Bath Spa University

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**Bath Spa University**

Established	1975
Students	5,000
Location	Bath, BANES,, England, United Kingdom
Campus	Rural
Website	www.bathspa.ac.uk

Bath Spa University is a university near Bath, England. It was previously a university college, but was upgraded to full university status in August 2005.

1 History
2 Campuses
3 Curriculum
4 External links

[edit] History

The institution can trace its roots back to 1898. It was formed as Bath College of Higher Education by the merger of two colleges in 1975. In 1992, the college was granted its own degree-awarding powers and in 1999 adopted the name Bath Spa University College. In March 2005, the institution won university status, and became Bath Spa University in August 2005.

[edit] Campuses

There are around 5,000 students and two campuses, at Newton Park and Sion Hill. The former campus, located four miles to the west of Bath near the village of Newton St. Loe, is leased from the Duchy of Cornwall. It has grounds that were landscaped by Capability Brown and a concert hall, The Michael Tippett Centre, and a new University Theatre. The smaller campus (Sion Hill) houses the Bath School of Art and Design and is located in Bath. It includes Somerset Place, a listed Georgian crescent.

[edit] Curriculum

While Bath Spa has long been recognised as a top provider of teacher training, it has also emerged as an important contributor to Higher Education in the creative arts. The MA in Creative Writing, in particular, is seen as an international leader. Recently the university was designated a Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CETL) and has used its award to create the Artswork project, investigating the links between creativity, technology and employability in arts education at HE level. The University’s academic schools are: Art and Design; Education; English and Creative Studies; Historical and Cultural Studies; Music and Performing Arts; Science and the Environment; Social Sciences; Development and Participation. The University has recently announced the sale of Somerset Place, part of the Sion Hill campus (with 2009 the target date for vacation), and is planning to use the funds generated from the sale to create a new campus in the city centre.