Aston University

Summary

University Environment

The university is situated on a 60-acre campus at Gosta Green, in the centre of Birmingham, England, within 5-10 minutes walk of the main shopping, business and entertainment areas of the city. As well as lecture halls, the campus boasts sports centres, a swimming pool, library cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops, a travel centre, a hairdresser, a health centre, a dentist, places of worship, an opticians, a bank and ATM machines. 

Recent improvements to the campus include a £215m Student Village which commenced in 2008 providing 2,400 brand new rooms, all with en-suite bathrooms.

History

Aston can trace its roots to the School of Metallurgy at the Birmingham and Midland Institute which was built in 1875 and taught classes in chemistry, physics, metallurgy and electrical engineering. In 1956 it became the first elite designated College of Advanced Technology and moved into newly constructed buildings at Gosta Green, its current home. The College earned university status in 1966 and was renamed Aston University after the suburb of Aston in Birmingham.

Academics

Schools & Academic Groups

• Aston Business School
• Aston Medical School
• School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• School of Life & Health Sciences
• School of Languages & Social Sciences
• Aston Graduate School.

Aston and Muscat universities are collaborating to deliver three undergraduate programmes across engineering and technology, business and management and transport and logistics that will give students a degree from each institution. The partnership between Muscat and Cranfield delivers postgraduate programmes.

Research

Aston has an excellent reputation for research, with 78% of its research submitted in the 2014 REF evaluated as 'world leading' or 'internationally recognised'. Their strengths include: Area Studies; subjects in the Allied Health Professions such as Pharmacy, Biology and Optometry; and Business.

Aston Business School (ABS) is one of the oldest and largest in the UK and is among the less than 1% granted the Triple accreditation for EQUIS by the EFMD, AMBA and AACSB. Founded in 1947, it opened a new £22m extension in 2005 which includes a residential conference centre to provide new MBA and management development programme facilities.

International & Industrial Opportunities

Aston offers students a placement year or a sandwich placement.

The placement year gives students the opportunity to apply what they have learnt on the course, either in the UK or abroad, while at the same time gaining valuable professional and paid experience with an employer. 

The sandwich placement is a work experience opportunity which forms part of a university degree programme, usually in the third year of a four year degree, which could involve working within the student’s chosen field, studying abroad, or a mixture of both. During a placement, students will have the opportunity to put into practice theory learnt through the first two years of study and see how this applies to real work place situations. A number of employer events are held on campus throughout the year so that students can network with employers and find out more about placement opportunities. These employers can range from large Blue Chip organisations to small local businesses.

Fees & Finance

Scholarships

The University's scholarship programme helps to ensure that anyone who is qualified to go to Aston University can afford to do so, regardless of their financial circumstances.

The Excellence Scholarship of £500 for the first year, is available to those who achieve AAB or above at A-Level, while the Aston Placement Scholarship is available for UK & EU students during the placement year. The scholarship is eligible to students with a household income of up to £18,000 (Aston Aspire Placement Scholarship) or you take an unpaid placement year or you take a study or work placement abroad (Aston Placement Scholarship).

If you are a care leaver you may be eligible for the Aston Care Leavers Scholarship of £1250 per year for your course.

Facilities

Learning Facilities

The Library contains over 200,000 volumes with over 800 reader places and online access to over 19,000 electronic journals in all subject areas. The Library also has laptops for loan, photocopiers, printers, and group and silent study areas.

There are more than 50 computer labs across the Aston Campus, with a range of networked software packages, database systems, modelling tools and online research tools. There is also an extensive wireless network throughout campus. Many teaching rooms are equipped with ICT facilities for presentations, and specialist rooms are equipped with facilities to support research activities. An increasing number of events and lectures are also recorded in multimedia and made available online for students working remotely or for later review.

Blackboard is Aston’s virtual learning platform giving students access to one central resource for learning. All course information, including course content, assignments and discussion topics are stored and accessible from here. 

Aston offers free language tuition for home students in either Arabic, French, German, Mandarin Chinese or Spanish at beginner, intermediate or advanced level. 

The Learning Development Centre (LDC) provides innovative and practical support to enhance learning at Aston and brings together a range of services to support learning including: advice on writing for assignments and research; a maths support centre staffed by specialist tutors; programming support; and general study guidance covering exam and revision techniques, presentations, and working in groups etc. 

Sporting Facilities

On campus the Sir Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre boasts a swimming pool; fully equipped fitness suit with a range of cardio and resistance machines; martial arts studios; classes such as aerobics, aqua aerobics and swimming; a large sports hall for badminton, netball, volleyball and basketball; and a yoga room. 

