University of Exeter

Summary

University Campuses

The university is divided between three main campuses.

Streatham Campus, Exeter

- Surrounded with lakes, parkland, woodland and gardens, it is often regarded as one of the most beautiful UK university campuses. It contains the hub of the Student Union and the main sporting facilities.

St Luke’s Campus, Exeter

- Home to the department of Sport and Health Sciences and the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.

Cornwall Campus, near Falmouth (Cornwall)

- Mainly teaching in Geology, Geography and Biosciences.

University Environment

The nearest train station to the Streatham Campus is Exeter St. Davids with free shuttle buses to the campus between 7.45 - 10.30 am and 4.00 - 6.05 pm Monday to Friday during term time. It takes approximately 20 minutes to walk from the station, although it is uphill!

There are buses from the Streatham campus into the city centre which you have to pay for, however you can also walk and this takes approximately 25 minutes.

History

The university has developed out of a number of smaller schools and colleges established in the middle of the 19th century by educational reformers and philanthropists. By 1922, it had established itself as the University College of the South West of England where pupils undertook a University of London degree. The university gained its own Royal Charter and, therefore, degree awarding power in 1955.

More recently, the university has opened a School of Medicine (2002) and a School of Dentistry (2007). In 2004, the Cornwall Campus, near Falmouth was opened. In 2009 the university began work on a £300 million project which includes the Forum (the new campus centrepiece, which includes a student services centre, a library and retail and catering spaces), the INTO centre (where international students can develop their studies if they do not meet the requirements for an undergraduate degree), and sections of the Business School.

Reputation

As a result of data published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in July 2012, the University of Exeter has recently been included in the Sunday Times’ unofficial “Ivy League” due to the high academic attainment of its entrants. Furthermore, it was named the Times Higher Education University of the year 2007/2008, and has maintained a top ten position in the National Student Survey since the survey was launched in 2005.

Academics

Colleges & Schools

• The Business School
• College of Engineering, Mathematics & Physical Sciences
• College of Humanities
• College of Life & Environmental Sciences
• College of Social Sciences & International Studies
• Medical School

Research 

The university provides a world-class research environment, which they are enriching with over £230 million investment in infrastructure and staff. This includes new laboratories and equipment for science research, and redeveloped library and seminar spaces for humanities and the social sciences, all as part of a wider capital investment programme. This has revolutionised the campuses and made Exeter a genuine destination university for the 21st century.

Exeter has an excellent research foundation, with world-class research in all of the 31 subject areas in the University.

The university is a leader in cutting-edge science, engineering, mathematics, and medicine research, as well as having a world-class reputation in the humanities and social sciences built up over many years. In the last two years they have invested strategically in order to build further capacity and reputation in science, engineering, mathematics and medicine, with developments in outstanding climate change, extrasolar planets, functional materials, systems biology, and translational medicine research. To remove obstacles to research collaboration, Exeter has large interdisciplinary colleges and other initiatives designed to encourage creative exchange of ideas.

In the 2014 REF 98% of the University's research was rated of international quality or higher. It's market share of world-leading or internationally excellent research increased by 22% which has led to an additional £3.8 million for research, the third highest gain amongst English universities. Nine subjects were rated in the top 10 in the UK, with four in the top five, including Theology (2nd); Area Studies; Archaeology (3rd); Politics (5th); Sociology; Education; Sport and Exercise Sciences; Public Health; and Biological Sciences. 

International & Industrial Opportunities

Exeter’s highly successful Erasmus programme is well established and some of the University's cross channel partners house the best departments in Europe in particular disciplines. Last year about 400 students studied at our 180 partner universities. If you are interested in studying further afield, the option to study outside Europe is available. Some of Exeter's programmes allow one academic year abroad, usually the third year of a four-year programme.

The Erasmus Work Placement scheme promotes employability and mobility across Europe and is funded by the EU. Students taking part in this scheme spend between three and 12 months on a work placement in Europe as an integral part of their studies, gaining work experience and academic recognition for that work. Because students need to be competent in your target language this option is especially relevant to modern language or ‘with European Study’ students but it may also be an option available on other programmes. Previous participants have worked in a variety of areas: marketing, translation, law, TV production, fashion and with charities.

Fees & Finance

Scholarships & Bursaries

The Access to Exeter Bursary of up to £3,500 is a guaranteed, non-competitive bursary available to students with a household income below £25,000, which does not have to be paid back. You do not have to apply for the bursary - the University automatically assesses your entitlement based on information about your household income provided by Student Finance England. 

