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Essex University

UCAS Code: E70

Location: East Anglia Show on Map

Site: Main campus at Colchester, one at Southend; partner colleges

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Overview
Profile
Courses
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Student View
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World-class research-intensive university; a member of the 1994 Group of universities.

Student Population

Total Students:	12,295
Undergraduates:	78%
Postgraduates:	22%
FE Students:	0%

Undergraduates

Total undergraduates:	9,555
Male:	46%
Female:	54%
Full Time:	83%
Mature on Entry:	25%
UK Students:	80%
Lower socio economic groups:	39%

Teaching Staff

470 full-time.

Broad study areas

Humanities & comparative studies; social sciences; science & engineering; law & management.

Freshers

Admission Information:	AS-levels accepted in combination with 2, usually 3, A-levels or equivalent. Points assessed on a maximum of 1 AS- and 3 A-levels or equivalent.
Points on Entry (Mean):	300
Drop Out Rate:	9%
Accommodation:	All first years housed who have applied by deadline.

Institution

Founded:	1964, Royal Charter received 1965.
Structural features:	Partner colleges: Writtle and Colchester Institute (you can look these up separately) and South East Essex College (Southend); also new University Campus Suffolk, a network of HE provision across Norfolk and Suffolk, run jointly with East Anglia University.
Site:	Main campus Wivenhoe Park, 2 miles east of Colchester; new campus at Southend (schools of entrepreneurship & business, health & human sciences, East 15 acting school).
How to get there:	By rail (frequent trains from London take under an hour; also from Harwich and East Anglia); by coach (from most parts of Britain including Stansted airport); by road on A12. For Colchester campus, local buses from train and bus stations (61, 78 and 78A; 74, 75, 77 from bus station).

Student services & facilities

Student advice & services:	Advice service, student support office; doctors; FPA; multi-faith chaplaincy centre; counsellors; welfare rights advice. Some residential facilities for married and disabled students; day nursery.
Amenities:	Bookshops; general shop; photocopy centre; insurance shop; banks and post office; 217-seat theatre; exhibitions gallery; bar; SU building with shop, 3 bars, games room, nightclub, print room, newspaper; film society plus 100 other societies for sports, academic and cultural interests; RED (radio station); multimedia studio.
Sporting facilities:	Sports hall, weights room, aerobics studio, fitness room, indoor climbing wall, fitness testing lab, gymnasium, squash courts; floodlit all-weather playing area and tennis courts (40 acres for sporting activities); wide range of sports including water sports association with club house and dinghies.
Accommodation:	All first years are in university accommodation, if they apply by the deadline and they are not local (60% of all students). 3100 self-catering places available at Colchester, rents £65−£110 per week, academic-year-long contracts; 560 self-catering rooms at Southend, rents £110 pw including internet connection (£125 for a studio flat), 39 or 50 week contracts. Students live in privately-owned accommodation for 1−2 years: £65−£90 pw self-catering. 20% of first-degree students live at home.

Study opportunities & careers

Library & information services:	1 million+ books, pamphlets, e-publications; 1000 study places; 3-hour loan system for certain course books. Specialist collections: Latin American and Russian collections; Sigmund Freud collection; Harsnett Collection of religious works from Henry VIII. Information provision, £161 pa spent for each student (FTE). Separate IT service, access up to 24 hours/day. Ratio 1:7 workstations to students. 110 points with access to the library, 400+ networked computers with internet access (100 open 24 hours/day); internet points in all student accommodation. IT support from computing helpdesk (12 hours/weekday plus some weekend cover) and some departments. Library induction course for new students, information leaflets, assistant librarians available to help; IT induction training if needed, based on self-assessment by new students; some IT courses arranged by departments.
Study abroad:	3% of students spend a period abroad. Formal exchange links with 80 universities and colleges across Europe, open to students in a variety of subjects.
Careers:	Information, advice and placement service.

Money

Living expenses budget:	Minimum budget of £6500−£7610 for an academic year (excluding tuition fees), recommended by university.
Term-time work:	University allows term-time work for first-degree students. Some work available on campus in SU bars and entertainment and university offices; holiday work available in domestic, catering, language teaching. SU advertises other local vacancies and jobshop helps students find part-time work.
Financial help:	Bursaries of £700 pa for UK students with a family income of up to £25k. Also scholarships (mostly of £1000-£3000 pa) for eg students from specified countries, for sport, acting, maths, computing. Also £350,000 government funds plus various university bursaries and loan schemes. Special support for international students in exceptional financial circumstances; also students from Worthing and from Jamaica, mature students, those with refugee status or non-traditional backgrounds. Apply for help to student support service.
University tuition fees:	Home students pay £9000 pa for first degree courses. International students pay £10,750 pa (classroom), £12,750 (lab-based courses).

