University Name:
See all universitiesSwansea University
UCAS Code: S93
Location: South-west Wales Show on Map
Site: Single campus in Swansea; partner colleges
Traditional, research-intensive university.
Student Population
| Total Students: | 18,960 |
| Undergraduates: | 65% |
| Postgraduates: | 11% |
| FE Students: | 24% |
Undergraduates
| Total undergraduates: | 12,280 |
| Male: | 45% |
| Female: | 55% |
| Full Time: | 83% |
| Mature on Entry: | 19% |
| UK Students: | 92% |
| State school entry: | 92% |
Teaching Staff
1104 (full- and part-time).
Broad study areas
Science, health & medicine, arts & social sciences, engineering, business, economics, law.
Freshers
| Admission Information: | Normally 3 A-levels (excluding general studies) required or Welsh baccalaureate or equivalent; detailed policy depends on subject area. Offers normally made in terms of grades rather than tariff. |
| Points on Entry (Mean): | 358 |
| Drop Out Rate: | 5% |
| Accommodation: | Almost all first years housed. |
Institution
| Founded: | 1920, as part of Wales University. University status in 2007. |
| Site: | Campus a mile west of city, on Swansea Bay near the Gower Peninsula. |
| How to get there: | Mainline rail from London Paddington (2 hrs 50 mins) and frequent services from Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham; close to M4; national coach services to Quadrant Bus Station. Cardiff International airport 40 mins drive. Buses to campus from railway station, city centre and off-campus accommodation. |
Student services & facilities
| Student advice & services: | Integrated student services including student financial aid, international student advice, disability office and student counselling service. Also careers centre, health centre, dentist, chaplains, mosque, SU advice centre. Excellent facilities and support for disabled students (incl adapted accommodation; assessment of needs service; dyslexia assessment and support; IT training; support for students with mental health problems; recording for the blind centre on campus). |
| Amenities: | SU building with shop, travel centre, launderette, wholefood store, bakery, radio station, nightclub, bar. Arts centre; gallery; theatre, cinema and Egypt Centre on campus. City has pubs/clubs, championship and international football, art galleries, theatres, restaurants/cafés. |
| Sporting facilities: | Main sports centre close by has 25m and 50m swimming pools, sports hall, climbing wall, fitness centre, 3 squash courts; outdoors, 6 tennis courts, rugby and soccer fields, 8-lane athletics track; indoor athletics training area and 2 artificial hockey pitches. Further 20 acres of sports fields 4 miles away. Location ideal for water-based and other outdoor activities. Range of activity programmes for all ability levels. Sports scholarships available. |
| Accommodation: | 98% of first years normally in university accommodation. 3400 places available, some self-catering, some catered; rents £73–£108 per week, most contracts 40 weeks, some 36 (51-week contracts possible). Most students in privately-owned accommodation after the first year; rents £60–£70 pw + bills (all self-catering). |
Study opportunities & careers
| Library & information services: | 800,000+ volumes, 32,000 periodicals (incl 24,700 electronic), 1298 study places (including 450+ with PCs). Information provision, £153 pa spent for each student (FTE). IT and library services converged, open 82 hours/week (24-hour opening at exam periods). 1850 PCs across university for student use with access to university wireless network. Induction sessions for all new students on library and information services; information skills courses (eg on the internet). |
| Other learning resources: | TV studio; portable digital recording units; digital photography and video conferencing; computer-assisted language labs. |
| Study abroad: | Many students (in most departments) can spend up to a year abroad in eg North America, Japan, Mexico, Australia or Europe. |
| Careers: | Careers advice and guidance, including interviews with advisers, information on job vacancies (UK and globally), gap year oportunities, volunteering, ethical careers, third sector careers; help with entrepreneurship and business mentoring; employer talks; annual careers fair. Paid work placements in Wales for students and graduates. Database of casual jobs. |
Money
| Living expenses budget: | Minimum budget of £6000-£8000 for academic year (excluding tuition fees) recommended by university. |
| Term-time work: | University supports term-time work for full-time students. Careers unit helps students find work on and off campus. |
| Financial help: | Bursaries of £500 in Year 1 for students whose family income is up to £30k pa; after the first year, the bursary increases to £1250 pa where family income is up to £15k pa, to £750 pa where it is £15k−£25k pa, or to £500 in Year 2 only, where family income is £25k−30k pa; the bursary can be increased by up to £500 pa for those studying priority subjects eg maths, law. Scholarships of £1500 in Years 1 and 2 for those with grades AAA at A-level (or equivalent), or of £1000 in Years 1 and 2 where grades are AAB; sports scholarships of £1000 pa; various departmental prizes and scholarship (up to £2500 pa). Financial contingency fund to help with unforeseen financial difficulties; special help for eg overseas students, non-traditional students, those with high travel costs, disability costs, final-year students and those with childcare costs. Apply to admissions office (scholarships) or student financial aid office. |
| University tuition fees: | Students from Wales and the EU pay £2465 pa for first degree courses; other UK students pay £9000 pa. International students pay £9800–14,000 pa. |
Courses
Academic features:
Almost all degrees are modular. 4-year degrees in sciences and engineering with foundation year; also undergraduate Masters degrees.
Awarding body:
Swansea University (for most degrees)
Main undergraduate awards:
BA, BSc, BEng, BScEcon, LLB, MChem, MEng, MMath, MPhys.