Sport scholarships are awarded annually and are tailored to the needs of the individual. They include a cash sum for sporting expenses up to £2,000 a year for exceptional athletes alongside support services and coaching equating to a cash equivalent upwards of £3,500. To be eligible for the scholarship you must compete for the University in BUCS events. 

The Music Learning Programme is open to all kinds of musicians, composers and sound engineers and enables students to continue taking individual lessons in their chosen discipline in return for active involvement in contributing to student music at Exeter. 

Hardship Funding provides extra financial support to students who have serious financial difficulties and who might otherwise have to abandon their studies. 

Facilities

Learning Facilities

There are two main libraries, one on the Streatham campus (recently refurbished), and the other on the St. Luke's campus, as well as a number of specialist libraries including law and health, and heritage collections. Within the libraries are outstanding on-line resources including e-books, journals, research databases and digitised reading lists, which are available on and off campus, over one million books and journals in print, quiet, silent group, and social learning study spaces, computers, printing and laptop loans, Wi-Fi, and personalised subject and skills support from a dedicated team.

The Foreign Language Centre (FLC) is based on the Streathan Campus providing a range of language courses, including daytime undergraduate modules as part of a degree and a certified Evening Language Programme, which has a fee. Students can choose to learn a completely new language, or to improve one they have studied before, with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish available. The Centre also provides fast-track modules and languages 'for business' that help develop knowledge of the language in a business context. The FLC has its own teaching rooms and a Resource Area for self-study with a variety of language resources, facilities for viewing digital media and on-line satellite TV, reference books and other language-learning materials.

MyExeter gives students access to the ‘Exeter Learning Environment’ (ELE). This is virtual learning environment enables students to access online the learning materials for individual courses. The University is also actively working with mobile devices, adding mobile apps and services to enhance the Exeter experience and allowing students to locate areas of interest across the campuses.

Sporting Facilities

The university boasts some of the best sporting facilities in the South West of England which is reflected in the both the University performance in the BUCS rankings as well as the opportunities available to all. There are two main sports spaces; The Sports Park on the Streatham Campus and St Luke’s Sports centre on the St Luke’s Campus.

The Sports Park's indoor facilities include a 90 station gym, 8 badminton courts, a sports hall, 2 exercise studios, 4 squash courts, The Exeter Tennis Centre, the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Devon Cricket Centre with four indoor nets, bowling machines and indoor game space, and Ocean Physio and Rehab. Its outdoor facilities include a water based hockey pitch, a sand based astro pitch, a Rubber Crumb astro pitch, 6 outdoor tennis courts, 2 swimming pools and 6 netball courts.

St Luke's Sports Centre's facilities include a 30 station gym, fitness classes, an indoor swimming pool and a sports hall for activities including five-a-side football, basketball, badminton, netball, volleyball, and short tennis.

The sports facilities at Exeter also include Duckes Meadow with 9 football pitches, 4 rugby pitches and lacrosse pitches, and Topsham Sports Ground with 2 cricket squares, 2 high quality performance grass football pitches, a rugby pitch, outdoor cricket nets, and a lacrosse pitch.

They also have further facilities including glass sports pitches, a rifle range, cricket square, stables, and boat house.

Students' Union

Students' Union

The Students' Union, known as the Students' Guild, holds a number a venues, including The Ram, the student bar, which hosts events such as pub quizes and karaoke, and the Lemon Grove (The Lemmy), the club offering a range of music including indie, drum and bass, and hip hop, and hosting gigs with past acts including Supergrass, The Cribs and Chase and Status.

Within the Guild is The Market Place, which houses where you can buy snacks, drinks, fresh fruit and vegetables, and houses a deli selling local produce, a Royal Mail parcel service, a bakery, a dry cleaners, a pharmacy, a stationary shop, and a couple of banks (Natwest and Santander). There is also a theatre, the Northcote theatre, and a Farmers' Market takes place between 11-3pm in the Forum Plaza.

There are over 170 societies covering a range of activities from archaeology, jazz orchestra and the expedition society, to the lit soc, photosoc, ski club and welsh societies. Encompassed in X-Media is the student radio, newspaper, TV station and website, all of which students can be involved in.

The university is involved in RAG week, and raised over £80,000 in 2010/2011. The university also has one of the most active Community Action (CA) groups in the country, with over 1,000 student volunteers, with activities ranging from running a kid's camp, enjoying tea and cake with the elderly, redecorating a homeless shelter or cleaning up the beach.

Sport at Exeter is also excellent, with the university consistently falling within the top of the BUCS rankings. Their teams compete for national titles in numerous competitions including cricket, golf, hockey, netball, rowing, rugby union, sailing, squash, surfing and tennis. 

