University of Plymouth

The university was originally founded as the Plymouth School of Navigation in 1862,[1][2] before becoming a university college in 1920 and a polytechnic institute in 1970,[1] with its constituent bodies being Plymouth Polytechnic, Rolle College in Exmouth, the Exeter College of Art and Design (which were, before April 1989, run by Devon County Council) and Seale-Hayne College (which before April 1989 was an independent charity). It was renamed Polytechnic South West in 1989, a move that was unpopular with students as the name lacked identity. It was the only polytechnic to be renamed and remained as "PSW" until gaining university status in 1992 along with the other polytechnics. The new university absorbed the Plymouth School of Maritime Studies.

In 2006, part of the remains of the World War II Portland Square air-raid shelter were rediscovered on the Plymouth campus.[9] On the night of 22 April 1941, during the Blitz, a bomb fell on the site killing over 70 civilians, including a mother and her six children.[9] The bomb blast was so strong that human remains were found in the tops of trees. Only three people escaped alive, all children.

The university's first vice-chancellor was John Bull. He was succeeded by Roland Levinsky until his death on 1 January 2007, when he walked into live electrical cables brought down during a storm.[10] He was temporarily replaced by Mark Cleary (now vice-chancellor of the University of Bradford),[11] and then by Steve Newstead. Wendy Purcell became VC on 1 December 2007. She was placed on leave on 2 July 2014 by the university's governors while an internal review was conducted.[12] A month later the Higher Education Funding Council for England requested an independent external review of the university's governance.[13] In August 2014, the university was instructed by HEFCE to undertake an external review of its governance after vice-chancellor Wendy Purcell was placed on leave.[14]

Judith Petts CBE was appointed the University of Plymouth's vice-chancellor and chief executive in February 2016. She joined Plymouth from the University of Southampton, where she had been pro-vice-chancellor research and enterprise and previously the inaugural dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (2010–2013).

The university was selected by the Royal Statistical Society in October 2008 to be the home of its Centre for Statistical Education.[15] It also runs courses in maritime business, marine engineering, marine biology,[16] and Earth, ocean and environmental sciences.

Babbage Building (pre-renovations)

In 2021 work began to completely renovate the interior and exterior of the Babbage Building. The renovations will add an extra 10,000m² worth of space to the building, and create rooftop gardens which will be open to students.[17] Renovation works also began on the Intercity Place tower down by the Plymouth railway station.[18]

The university has plans to tear down the Brunel Building which currently sits opposite Babbage and turn it into an urban park, but no timeline has been released yet.[18]

The Roland Levinsky Building

The Roland Levinsky Building, designed by architects Henning Larsen with Building Design Partnership, is clad with copper sheets in a seamed-cladding technique, is nine storeys high and has 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft) of floor space.[21] The Faculty of Arts, previously based in Exmouth and Exeter moved here in August 2007. The building contains two large lecture theatres, the Jill Craigie Cinema, used by the film students to display their films and for showing of films to the public; three performance rehearsal studios; digital media suites; and a public art gallery which displays work by local artists groups, students and famous artists.

InterCity Place is an 11-storey tower building adjacent to Plymouth railway station currently undergoing renovations to turn the building into a centre for students studying medical degrees. The tower is being renovated by contractor Kier Group and is set to open in 2023.[22] The building used to be the Intercity House office block. The building is currently owned by Network Rail, but is being given to the university on a 150-year lease.[23]

University-managed or approved accommodation in the first year of study is guaranteed for all applicants who choose Plymouth as their first choice institution.[24] There are six university-managed halls: Francis Drake, Gilwell, Mary Newman, Pilgrim, Radnor and Robbins. Special accommodation arrangements can be made for students with disabilities or medical conditions.

Francis Drake Hall is located on-campus at the university's main campus. It has a café, Circuit Laundry, a bicycle storage room, and post room service in the building.

In April 2021 at around 3pm, a woman set fire to the 6th floor of the accommodation building. She was later arrested for arson. One person was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.[25]

During the 2021/22 academic year, planned maintenance works were undertaken to replace external cladding on the building. Scaffolding was erected and students remained living in halls that year.[26]

• 
  Francis Drake
• 
  Mary Newman
• 
  Robbins
• 
  Radnor
• 
  Gibbon St (Left: Pilgrim, Right: Robbins)

There are three faculties which each contain a number of schools:

1. Arts, Humanities and Business
2. Health
3. Science and Engineering

The arms, crest, badge and supporters forming the university's coat of arms were granted on 10 April 2008, in Grant 173/189, by the College of Arms.[27]

The books represent the university's focus on learning and scholarship. The scattering of small stars, represent navigation, which has played a key role in the history of the city and the university. The scallop shells in gold, represents pilgrimage, a sign of the importance of the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers from a site near the Mayflower Steps in the Plymouth Barbican aboard the Mayflower in 1620. A Pelican and a Golden Hind support the shield and reflect both the original and later, better known, name of Sir Francis Drake's ship. The crest contains the Latin motto, "Indagate Fingite Invenite" which translates as "Explore Dream Discover" and is a quote from Mark Twain, reflecting the university's ambitions for its students and Plymouth's history of great seafarers.