Courses

Academic features:

Degrees in eg finance & management, art history, drama & acting, American studies, Latin American studies, entrepreneurship & business, health & human science, philosophy, sports & exercise science, computing & electronic systems.

Awarding body:

University of Essex

Main undergraduate awards:

BA, BSc, LLB, BEng

Length of courses:

3 years; others 4 years (eg modern languages, marine & freshwater biology).

Main subjects offered:

Accountancy
Acting
American Studies
Art History
Artificial Intelligence
Audio
Biochemistry
Biology
Biomedical Science
Business Economics
Business Studies
Cell Biology
Communication Engineering
Comparative Literature
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Computer Technology
Computing
Creative/Performance Writing
Criminology
Drama
Ecology
Econometrics
Economic History
Economics
Electronic Engineering
Electronics
English
English as a Foreign Language
Environmental Biology
Environmental Science
EU Studies
European Business Studies
European Studies
Film Studies
Finance
Financial Economics
French
German
Health
History
Human Resource Management
Human Rights
Human Sciences
Humanities
Information Technology
International Relations
Internet Technology
Italian
Latin American Studies
Law
Linguistics
Management
Marine Biology
Mathematics
Molecular Biology
Philosophy
Politics
Portuguese
Psychology
Russian
Social History
Social Policy
Social Science
Sociology
Software Engineering
Spanish
Sports Sciences
Statistics
Telecommunications Engineering
Theatre Studies

Student view

Zoe Lester, VP Sports and Societies of University of Essex Students’ Union (recent politics graduate)

Living

What's it like as a place to live? Essex Campus is a great place to live as it is small and a strong sense of community.

How's the student accommodation? There are different levels of accommodation here at Essex, at the top end there are the ensuite bedrooms which are fairly new and then there are the Towers. The Towers are definitely the best choice if you want to meet lots of people and are an extremely sociable individual.

What's the student population like? Our campus is 46% International students therefore we have a very diverse culture on campus.

How do students and locals get on? We are quite a secluded campus therefore there are not generally many community interactions until the second or third years when students move off of campus. However, there doesn't seem to be too bad of an atmosphere.

Studying

What are the teaching staff like? Essex has a great mix of international academic stars − the politics department host an array of influential political figures such as Antony King, Ivor Crewe, David Sanders and Hans Dorussel.

Socialising

What are student societies like? We have over 130 student societies here at Essex ranging from Arts, departmental, cultural, religious, musical, political and activities. There is something for everyone. We also have over 46 sports teams here at Essex which compete in BUCS every Wednesday. Approximately one fifth of our University are a member of sports or societies.

What’s a typical night out? A typical night out for me would be a Wednesday night Sports Fed where all the sports teams come out and celebrate/commiserate the result of the day. Every team usually has a different fancy dress theme which leads to a colourful and eventful night.

And how much does it cost? It costs roughly £4.50 for non members of the Sports Federation.

How can you get home safely? If you do not live on campus, the university puts on a safety bus for a £1 which drops off students to their houses.

Money

Is it an expensive place to live? It is not an expensive place at all. Everyone is skint but they find a way to make it work.

Average price of a pint? £2.

And the price of a takeaway? £4

What's the part-time work situation? University offers a lot of student jobs at competitive rates of pay. The Students' Union has over 350 student jobs which limit students to 16 hours a week to make sure students are making time for their studies.

Summary

What's the best feature about the place? The lakes right on campus with loads of ducks and grass area.

And the worst? When it rains the Campus looks dull.

And to sum it all up? Our campus university has everything you need within a 5minute walk one end to the other.

Past Students

Nick Broomfield (documentary film-maker); Daniel Libeskind (architect); Virginia Bottomley MP; President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica (Nobel Peace Prize 1987); Ben Okri (writer); Alison Steadman (Olivier Best Actress award); Mike Leigh (film director); David Triesman (General Secretary Labour Party).