Welcome from Professor Les Ebdon CBE, Vice Chancellor:
I am delighted to welcome you to the University of Bedfordshire.
Here at the University we have an excellent academic reputation, and our recent league table successes have been cause for celebration. We have seen a massive 23.3% increase in applications to UCAS for 2009 entry, and saw a rise of 9.1 per cent in 2008 and an increase of 41.2 per cent in 2007. We have also been rated second in the UK for Dance, sixth for Journalism and 11th for Marketing, according to the 2008 National Student Survey (NSS), and have also been ranked among the top 25 per cent of all UK universities for our Computer Science courses (2008 NSS).
More recently, we have been rated 21st in the UK for our Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation, Sport and Tourism courses, according to the 2008 Independent ‘Good University Guide’, and the 2009 Guardian ‘University Guide’ has rated our Nursing courses third in the UK for Teaching Quality and 14th in the UK for overall satisfaction, for Sports Science.
And what's more, we are also proud to have been awarded runner-up for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Supplement Awards 2007 – a remarkable achievement.
We have also completed a £60 million investment in our two main campuses in Luton and Bedford, and were delighted when His Royal Highness, the Earl of Wessex, opened the new facilities at our Bedford campus, which includes a £6 million Campus Centre that houses a £4.5 million 280-seat theatre, and an £8 million Physical Education and Sport Science Centre that is set to train athletes in the 2012 Olympics. See our Bedford campus launch brochure for further details.
Our Luton campus has also seen massive investment with the introduction of a multi-million pound Media Arts Centre, a £7.8 million Learning Resources Centre, and £1.2 million innovative 'Business Pods' that have been commended in a recent Government Green Paper as an example of 'best practice'.
Over the next three years, the University will undergo an additional £74 million investment to the Luton campus, which will introduce brand new £40 million en-suite Halls of Residence that will be located on campus, and a £34 million Campus Centre.
The University continues to stand for high-quality teaching, outstanding student support and excellent personal, career and professional development.
We work closely with employers on our curriculum whilst forging close links with UK companies to provide a broad range of training and industry accredited courses.
We have a clear vision for the University’s future which is set out in an exciting new document, University of Bedfordshire 2007-2012
Professor Les Ebdon CBE
Vice Chancellor
University of Bedfordshire
University of Bedfordshire
