University of Northampton

The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampton in 2005.

This article is about the present-day university. For the one in existence from 1261 to 1265, see University of Northampton (13th century).

The University of Northampton
Coat of arms
Former names
University College Nene College of Higher Education (1975),
Northampton Technical College (1924)
MottoLatin: Ne Nesciamus
Motto in English
Let us not be ignorant
TypePublic
Established2005 (gained University status)
1975 (Nene College established)
Endowment£0.95 m (2015)[1]
ChancellorRichard Coles
Vice-ChancellorAnne Marie-Kilday
Administrative staff
1,048[2]
Students12,060 (2019/20)[3]
Undergraduates9,145 (2019/20)[3]
Postgraduates2,915 (2019/20)[3]
Location
Northampton
,
Northamptonshire
,
UK

52.2506°N 0.8903°W / 52.2506; -0.8903
Websitenorthampton.ac.uk

History

13th Century University of Northampton

The town had a university in medieval times between 1261 and 1265 of the same name, established by royal charter after approval from King Henry III in 1261. It was the third university in England, after Oxford and Cambridge, and the 22nd in Europe. After being advised by bishops and magnates that Northampton was a threat to Oxford, Henry III dissolved the university in 1265, and signed a Royal Decree that banned the establishment of a university in Northampton.

Northampton Technical College

Northampton Technical College was opened at St George's Avenue—now the site of the Avenue Campus—in 1924. Eight years later, a new building for the college was formally opened by the Duke and Duchess of York. A School of Art opened later in 1937.[4]

The entrance to Avenue Campus

The College of Education and Nene College of Higher Education

At the beginning of the 1970s, Northamptonshire was one of the few counties in England to lack a teacher-training college. A college in Liverpool lost its home and was transferred to what is now the Park Campus. The College of Education was opened by the Secretary of State for Education and Science, Margaret Thatcher, in 1972. In 1975, this college amalgamated with the Colleges of Technology and Art to become Nene College of Higher Education, taking its name from the River Nene. In 1978, it integrated the Leathersellers College from London.

In 1993, the college incorporated St. Andrew's School of Occupational Therapy and was granted undergraduate degree awarding powers. In 1997, it took in the Sir Gordon Roberts College of Nursing and Midwifery.

University College Northampton and University of Northampton

It became University College Northampton in 1999 and gained full university status in 2005. To gain university status it had to convince the Privy Council that a Royal Decree banning the establishment of a university in Northampton, signed by King Henry III in 1265 following the Battle of Lewes, should be repealed. In 2005, the university also received the power to validate its own research degrees, which had formerly been validated by the University of Leicester. In the graduation ceremonies in July 2006, seven students received the first doctoral degrees validated by the University of Northampton.

In January 2010, the School of Applied Sciences was renamed the School of Science and Technology and moved into the newly refurbished Newton Building at Avenue Campus. The Newton Building was officially opened in September 2010 by Princess Anne.

Northampton university campuses
Main entrance to the Avenue Campus

Until 2018 the university had three main sites: Avenue Campus, just north of the town centre, opposite a large open park known as the Racecourse; Park Campus in Kingsthorpe to the north of the town which was the main and largest campus and an Innovation centre opposite Northampton railway station. The Avenue and Park campuses were replaced by the new Waterside campus in 2018.

The university has various types of halls of residence on its two older campuses, with just over 1,600 rooms. Most first-year students live in halls, and few second- or third-years do so. Many of them live in the Abington area, north-east of the town centre. The main halls are now located in the student village of the Waterside Campus, and include Francis Crick; Margaret Bondfield; John Clare; and Charles Bradlaugh. A former ground-floor flat in the latter is a multi-faith Chaplaincy Centre, and another in John Clare houses the Centre for Community Volunteering; Bassett-Lowke.

Simon Senlis hall

The university also offers accommodation at Belinda Ferrison House in the Mounts area of the town centre. In April 2012, Northampton Borough Council granted planning permission for a 464-room hall of residence on the site of the St John's Surface Car Park in the town centre. It opened in 2014 and mainly accommodates international and post-graduate students.[5]

The Newton Building

The university took ownership of the Grade II-listed former Kingsley Park Middle School, next door to Avenue Campus. This underwent an £11m refurbishment and housed most of the School of Science and Technology, formerly split between Avenue Campus and Park Campus. The building has been renamed the Newton Building, after Sir Isaac Newton.

