finder service that maps the availability of the open access PC’s across campus and a free self-service netbook loan scheme.
Disability Services
- There is a dedicated support team, part of Student Services who have responsibility for students with disabilities. For more information on the support offered email student.advice@winchester.ac.uk or telephone 01962 827341.
Students' Union
- Satisfaction with the Student Union is ranked in the top ten universities in England.
- The Student Union is located within the award-winning University Centre, the hub of social life on campus. The SU offers The Vault a large club/gig space for 1,200 people. The Vault also has capacity for fold-down seats to host cinema nights. There is also a Games Room and Terrace Bar. The Student Union also offers nearly 90 sports teams and societies.
- The Vault in the Student Union has won the national award, Best Bar None every year for the past three years.
- The Student Union is located inside the University Centre. It includes a club/gig space for 1,200 people, bars, a games room and a cinema. The Student Union offers a wide range of clubs and societies offering activities throughout the year.
Sport
- The Winchester Sports Stadium,which opened in 2008, cost £3.5 million and includes an Olympic standard 8-lane running track and supporting field events and an all-weather astro turf suitable for hockey and football.
- There is a new University gym, equipped with the latest cardio-equipment and resistance training machines, located in the Burma Road Student Village. The University also has tennis courts, a squash court and a sports hall. Swimming is available at the nearby River Park Leisure Centre.
Recent/Prospective New Builds
- There is plenty of modern self-catering accommodation.Most recently the Burma Road Student Village opened, consisting of 500 rooms (around 350 for Winchester students), arranged in flats of 6-8 bedrooms, spread over 5 buildings. All rooms are ensuite and it has secure entry swipe card entry system and energy-saving features. The new University gym is also located on this site
- The Queen's Road Student Village opened in September 2010, The new St Alphege Building, opened in September 2012, is a new state-of-the art learning and teaching building. It provides ten new lecture rooms, and has open access PCs and social learning areas. It is a low-energy building, with eco-friendly features such as a ‘living’ roof and natural ventilation.
- The University Centre, which includes the Student Union forms the focus of the campus providing facilities for the whole university community. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded the University Centre the RIBA Award for the South region in 2008 in recognition of its high architectural standards.
- There is an on-going strategy for refurbishment and new builds across the campus designed to further enhance the student experience.
Availability of Part-Time Work
- There are plenty of part-time job opportunities available.
- The university has strong relationships with local employers and the JobShop advertises job opportunities either on campus or in the local area. There are also volunteering opportunities and paid work placements available.
Careers Guidance
The Careers Service offers:
- Impartial and up-to-date information, advice and guidance about occupations, graduate employment, further study/training, volunteering, and other opportunities
- Individual guidance appointments* with professionally qualified careers advisers
- Email and telephone guidance for those unable to visit the Careers Service in person
- A programme of talks and workshops from external speakers on a wide range of topics
Notable Alumni
- Mick Brookes - General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers
- Mike Bushell - BBC television journalist
- Steve Furst - Comedy actor (Little Britain)
- Mark Johnson - Horse racing announcer
- Shappi Khorsandi - Comedian
- Dirk Maggs - Radio producer
- Andrew Norriss - Children's book author and TV sitcom writer
- Don Nutbeam - Vice Chancellor, University of Southampton
- David Prosho - Actor and performer
- Angus Scott - Television journalist (also part-time lecturer in journalism)
- Bob Taylor - Past President of the Rugby Football Union
- Lauren Cohan – Actor
- Sir Terry Pratchett - Author
- Julian Fellowes - Screenwriter, Director, Actor and Novelist
- Jack Dee - Comedian
- Sir David Frost - Journalist, comedian, writer and media personality
- Jonathon Porritt - Environmentalist and writer Martin Bashir - Television journalist
- Mark Byford - Deputy Director General BBC
- Sir John Tavener - British composer
- A. S. Byatt - Postmodern novelist
- Colin Firth - Film and television actor
- Alan Titchmarsh - Broadcaster and novelist
- Sandy Lerner - Entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Lord Plant of Highfield - Academic
- Pie Corbett - Educational writer and poet
- Bevis Hillier - Art historian, author and journalist
- Professor David Crystal - Linguist, academic and author
- David Gower - Cricketer
- Geoff Holt - Sailor
- Michael Scott-Joynt - Bishop of Winchester
- Alastair Stewart - Newscaster
- Philippa Forrester - Television presenter and producer
- Professor Andrew Linzey - Theologian and writer
- Tony Palmer - Documentary filmmaker
- Peter Charles – Olympic Gold Medallist
- Lady Sainsbury CBE – Ballerina
- Carl Barat - Musician
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