, mottoeng = Confidence through Education , logo = Wrexham Glyndŵr University Logo.svg , image = Coat of arms of Wrexham Glyndŵr.svg , image_size = 180px , caption = Coat of arms
Flag of Wrexham Glyndŵr University

Flag , established = 1887, as Wrexham School of Science and Art,
2008 as Glyndŵr University,
2016 as Wrexham Glyndŵr University , endowment = £18,000 (2013) , chancellor = Colin Jackson , vice_chancellor = Maria Hinfelaar , city =

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, state = , country =

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, coor = , campus =

Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

, free_label = , free = , colours = Scarlet red and Gold , mascot = , students = () , undergrad = () , postgrad = () , other = , website = Glyndwr University, Wrexham (geograph 6141632)

Wrexham Glyndŵr University ( cy, Prifysgol Glyndŵr Wrecsam, ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

in the north-east of

, with campuses in

Northop Northop ( cy, Llaneurgain) is a village, community and electoral ward situated in Flintshire, Wales, approximately 12 miles west of the city of Chester, midway between Mold and Flint, and situated just off junction 33 of the A55 North Wale ...

and

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as professional courses. The university had students in . Formerly known as the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (NEWI), it was granted full university status in 2008 after being a member of the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

since 2004. The university is named after the medieval Welsh prince Owain Glyndŵr, who suggested the establishment of universities in Wales, and was born near Wrexham. The university's School of Creative Arts operates the Wall Recording Studio on its Plas Coch campus, the former home of

Calon FM Calon FM is a community radio station serving Wrexham and surrounding areas. The station is owned and operated by Wrexham Community Broadcasting and broadcasts from studios at the Wrexham Enterprise Hub in the city centre with its transmitter at ...

community radio station.

History

The university's origins date back to the opening of Wrexham School of Science and Art (WSSA) in 1887. At this time Viriamu Jones called for a

. The WSSA began offering

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

-validated degrees in science in 1924. The original name of Wrexham School of Science and Art was changed several times. In 1927, it became Denbighshire Technical Institute, becoming Denbighshire Technical College in 1939 and North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in 1975 by the merger of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

Technical College, Cartrefle Teacher Training College and Kelsterton College of Connah's Quay,

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from nei ...

. Initially, its degrees were validated by the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

. Some famous alumni include William Roberts, Srinjoy Guha and Rupert Humphrey among others. In 1993, NEWI became an associate member of the University of Wales and all further education courses in Wrexham were moved to

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, Wrexham (now part of Coleg Cambria). In 2004, NEWI became a full member of the University of Wales and in 2006 became accredited by the University of Wales and exercised devolved powers to validate and deliver its own degrees. The university was officially renamed "Glyndŵr University" in July 2008 after being granted degree awarding powers. The university was visited by

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

in 2003Royal Visit 2003: 7587
/ref> and by

Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, (born Birgitte Eva van Deurs Henriksen; 20 June 1946) is a Danish member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a grandson of George V. They have three children. E ...

in 2005. In June 2014, the Home Office suspended the University's authorisation to sponsor international students. On 24 November 2014 Glyndŵr University has had its right to sponsor international students reinstated by the Home Office. In 2016, the university underwent a minor name change and is now called "Wrexham Glyndŵr University" in English, and "Prifysgol Glyndŵr Wrecsam" in Welsh. Between 2008 and 2019, the main Wrexham campus of the University hosted Wales Comic Con until it moved to Telford, but returned for a one-day event in 2022. In August 2022, the university announced it was considering re-naming itself to "Wrexham University" ( cy, Prifysgol Wrecsam) dropping "Glyndŵr" from its name.

Campuses

The university has various sites in Wrexham and north east Wales. From 2011 to 2018 it ran a campus in London.

Wrexham

The university has two sites in Wrexham. The main site at

Plas Coch Plas Coch is an area of the community of Rhosddu, in the city of Wrexham, Wales. A major retail and educational area of Wrexham, it lies to the north-west of Wrexham city centre. Formerly known as Lower Stansty, the term has fallen out of use in ...

covers , and was inherited from the former Cartrefle TTC which moved there in 1953. It houses over 70 seminar suites, conference suites, lecture theatres, workshops and laboratories, complemented with a library (the Edward Llwyd Centre) and learning resource facilities, as well as a sports centre, a Centre for the Creative Industries, the Centre for the Child, Family and Society, the Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium, a human performance lab, the Terry Hands studio, the Catrin Finch Centre, William Aston Hall, the Oriel Sycharth Gallery and the Welsh international hockey team. The educational charity North Wales Science, owned by the university, operated a science discovery centre on the Plas Coch campus. The centre was open to schools and the general public, and in a partnership with

Techniquest Techniquest is a science discovery centre located in Cardiff Bay. It gives visitors a hands-on approach to science and includes a science theatre, a planetarium, and an exhibition space with over 100 interactive exhibits aimed at visitors of a ...

in Cardiff, was branded as 'Techniquest@NEWI' and later 'Techniquest Glyndŵr', from 2003 to 2020. In 2019, the charity decided to relocate to a site in

Wrexham city centre Wrexham city centre is the administrative, cultural and historic city centre of Wrexham, in North Wales and is the area enclosed by the inner ring road of the city. It is the largest shopping area in north and mid Wales, and the administrative ...