The university achieved the Ecocampus Silver award in 2011.[6]

In May 2012, the university announced plans to establish a new riverside campus in the town centre, on the site of the disused Northampton Power Station on the south bank of the River Nene[7] and located within the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone (known simply as Northampton Waterside).[8][9] The Waterside Campus opened to students in September 2018 with the facilities on both Park and Avenue campuses transferring to it.[10] Proposals have been submitted to redevelop Park campus for housing whilst Avenue campus could be used for student accommodation. The Newton Building will be retained as university offices.[11]

The new Waterside Campus

Organisation and administration

Governance

The Vice-Chancellor is Anne Marie-Kilday, who was preceded in the post by Nick Petford, Ann Tate (who received an honorary degree from the university in 2011) and Martin Gaskell.

On 10 February 2008, the university appointed Baroness Falkner of Margravine as its first Chancellor. In July 2017, she was succeeded by the BBC radio presenter Richard Coles.[12]

The Board of Governors are the members of the Higher Education Corporation and act both as governors and charitable trustees. There are 17 members of the Board of Governors. They are drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors as well as from the staff and students of the university.[13]

Credit union

The Changemaker Credit Union is a joint initiative between the university and Northamptonshire Credit Union, providing financial services to students and staff.[14] Northamptonshire Credit Union is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited.[15]

Academic profile

The university had 12,060 students spread across its two campuses in 2019/20.[3] It is divided into four faculties: the Faculty of Business & Law, the Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology, the Faculty of Health & Society; and the Faculty of Education & Humanities.[16]

The university offers a wide range of undergraduate degrees, foundation degrees, diplomas and a variety of postgraduate opportunities up to PhD level.

Reputation and rankings
Rankings
National rankings
Complete (2024)[17]115
Guardian (2024)[18]95
Times / Sunday Times (2024)[19]125
Global rankings
QS (2024)[20]1001-1200[21]
THE (2024)[22]1001-1200[23]

In the 2012 Guardian University League Table, the university was ranked first for 'value added' in UK.[24]

The university was awarded 'The Outstanding HEI Supporting Social Entrepreneurship Award' at the UnLtd/HEFCE ‘Dare to be Different’ national conference in June 2011.[25] and has also been named the Midlands most 'Enterprising University of the Year' for both 2011 and 2012, in recognition of its work in social enterprise.[26] In February 2013, the university received international recognition for its commitment to social innovation and entrepreneurship by being designated a 'Changemaker Campus' by Ashoka U.[27] Northampton is the first Changemaker Campus in the UK and joins a global network of 21 other Changemaker Campuses.

Research

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) the university achieved significant ratings in Business and Management; Health; Education; History; Metallurgy and Materials; English; Drama, Dance and Performing Arts; Art and Design; and Asian Studies.[28] In the most recent 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), "world leading" research was found in submissions for Allied Health Professions, Art and Design, English Language and Literature, History, Geography and Environmental Studies, and Education.[29]

Research, consultancy and knowledge transfer at the university are centred on a number of cognate research groupings. It carries out internationally renowned research into lift engineering and technology, using the Express Lift Tower in the town, reflecting the town's historic role in lift manufacturing. The Landscape and Biodiversity Research Group is within the universities' School of Science and Technology.

The university provides numerous other business support schemes and programmes for new companies. These are often run through the university's Sunley Management Centre. Other schemes run by the university include an art loan facility for offices or conferences. The university provided lab facilities for the Channel 4 programme How Clean Is Your House.

Student life

Students' Union

The Students' Union operates out of the redeveloped Engine Shed location on the Waterside Campus, which also operates as a daytime cafe and food outlet. The Union also operates a venue in the town centre, The Platform. During the day the venue operates as a cafe and conference centre. At night the venue also operates as a nightclub with three floors and staffed by student staff. During the midweek, all events held at the venue are student only while the venue opens up the locals during the weekend with a number of different events held throughout the year.

The Union was awarded a national Gold award,[30] as well as 'Best Club', in the national NUS Best Bar None awards 2011. This award confirms the Union as being a safe venue with effective policies on drink and drugs, crime prevention, fire, security and first aid.