The letters patent granting arms to the University of Plymouth were presented by Eric Dancer, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, in a ceremony on 27 November 2008, in the presence of Henry Paston-Bedingfeld, York Herald of the College of Arms, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Plymouth, Judge William Taylor, the Recorder of Plymouth, and Baroness Judith Wilcox.[28]

The coat of arms are rarely seen in use, other than at graduation. The university uses the "with Plymouth University" brand on stationery and signs and keeps the coat of arms exclusive. The use of the arms is therefore restricted to graduations and other formal ceremonies, degree certificates and associated materials and the exclusive use by the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.

This faculty is host to the School of Art, Design and Architecture, Plymouth Business School, and the School of Society and Culture, including the Plymouth Institute of Education. Arts subjects are usually taught in the Roland Levinsky building and the Scott building, a 19th-century building located next to Roland Levinsky which was modernised externally in 2008 to keep to the university's current design.

The faculty offers degrees in Anthropology, Architecture, Built environment, Business and Management, Criminology, Education, English, Game design, History, Illustration, Art history, 3D Design, Fine Art, Law, Marketing, Music, Photography, Professional Policing, Media arts, Sociology, and Theatre & Performance. Postgraduate research degree supervision is available across the disciplines in all three Schools, with specific expertise in artistic research.

Home to the Peninsula Dental School, Peninsula Medical School, School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Psychology, School of Health Professions, and School of Nursing and Midwifery. The Faculty offers degrees in Adult Nursing, Biomedical Sciences, Child Health Nursing, Dentistry, Medicine, Mental Health Nursing, Midwifery, Dietetics, Optometry, Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Physiotherapy and Paramedicine.

Medicine and Dentistry were first established as part of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in 2000, which operated as a partnership between Plymouth University and the University of Exeter.[30] In January 2012 the two founding members of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, outlined their plans to expand independently and grow the success of the now nationally recognised professional health education provider. These changes came into effect from the start of the 2013 academic year.

This faculty is home to the School of Biological and Marine Sciences, the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, and the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Subjects taught in the Schools include biological sciences, marine biology, marine sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, geography, environmental science, computer science including artificial intelligence, cyber security and games development, data science, mechanical, marine and materials engineering, civil and coastal engineering, electrical and electronic engineering and robotics.

The university provides professional diving qualifications on a number of its courses, the only university in the country to do so. The university's diving centre is located within its Marine Station teaching and research facility based next to Queen Anne's Battery marina, and has a full-time team of instructors and dedicated research vessels and equipment.[31]

The Academic Partnerships network is a collaboration between the university and local colleges across the England and the world.

Plymouth is the main sponsor of Marine Academy Plymouth.[32] It is also the main sponsor of UTC Plymouth, which opened in September 2013.

In 2005 the university was awarded four HEFCE funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs). In addition, Plymouth was a partner in a fifth successful bid, led by Liverpool Hope University.

The university's CETLs are:

• Centre for Excellence in Professional Placement Learning (CEPPL)
• Experiential Learning in the Environmental and Natural Sciences
• Higher Education Learning Partnerships CETL
• Centre for Sustainable Futures (Education for Sustainable Development)
• Learn Higher

The University of Plymouth ranks 503rd in the CWUR World University Rankings 2017[39] In The Times and Sunday Times University League Table 2018, the University of Plymouth's world ranking was listed as joint 701st[40] and 601–650 in QS World University Rankings 2019.[41] Times Higher Education ranked Plymouth 401–500 in its World University Rankings 2017–18,[42] and ranked it 65th among 200 institutions in its World Young University Rankings 2017.[43]

The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework showed that, overall, Plymouth was ranked joint 66 of 128 UK institutions, rising 9 places from the previous Research Assessment Exercise in 2008.[44] Across all assessed subject areas Plymouth showed substantial evidence of 3* (internationally excellent) and 4* (world leading) research, and this was particularly evident in Clinical Medicine, Computer Sciences & Informatics, Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, and Earth Systems & Environmental Sciences, where 79–85% of research was ranked as 3* or 4*.[45]

Plymouth was the first university to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark in recognition of working as a genuine social enterprise, caring for communities and protecting the planet.