, with their Henblas Street site opening on 3 October 2020, rebranding as ' Xplore! Science Discovery Centre'. Glyndŵr University, Wrexham (1)

The other Wrexham site on Regent Street, is near to Wrexham city centre and is home to its North Wales School of Art and Design (NWSAD). It formerly housed the Denbighshire Technical College, who moved to the site in 1927 (under their previous name of Denbighshire Technical Institute). In 2011, the university acquired the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home ...

, the home of Wrexham FC, renaming it the Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium. The university sold the stadium back to the club on 29 June 2022. The university has its own music recording facilities, notably The Wall Recording Studio.

Northop

Glyndwr University Building (geograph 7164366)

The university shares the former Welsh College of Horticulture in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, with Coleg Cambria.

Academic profile

The university runs 150 programmes, offering foundation, HND/Cs, honours and master's degrees and doctorates over a broad variety of qualifications. In addition to professional courses such as nursing and social work, the university offers a range of postgraduate and undergraduate qualifications in Art & Design, Engineering, Science, Humanities, Health and Social Care, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Sports Sciences, Computing and Communication Technology, Music technology and Business. Although all courses are offered in English there are options to study or to be assessed in Welsh. A foundation degree in professional Welsh is also available. The North Wales School of Art and Design at Wrexham Glyndŵr University was named as the best place to study Art in Wales in the Guardian University League Tables 2017 and also ranked 12th out of all UK universities. Wrexham Glyndwr University is also number one in North Wales for getting its students jobs after graduation. The institution achieved an employability figure of 92.1% and is also above the sector average for graduate level employment, according to the latest Destination of Leavers Survey (DLHE).

International links

The University has international partnerships across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and is a member of the Fair Trade Coalition.

Administration

WGU's first principal (then as NEWI) was Glyn O. Phillips. He retired in 1991 and was replaced by John O. Williams. Following the retirement of Williams in 2000, NEWI appointed Michael Scott, a former student of the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

in 2001. He was succeeded by Professor

Graham Upton Graham Upton DL (born 30 April 1944) was Chair of the Board of Experience Oxfordshire from 2013 to 2017 having previously been Chair of the Board of Oxford Playhouse for 8 years. Born in Birmingham, he moved to, and was educated in, Australia, w ...

in January 2015 who served as interim Vice-Chancellor until 31 March 2016. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Maria Hinfelaar who was the President of the

Limerick Institute of Technology The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Luimnigh) was an institute of technology, located in Limerick, Ireland. The institute had five campuses that were located in Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel, as well as a r ...

Companies

Wrexham Glyndwr University has two subsidiary companies: Glyndŵr Innovations Ltd and North Wales Science (Techniquest Glyndŵr – "TQG"). Collaborative partners include: Coleg Cambria : (

Deeside College Deeside College ( Welsh: ''Coleg Glannau Dyfrdwy'') (now part of Coleg Cambria) is located in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, North Wales. It was formerly a further education colle.g in August 2013 to create the college for North East Wales, one o ...

), Coleg Menai, Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, Coleg Powys

Student life

Wrexham Glyndwr University's students come from all over the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. WGU is also popular with mature students. Around 54% of Wrexham Glyndwr University students are over twenty-one with 17% over the age of forty.

Accommodation

There are three main halls of residence in Wrexham, namely the Student village, Wrexham Village and Snowdon Hall as well as Corbishley Hall at Northop. The main student village is separated into houses and the houses into flats. Snowdon Hall, Bath Road and Clwyd House are near Wrexham city. The student village and Snowdon Hall are en suite and the rest are shared facilities. All of Wrexham Glyndwr University's accommodation is self-catering. Snowdon Hall is separated into five separate blocks of lockable flats and is currently leased from and run by the Opal Group.

Sports, clubs and traditions

Wrexham Glyndŵr University sport teams compete in British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS). In the 2017 – 18 academic year, Glyndŵr University have 9 teams competing in the BUCS structure. Team sports played at the university are; Men's Rugby Union, Women's Netball, Men's Basketball, Men's Hockey, Men's and Women's Football, Men's and Women's Futsal. Wrexham Glyndŵr University Sports Centre houses a 1000sq. m. hall. The hall is overlooked by an open balcony and an enclosed spectator area on the first floor. The facility complies with national competition standards for badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball, futsal and handball. There is also provision for table tennis and matting for martial arts. On the first floor of the facility is a purpose-built sprung floor dance studio. Wrexham Glyndwr University has a radio studio, sound recording studio, engineering laboratories, art gallery, IT facilities, theatre studios, motor racing team, a dedicated scene of crime lab and notably the unusual asset of a

Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

clinic. The Plas Coch site hosts an active student union as well as the student union bar, now housed in the football stadium's Centenary Club. Wrexham Glyndwr University has its own car racing team which is run by the engineering school's Car Performance degree course students. The North Wales Clinical School opened in 2007 at Wrexham Glyndŵr University's Plas Coch campus. Also in the Plas Coch area of Wrexham are Wrexham A.F.C., North Wales Crusaders and the North Wales Regional Hockey Stadium. In August 2011, the university agreed a deal to buy Wrexham FC's

. In October 2014, former Welsh international footballer

Robbie Savage Robert William Savage (born 18 October 1974) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, now a football pundit and director of football at club Macclesfield. During his career he played predominantly as a midfielder, ...

was given an honorary fellowship at the university for services to sport.

References

External links

Glyndŵr University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrexham Glyndwr University Universities and colleges in North Wales Wrexham Educational institutions established in 2008 2008 establishments in Wales Education in Wrexham County Borough Universities UK