University Centre Weston, also known as UCW, is a university centre based in the town of

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. The centre was formed by Weston College in 2016 following the college's announcement of university centre status with

UWE Bristol The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

and

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The insti ...

in November 2015. UCW is currently based at Weston College's Knightstone Campus, with some degree level provision based at its South West Skills and University Campuses.

History

Weston College has delivered

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

courses since 1993. Under the leadership of Dr Paul Phillips, who became its principal in 2001, the college expanded its degree-level provision and gained university centre status first with

in May 2014. In November 2015, at Weston College's annual business breakfast, Dr Phillips announced that the college would further expand its university-level provision through university centre status with UWE Bristol. This partnership was further developed with the announcement of the creation of an Institute of Professional Education in July 2016. UCW's new logo was debuted on the hoarding surrounding the seafront portion of Weston-super-Mare's Winter Gardens Pavilion, part of which will house the organisation when it is reopened in 2017. The university centre scored 88% in the National Student Survey's 'overall satisfaction' survey, above the national average of 86%.

Campuses

UCW is primarily based in Weston College's Knightstone Campus, with floors five and six dedicated to the college's degree courses. Expansion of the higher education provision resulted in the creation of the University Campus in 2007 and the Future Technology Centre, from which UCW teaches its university-level engineering courses. The university centre's logo was debuted on the hoarding surrounding the Winter Gardens Pavilion in 2016.

Courses

University Centre Weston runs 34 courses at levels 5 and 6 of the UK's National Qualifications Framework. It is the only educational establishment in

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

that provides higher level qualifications in engineering. UCW has courses in the following subjects: animal management, art, business, care and early years, computing, counselling, engineering, film and media, games and animation, graphic design, music, performing arts, public and environmental health, sport, teaching, and uniformed and public services.

Assessment

In 2016, nearly a quarter of UCW's Honours Degree students, and 47% of its applied computing students, achieved First Class Honours.

Awards

* 2017 -

Teaching Excellence Framework The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) is a controversial government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England, which may be used from 2020 to determine ...

'Gold' * 2016 -

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and condu ...

'Quality Mark' for higher education.

References

{{coord, 51.350896, -2.981486, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Weston-super-Mare Higher education colleges in England Education in North Somerset