The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. Worcester is the only university based in the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. In 1946 an Emergency Teacher Training College for the University of Birmingham was established in Worcester on the site of one of the former RAF bases used during the Second World War. Henry Hines came to Worcester from the Canterbury Technical Institute as the principal of the college. E.G. Peirson followed Hines's lead as the principal of the college from 1951 to 1978. During his time at the college, in the 1970s the Council for National Academic Awards validated the degrees for the Worcester College of Higher Education and the former Peirson Library, now The Peirson Study and Guidance Centre was opened. The third principal of the college, David Shadbolt, started his leadership in 1978 bringing a new system of organisation, based around three schools – Education and Teaching Studies, Arts and Sciences. In 1992, Dorma Urwin became the new principal and Coventry University agreed to validate the institution's degree courses. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire College of Nursing and Midwifery was absorbed in 1995. In 1997 the Privy Council affirmed the institution's degree-awarding powers and it subsequently became known as University College Worcester. In 2003, David Green was appointed as Dorma Urwin's successor and later became the vice chancellor of the institution. In 2005 the Privy Council granted university status. The institution was renamed "University of Worcester" in September of that year. In 2010 the HM Privy Council conferred research degree-awarding powers on the university. In the same year, the university opened the City campus in the renovated former infirmary to create a home for the Business School. Two years later, in 2012, the university opened The Hive, a £60 million facility focused on learning resources, technology, social and study spaces. This facility is a joint venture between the university and Worcestershire County Council and was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen. In 2021, the university decided to close its archaeology department, with the change to come into effect the end of the 2021/22 academic year; this led to a petition being started, asking the vice-chancellor and executive board to reconsider the decisionWorcester achievementsTop 3 in the UK for Quality Education - 2019, 2020 and 2021 Times Higher Education University Impact RankingsSustainability Institution of the Year - Winner- 2019 Green Gown AwardsUniversity of the Year - Finalist - 2020 Times Higher Education Awards and UK Social Mobility AwardsOutstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - Winner - 2020 Times Higher Education AwardsTop 10 for Sustained Employment - Longitudinal Educational Outcomes survey (2017 and 2020)Top 20 for Student Experience - Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022The University is a truly inclusive place where every person counts as an individual. From designing imaginative facilities to providing practical support and tailored learning, we strive to help people of all backgrounds and abilities to achieve their own rich potential. We work hard to break down barriers and provide opportunities for all. In 2020 we were the winner of the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.Worcester is home to Europe’s first integrated university and public library, The Hive, and Britain’s first inclusive indoor sports hall purpose-designed to include the wheelchair athlete, the University of Worcester Arena, two facilities that exemplify our commitment to inclusion. Our commitment to supporting students’ wellbeing was recognised in being shortlisted for Outstanding Student Support in 2018 and 2019 in the Times Higher Education University Awards, and we are regularly identified as a best practice example in this field. We believe in educating and supporting the whole person to succeed in their own personal endeavours but to also use the skills they develop to build a better world.In the first ever national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), Worcester was rated Silver, with assessors commenting that Worcester “delivers high quality teaching, learning and outcomes for its students” and “consistently exceeds rigorous national quality requirements for UK higher education”.We were placed 20th for student experience and 23rd for teaching quality in the Times Good University Guide 2022. The TEF panel noted that we excel at teaching which encourages high levels of student engagement and commitment to learning and study. Including “excellent levels” of contact time and schemes that involve students in the process of enhancing their own learning experience.
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Postgraduate students have rated the University of Worcester among the very best in the UK in a national independent survey, for the second year running.
Read more →A University of Worcester graduate and Honorary Doctorate recipient has been selected as one of around 100 educators who will re-write the schools’ curriculum for India.
Read more →The University of Worcester is one of a number of organisations coming together in the City next week to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Read more →The University put a call out to local schools and charities that would benefit from receiving IT equipment the University no longer requires.
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