Chichester University

Chichester University

Age: 170, 4 as a university

History: Origins can be traced back to 1839, when Bishop Otter College was established as a training school for schoolmasters in Chichester. Bishop Otter College merged with Bognor Regis College in 1977, to form West Sussex Institute and later Chichester Institute. It became University College Chichester with degree-awarding status in 1999 and gained full university status in 2005.

Address: Two campuses. Sports studies, sports therapy, sport and exercise science, adventure education, fine art, dance, music, media studies, theology, social studies and humanities are at Chichester; teacher training, maths, tourism management, business and IT, and international courses are at the Bognor Regis campus.

Ambience: Coastal setting close to the South Downs and lovely countryside, with a holiday atmosphere in summer. Heaven for water sports fanatics; Bognor campus has three renovated, Georgian mansion houses. Roman-settled Chichester has an Oxford college-style campus, with a close-knit, community feel.

Vital statistics: A small university with over 4,000 undergraduates and 1,100 postgraduates, one third of which are mature, with lots of sport students.

Added value: Proud of its supportive environment. Hot on teacher education, sport, dance and performing arts.

Easy to get into? Quite; they ask for a minimum of two A level passes, one of which should normally be in a subject relevant to proposed study, and at least 3 passes in additional subjects other than A level, e.g. GCSE level. AS level passes are also accepted. The UCAS points system has been adopted but some subjects may specify grades at GCSE level as well. Advanced GNVQ and BTEC national diplomas are also accepted. Mature students often come via access courses from local further education colleges.

Glittering alumni: Jason Merrills, actor (Casualty and Cutting It).

Transport links: It's easy enough to get from Chichester to Bognor on the University's free bus, but anything further afield is slow. Direct train from London Victoria to Chichester and Bognor takes an hour and a half and there are various road links, notably towards Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton and north to Surrey. Both campuses are 5-10 minutes walk from their respective town centres.

Who's the boss? Dr Robin Baker, a specialist in the history and languages of Eastern Europe, is the vice-chancellor.

Teaching: 67th out of 113 for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2008.

Research: 89th out of 113 in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Overall ranking: Came 67th out of 113 in the Complete University Guide 2010.

Nightlife: There is a student bar on each campus, which host some discos and band nights. At weekends, ravers tend to head for London, Brighton and Portsmouth.

How green is it? Poor – came 95th out of 120 universities graded by People & Planet for their 'Green League 2009'.

Any accommodation? Yes. Catered halls average £120 per week, whilst self-catered are £99 per week.

Cheap to live there? Fairly. Private sector rents are around £65 per week.

Prospectus: 01243 816000; www.chiuni.ac.uk

Sports Ranking: Not bad; 56th out of 144 in the BUCS league table.

UCAS code: C58