With a history going back over 175 years from its origins as a School of Medicine and Surgery, Newcastle is one of the UKs leading universities. Situated in the heart of one of the UKs most dynamic cities, today the University is home to more than 19,000 students from over 100 countries.
A member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities, Newcastle offers over 200 undergraduate programmes in a broad range of subject areas spanning arts, social sciences, business and law, medical sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering. For detailed programme information, please see our online Undergraduate Prospectus www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate
We are one of the top 20 UK universities targeted by graduate employers and we have an excellent track record for graduate employment, with 9 out of 10 of our graduates entering employment or further study within six months of graduating. As well as winning nine prestigious national careers awards, our Careers Service was ranked second out of the institutions surveyed in this category in the International Student Barometer (ISB) survey (2009). This survey measures international student satisfaction at 270 Universities and Colleges worldwide.
Other first-class facilities at Newcastle include our library service, which is ranked as one of the top 10 in the world in the ISB survey. It is also the only one in the UK to be awarded the government's Charter Mark for excellent customer services five times in a row.
We are one of the best universities in the UK for sport and were ranked in the top 10 of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league for the third consecutive year in 2008-09. The University is also among the best connected in the UK in terms of computers and the Internet, with students having access to 1,300 PCs in over 40 clusters.
Newcastle upon Tyne is renowned as a great place to be a student. As well as twice being named best university city in the UK by MSN Travel, Newcastle was recently voted the 7th best nightlife destination in the world by Trip Advisor. Our students benefit from a relatively low cost of living, excellent transport links and a close proximity to the county of Northumberland, with its ancient castles and unspoilt coastline.
The University is currently embarking on its most ambitious and wide-ranging programme of capital development in its history:
The Students Union is undergoing an extensive refurbishment to provide new social learning areas, computer clusters, a new space for events, and new catering outlets. This is due to be completed by September 2011.
A new INTO Centre, due to be completed in 2012, will provide state-of-the-art facilities, residential accommodation and communal spaces for international students, all in a central location on campus. Newcastle is one of only six universities in the UK which has a partnership with INTO to offer programmes which enable international students to develop the academic and English language skills needed for direct entry to degrees at the University.
Newcastle Universitys Business School is creating a state-of-the-art facility for its students. The 100,000 square feet development, based in the city centre, is due to be completed in 2012.
World-class research in the Faculty of Medical Sciences is being supported by multi-million pound developments in the areas of stem cells, ageing, health and society, bacterial cell biology and translational research. For example, the recently completed Baddiley-Clark Building now houses the £30million Bacterial Cell Biology Research Centre, bringing together the worlds largest group of scientists working on fundamental problems in bacteria. In addition, work is currently underway on the £24 million Campus for Ageing and Vitality, a substantial development at Newcastle General Hospital. This new Campus will be dedicated to the study of how we grow old, how we can stay healthy and active as we get older and how we can combat age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
Over £35 million has recently been invested on a purpose-built student and administrative services building, providing some of the best student support facilities in the UK.
A campus will be launched in Malaysia in 2011 offering degrees in medicine and medical-related sciences. Courses in marine technology are also being delivered in Singapore and Dubai in 2010.
At Newcastle, we have a proven track record of meeting the most pressing societal challenges through socially relevant research, and the quality of our work has been recognised through prestigious awards such as the Queens Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education. Two of the research areas where we have established an ongoing commitment to developing innovative solutions to complex problems are ageing and sustainability.
The research expertise of our staff feeds directly into teaching. Newcastle reaffirmed its position as one of the UK's top 20 institutions in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which identified 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent' research in all 38 of Newcastle's submitted subject areas.