Student Support

Career Service

The Career Zone offers students help in all stages of your career planning and job hunting. The university runs a comprehensive programme of events in Exeter, including at least four annual Careers Fairs which are attended by around 200 companies, individual guidance interviews, psychometric testing, employer presentations, skills events and guidance on preparing your CV and making applications. There are general events and fairs covering specialist areas such as Law, as well as Virtual Careers Fair that gives students access to a wider range of graduate opportunities on-line. Widen Your Options Fortnight gives information on career opportunities such as the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors and self-employment. Mock interviews are also held throughout the year, many with employers.

At the Cornwall Campus there is also a dedicated careers teams. Services include talks, confidential careers interviews, an extensive Careers Library and computer suite with specialist software. Students can attend careers interviews, group workshops and a variety of careers events and fairs. Students based at the Cornwall Campus can also access all services delivered in Exeter. There is an annual Graduate Careers Fair held at the Cornwall Campus in the Autumn term which attracts a range of national, regional and local companies.

The Exeter Award is an achievement award that is designed to enhance employability by providing official recognition and evidence of extra-curricular activities and achievements that are undertaken while at Exeter. These include: attendance at Employability and Graduate Development events and other skills sessions, participation in sporting and musical activities, engagement in work experience and voluntary work opportunities run by the Students’ Guild and others.

The Innovation Centre is home to over 50 businesses ranging from start-ups to multi-national organisations like Greenpeace and Renishaw. Offering Virtual and Hot Desk client services as well as office space, it is able to support the growth and development of businesses from formation through to global expansion. The Innovation Centre has a history of working with University of Exeter graduates and providing an environment in which businesses can flourish. The University are also partners in the Exeter Business Support initiative, employing a dedicated Business Support Advisor for Exeter.  Unlike the business and technology support provided to Centre clients, this advisor focuses on any business, regardless of whether they are knowledge-based or not. The Innovation Centre is also home to an Entrepreneur in Residence.

Exeter run a series of skills workshops designed to support students in developing enterprise skills and entrepreneurial outlook for any workplace. The workshops include introduction to entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, the business plan, strategic marketing for a new business, commercial awareness, project planning, intellectual property and commercialisation, and tax and insurance.

The University's My Career Zone helps students search for temporary, part-time and vacation work.

Health & Wellbeing

There is a Student Health Centre on the Streatham Campus where you can register with a GP and at the other campuses the university recommends certain surgeries. The Guild's Student Advice Unit is there to answer many of the questions or problems you might encounter, including those relating to money and housing, to personal relationships and legal matters.

The Counselling Service is available free of change to students, with a range of options available, depending on initial assessment and based on you individual needs and circumstances. These may include one-to-one sessions with qualified counsellors, mental-health mentoring to help you cope with specific difficulties affecting your studies, on-line counselling and guided self-help through on-line resources.

AccessAbility provide support for students with disabilities. Staff have expertise in, and experience of, supporting people with specific learning difficulties, physical disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders and other disabilities such as chronic fatigue syndrome and repetitive strain injury. Staff provide advice on sources of funding and support for students, and offer diagnostic assessment for students who feel they may be dyslexic or dyspraxic.

Religion & Spirituality

The university boasts a Multi-faith Chaplaincy for all students, regardless of their faith or background, for all aspects of their lives. Chaplains provide pastoral care and confidential counselling as well as explanation of, and instruction in, a range of faiths. Islamic students have their own Prayer Rooms with separate facilities for both men and women and the university also maintains close contacts with representatives of other faiths in the city.

Accommodation

First year accommodation is guaranteed and you have the choice of either a self-catered or catered room. Sometimes it is possible to return after the first year. Catered residence includes breakfast and an evening meal seven days a week, with brunch at the weekends. All the catered halls, except St Luke’s Hall, are on the Streathan Campus, while self-catered flats are available on both campuses.

Students tend to live outside the university campus in second and third years in private rentals.

International

English Language Requirements

International Facilities

Exeter currently has approximately 4,000 students from over 130 countries outside the UK. Their International Student Advisers at the International Student Support Office can give help and practical advice on a whole range of issues, from immigration and visa inquiries prior to and during your time at Exeter, to arranging for you to stay with British families, to information on shipping companies to send your possessions home.

The International Student Support Office run a Freshers' Week programme for foreign students with a dedicated welcome team for international students, information on living in the UK, guided tours of the campus, library and city, information on teaching and learning at the university, guided shopping trips into the city, an introduction to student societies, social events and English Language support.

Media