The Students' Union is led by five full-time Sabbatical Officers, backed by hundreds of volunteers including an extended Elected Officer Team of Part Time Officers and supported by almost 200 staff – both student and career staff.[31]

Sports

The Students' Union has 35 sports clubs[32] and enters 24 teams in Wednesday BUCS Leagues each week, with the SU currently ranked 99th in the BUCS ranking.[33] The Students' Union operate on a policy of free sports membership, meaning all teams are free to join with no membership fee and offers a wide variety of sports including rugby league (Gremlins RL), football, netball, basketball, hockey and lacrosse. They are also one of a select SUs to offer equestrian as a sports club for their students. Sports is overseen by the Sports Coordinator with an elected Sports Part-Time Officer acting as a representative for the voice of student sports.

Since the start of the 2018–19 academic year, the Students' Union has contested a Varsity event against the University of Bedfordshire, with each institute taking it in turns to host the event each year. The SU also hosts an end of year Sports Awards event to recognise the achievement of all clubs, with awards including both performance based awards as well as charity and individual awards.

Societies

Approximately 60 student societies are affiliated to The University of Northampton Students’ Union.[34] These range from special interest societies such as Doctor Who and Anime to faith-based societies such as the Christian Union and Hindu Society.

NUMedia, the student-led, run and managed media society, was launched in September 2011 and is responsible for the NUNews newspaper, NURadio broadcasts and NUTube video productions.

University technical colleges

The university is an academic sponsor of two university technical colleges which opened in September 2013. Daventry University Technical College specialises in engineering, construction and environmental sustainability, Silverstone University Technical College in motorsports engineering, event management and hospitality.

Notable people

Staff
  • Henry Bird, taught drawing at the art school; his students included the architect Will Alsop[35]
  • Dave Hill, political and educational activist, professor of education (2007–12)
  • Robert Kirk, professor emeritus in the department of philosophy

Alumni

See also

References
  1. http://www.northampton.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Signed-University-of-Northampton-Accounts-2014-1511.pdf
  2. "University of Northampton accounts-2011.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  3. "Where do HE students study?". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. "History of the University of Northampton – The University of Northampton". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. "University granted planning permission". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  6. "Ecocampus register". Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  7. "University plans £300m new campus". 25 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  8. Council, Northampton Borough. "Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone". Northampton Alive with Enterprise. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. "Waterside Restoration Master Plan 2004 Appendix" (PDF). Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  10. "Waterside Campus". Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  11. "The University of Northampton submits plans to redevelop Park Campus". University of Northampton. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. "The Chancellor – Reverend Richard Coles – The University of Northampton". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. "Board of Governors | The University of Northampton". The University of Northampton. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. Changemaker Credit Union Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine The University of Northampton (retrieved 7 March 2015)
  15. Credit unions in membership of ABCUL Association of British Credit Unions (retrieved 1 November 2014)
  16. "About us". University of Northampton. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  17. "Complete University Guide 2024". The Complete University Guide. 7 June 2023.
  18. "Guardian University Guide 2024". The Guardian. 9 September 2023.
  19. "Good University Guide 2024". The Times. 15 September 2023.
  20. "QS World University Rankings 2024". Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. 27 June 2023.
  21. "QS World University Rankings 2022". Top Universities.
  22. "THE World University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. 28 September 2023.
  23. "Impact Rankings 2021". Times Higher Education. 16 April 2021.
  24. "Guardian University League Tables". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  25. "The University of Northampton wins top Social Entrepreneurship Award". Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  26. "Midlands Enterprising University of the Year for the second year running – The University of Northampton". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  27. "University recognised internationally as the UK's number one for social enterprise – The University of Northampton". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  28. "RAE 2008 results". Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  29. "Research". University of Northampton. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  30. "NUS Best Bar None assessments 2010/11" (PDF). Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  31. "Who We Are @ University of Northampton Students' Union". northampton.unioncloud.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  32. "Sport at Northampton". www.northamptonunion.com. Northampton Students' Union. Archived from the original on 17 August 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  33. "BUCS Points - BUCScore". bucscore.bucs.org.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  34. "Societies at Northampton". www.northamptonunion.com. University of Northampton Students' Union. Archived from the original on 17 August 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  35. Alsop W. (28 June 2001). Drawing on the experiences of life help create better work. Architects' Journal
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