Length of courses:
3 years; 4 years (eg undergraduate Masters; courses with foundation year or period abroad).
Main subjects offered:
- Accountancy
- Actuarial Studies
- Aeronautical Engineering
- American Studies
- Ancient History
- Audiology
- Biochemical Engineering
- Biochemistry
- Biology
- Biomedical Science
- Biotechnology
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Business Studies
- Catalan
- Celtic Studies
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Classical Studies
- Classics
- Communication Engineering
- Communication Studies
- Computational Mathematics
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Computer Technology
- Computing
- Creative/Performance Writing
- Criminal Justice
- Criminology
- E-business
- Earth Sciences
- Econometrics
- Economic History
- Economics
- Egyptology
- Electrical Engineering
- Electronic Engineering
- Electronics
- Engineering (General)
- English
- English as a Foreign Language
- Environmental Biology
- Environmental Engineering
- European Business Studies
- European Studies
- Film Studies
- Finance
- Financial Economics
- French
- Gender Studies
- Genetics
- Geography
- Geoscience
- German
- Greek, Ancient/Classical
- Health
- Hispanic Studies
- History
- Human Biology
- Human Sciences
- Humanities
- Iberian Studies
- Informatics
- Information Systems
- Information Technology
- International Business
- International Relations
- Internet Technology
- Interpreting/Translating
- Italian
- Latin
- Latin American Studies
- Law
- Linguistics
- Management
- Marine Biology
- Marketing
- Materials Science
- Materials Technology
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Media Studies
- Medical Engineering
- Medicine
- Medieval Studies
- Midwifery
- Multimedia
- Nanoscale Science/Technology
- Nursing
- Peace Studies
- Physics
- Physiology
- Politics
- Product Design
- Production Engineering
- Psychology
- Public Relations
- Russian Studies
- Social History
- Social Policy
- Social Science
- Social Work
- Spanish
- Sports Sciences
- Statistics
- Telecommunications Engineering
- Topographical Science
- War Studies
- Welsh Language
- Welsh Studies
- Zoology
Student view
James Houston, President of Students Union (Graduate, History)
Living
What's it like as a place to live? Changeable? It's hard to pin down but it's great! You can walk for five minutes and be on a vast beach or another five and you're in an incredible hubbub with all the nightlife. But it does rain a lot!
How's the student accommodation? Well it's certainly a mixture and it's not all great! BUT the best thing is there's loads of good stuff about which means if you take the time to shop around you can get an amazing pad!
What's the student population like? I'm biased maybe but I reckon they are some of the friendliest around! Being a campus uni, you always see someone you know and make friends everyday. It's incredibly diverse but accepting at the same time!
How do students and locals get on? During the week the locals are amazing and most residents and students get on. But we tend to keep away from town at the weekends as people come from far afield and it's safer and better for students to go to our own club nights.
Studying
What's it like as a place to study? Courses are great but contact time is totally changeable - which is great during heavy coursework periods but not so much at other times. But lecturers are readily available for 1-to-1 assistance.
What are the teaching staff like? I can only speak for a few departments! But those which I have interacted with have been awesome. They're not always the top dogs in their fields - BUT they are the most passionate and supportive around!
Socialising
What are student societies like? Swansea is rammed with societies, many of which have flourished in the last few years. Our Afro-Caribbean and drama societies have put on AMAZING events whilst our radio guys have given masses a BBC-like experience!
What's a typical night out? One of the union bars and then either Oceana - dance/indie/R&B - or Sin City - rock/pop/indie.
And how much does it cost? Cheap as chips - excellent student deals with the clubs, as we went into partnership.
How can you get home safely? Dead easy with numerous taxis. Swansea isn't too big either so off-campus students can walk home extremely safely.
Money
Is it an expensive place to live? If you're reasonable it can go far but it does depend. FAR TOO MANY EVENTS = £0.00!
Average price of a pint? Our union £1.60 Town £2.00 (weekend £2.50).
And the price of a takeaway? Very reasonable and Indian food is incredible and very competitive!!!
What's the part-time work situation? Loads of jobs in the locality, particularly on the campus. The careers centre is great. You do have to get stuck in quick as the jobs go quickly.
Summary
What's the best feature about the place? The location! It's amazing how you can cross the road and be on one of the best beaches in the country!
And the worst? The rain! It's seems to rain far too much but you do appreciate the sunshine more!!!
And to sum it all up? Swansea is based in one of the best locations in the country. But its real jewel is its students who are the most welcoming, friendly people!
Past Students
Donald Anderson MP; Gwynne Howell (opera singer); Mavis Nicholson, Alun Richards (authors); Ian Bone (founder of Class War); Nigel Evans MP; half of Manic Street Preachers; Paul Thorburn, Robert Howley (rugby players); Daniel Caines (athlete); Terry Matthews (billionaire); David Edwards (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winner).
More info?
Contact union administrator on 01792 295466, email administrator@swansea-union.co.uk, website www.swansea-union.co.uk.
Open days
30th June 2012
Open day for the university. There are other opportunities to visit if you are not able to attend the open day.
Contact
Address:
University of Swansea
Singleton Park
Swansea
SA2 8PP
Tel:
01792 205678
Website:
Student enquiries:
Student Recruitment Office
Application:
UCAS
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