The Gem Sports Centre, also on campus, boasts a large sports hall for a variety of sports including football, basketball, badminton and volleyball; a climbing wall; and squash courts. 

6 miles north of campus is Aston’s outdoor recreation centre, covering 46 acres, and houses grass pitches for football, rugby, hockey and cricket. A full size floodlit synthetic pitch provides facilities for hockey and other team sports. 

The Sport Aston Gym houses cardio, fixed resistance and free weights, and also provides fitness appraisals, personal fitness programmes and personal training. 

A number of sports scholarships are available to students who have achieved a level of excellence within their chosen sport. 

Students’ Union

Students’ Union

Aston Students’ Guild is the University’s Students’ Union and houses the majority of the social life that takes place on campus, as well as a wide range of services, societies and clubs. 

The University bar, B4 Bar, is open throughout the day serving food. It shows most major sporting events and hosts events most nights of the week. The Blue Room hosts a variety of daytime events from Career’s Fair to poster sales and at night it is used as a party venue, with events such as roller discos, wrestling, talent shows and comedy. The Guild also offers a Subway sandwich outlet, a University shop, cash points a bookshop, a hair salon and the social study area, The Loft.  

The Advice and Representation Centre (ARC) is the place to go for all the central student support services of the University. ARC provides professional, independent, free and confidential academic advice, housing advice, money advice, employment advice, consumer advice and hate crime reporting. No appointment is needed and the drop in sessions are for a maximum of 15 minutes. Follow-up appointments will be made if required. 

Aston’s Outreach Office supports the University’s student volunteering and outreach initiatives. Students provide support and act as role models in local schools and colleges to pupils of all ages. Students can also work in the local community as volunteers with a focus on sport, drama, music and the arts. 

There are over 35 sports clubs and 90 societies in the University that you can join and participate.  

Student Support

Religion & Spirituality

The University Chaplains are there for students of all faiths or none. There is a programme of events at the Martin Luther Multi-Faith Centre which is based on campus.

Health & Wellbeing

The University provides a confidential health service from the Health Centre, less than a ten minute walk from the campus. All treatment is given under the NHS and the centre is made up of doctors and nurses. 

The University Counselling Service offers the opportunity to talk about a range of issues that may be affecting you personally or impacting on your studies. 

The Enabling Team coordinates services and provides practical help and support for students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties. 

Career Facilities

The Aston University Careers+Placements service provides high quality careers guidance, education and information services delivered through individual appointments, group sessions and online services. They facilitate recruitment of their students through advertising graduate opportunities and vacation work, arranging and publicising presentations, drop-ins, recruitment fairs and special interest events; marketing Aston University, its programmes, placement year opportunities and students to potential graduate employers; providing advice, information, help and university contacts to graduate recruiters planning their recruitment activity; and encouraging graduate recruiters and other opportunity providers to input into the planning of the University’s services and facilities.

The Students’ JobShop advertises term time work and unskilled vacation work. 

Careers advice appointments can be booked daily via Aston Futures and students can speak to advisers to discuss course selection, CV construction, interview preparation, and employer research etc.

The service also runs detailed self-help mini-sites offering a selection of online services, videos, information and key contacts. Resources include information on topics such as networking, postgraduate study, assessment centres, placement support, employability skills, telephone interviews, commercial awareness, self-employment and volunteering. Online guidance packages also include psychometric test practice, virtual mock interviews, CV assistance and careers management tools. 

Accommodation

Aston University accommodation is both on-campus and less than a 10-minute walk from Birmingham City Centre. All accommodation is self-catered and en-suite, having recently been refurbished, and benefits from an on-campus supermarket for food shopping and essentials. If you are someone who can't cook, meal plans can also be bought to spend on food in the University. 

International

English Language Requirements

Aston's minimum IELTS English language requirements are:

Scholarships

The Vice-Chancellor’s International scholarship is available for international students from any country outside of the EU studying for an undergraduate or foundation programme, except the MBchB in medicine. The scholarship of £3000 - £5000 is to help with tuition fees and is only payable during your first year of study, however, first year scholarship holders will automatically be prioritised to apply for a second year scholarship.

International Support

At Aston there are students from over 120 countries studying each year and International Student Advisers are available to offer advice and support regarding visas, immigration and banking etc. The University also offer International Orientation involving a number of events and academic related activities for international students.

The University offers free English language support at the Centre for English Language and Communication. The staff can give advice on essay, report and project writing, giving presentations, understanding lectures, and reading effectively and efficiently.

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