University of Bolton

University of Bolton
Established 2004 - gained University Status
1982 - Bolton Institute of Higher Education
Type Public
Endowment £160,000[1]
Chancellor Patricia Morris, Baroness Morris of Bolton
Vice-Chancellor Dr George Holmes
Admin. staff 700+[2]
Students 9,251[3]
Undergraduates 7,731[3]
Postgraduates 1,520[3]
Location Bolton, England, UK
Colours Gold, navy blue
Website www.bolton.ac.uk

The University of Bolton (formerly Bolton Institute of Higher Education) is a university in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It has around 14,000 students across all sites and courses, with 700 academic and professional staff. Around 70% of its students come from Bolton and the North West region. The Times newspaper profile states: ‘The university sees itself as a regional institution, with around three quarters of the students coming from the North West, many through partner colleges.’[4]

Contents

History

Bolton Institute of Higher Education was formed in 1982 by the merger of the Bolton Institute of Technology and Bolton College of Education (Technical).

Bolton Institute was awarded the right to award taught degrees in 1992, with the powers to award research degrees in 1995.

In April 2004, the institute was awarded university status with immediate effect. The institution then set about searching for a new name to match its university status. A long consultation period considered many titles, including 'Bolton University', 'Bolton Institute University', 'West Pennines University', 'Bolton Metropolitan University' and 'Bolton Leverhulme University', before announcing 'University of Bolton' as the new title on 2 September 2004. The title was approved by the Privy Council on 27 January 2005 and officially adopted.

Academic quality

The UK national Quality Audit of University of Bolton 2005[5] reports that "broad confidence can be placed in the soundness of the current management of the quality of its programmes and in the university's institutional-level capacity to manage effectively the security of its awards."

In 2006 the university was awarded the highest level of recommendation by the government's quality control agency for universities, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).[6] The university was also ranked top in the North West region for student satisfaction by the Times Good University Guide 2008, coming in the top 15 of all UK universities. The same survey also found the university was within the region's top five universities for the number of students who found graduate-level jobs or carried on with their education six months after graduation.[6] In the Education Guardian one report ranked Bolton first in the "Fastest Growing University" category.[7] Its course in Building Studies is also ranked No. 1 in the UK by students.[8]

As well as offering research opportunities, Masters and PhD degree, it is known for its vocationally focused and industry-relevant taught degree programmes. Among its most popular courses are its Business and Media programmes. The Times states: ‘The university is not research-driven, but engineering, architecture and the built environment, social work and social policy all contained some ‘world-leading’ research in the 2008 assessments’[4]

UK rankings
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Times Good University Guide 108th 108th=[9] 111th[9] 93rd 88th 98th
Guardian University Guide 116rd 114th[10] 117th[11] 110th - 67th 102nd 62nd 86th
Sunday Times University Guide 121st 119th 119th[12] 120th[13] 120th= 121st 115th 107th[14] 108th[15] 97nd= 111th 116th
The Complete University Guide 112st=[16] 112th[17] 112th=[18] 91st=
The Daily Telegraph 91st=

Growth and future plans

Since being granted university status, the University of Bolton has undergone several changes. In 2008 an £8 million building programme was completed, including an £1.7 million specialist teaching centre for the University’s creative courses. £2.5 million was also spent on improvements to Library facilities.

The Bolton One development is a multi-million pound project set for completion in 2012. The university has contributed around £7 million to it and is working in conjunction with local partners, Bolton Council and Primary Care Trust. The purpose built centre will house new health, science and sports teaching and research facilities - as well as a sports complex.[19]

International presence

The University also has a campus in Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and established international links with a number of overseas academic establishments in Germany, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Malawi and Greece.

During December, 2011, the University of Bolton will launch their campus in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[20] KES Group of Institutions is partnering with the University of Bolton to launch the Bolton Academic Centre in Colombo.

Students' Union

The main Students' Union building is on Deane Road at the centre of the University Campus. As well as being home to the SU bar (Loft Bar) and the hub of many social events, the union provides numerous other roles, such as student support and advice (The Advice Unit), representation and sporting societies. It can also be followed on Twitter and Facebook

Diversity

The University of Bolton has a diverse student population. Around 13% of home students are from ethnic minority communities, with about 8% of its students being classed as international. This portion of students come from 70 countries outside the UK.[21] The university also has a Chaplaincy that accommodates several different faiths.

Academic schools and research centres

The university has three academic faculties and five research centres

Academic faculties

Research centres

See also

References

  1. ^ http://data.bolton.ac.uk/finance/Financial%20Statement%2009.pdf
  2. ^ Key Facts - from official website
  3. ^ a b c http://www.bolton.ac.uk/AboutUs/KeyFacts/Images%202009-10/Student%20Numbers.xls
  4. ^ a b "Profile University of Bolton". The Times (London). 27 May 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/article2166305.ece. 
  5. ^ http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkms.TJBFq_EA1XdXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2cXQ1OTV2BGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMwRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANGODUyXzky/SIG=13b3r2qrk/EXP=1167171006/**http%3a//www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/institutional/bolton06/RG216UniversityofBolton.pdf
  6. ^ a b [1]
  7. ^ "Fastest growing universities 2". The Guardian (London). http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/specialreport/table/0,,1416813,00.html. Retrieved 27 May 2010. 
  8. ^ "Top marks for university courses". The Bolton News (Newsquest Media Group). 8 October 2007. http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/1742301.top_marks_for_university_courses/. 
  9. ^ a b Watson, Roland; Elliott, Francis; Foster, Patrick. "University Rankings League Table 2010 | Good University Guide – Times Online". London: Extras.timesonline.co.uk. http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
  10. ^ "University guide 2010: University league table". guardian.co.uk (London: Guardian News and Media). 12 May 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2009/may/12/university-league-table. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
  11. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian (London). http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=&FirstRow=29&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=GuardianTeachingScore&Subject=University+ranking&Institution=. Retrieved 29 October 2007. 
  12. ^ "The Sunday Times University League Table 2010/11". The Sunday Times (London). http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/University_Guide/. Retrieved 29 September 2010. 
  13. ^ "The Sunday Times University League Table 2009/10". The Sunday Times (London). http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/stug/universityguide.php. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  14. ^ "University ranking based on performance over 10 years" (PDF). London: Times Online. 2007. http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/univ07ten.pdf. Retrieved 28 April 2008. 
  15. ^ "The Sunday Times University League Table" (PDF). The Sunday Times (London). http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/stug2006/stug2006.pdf. Retrieved 3 November 2007. 
  16. ^ "The Complete University Guide 2011". Complete University Guide. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8726. 
  17. ^ "The Complete University Guide 2010". Complete University Guide. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8726. 
  18. ^ "The main league table 2009". The Independent (London). 24 April 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/the-main-league-table-2009-813839.html. Retrieved 27 May 2010. 
  19. ^ http://www.boltonone.com/partners/
  20. ^ [UK university to launch centre here in Dec. http://itpro.lk/node/9208]
  21. ^ http://www.bolton.ac.uk/AboutUs/KeyFacts/StudentProfile.aspx

External links