Coventry University

Age: 168

History: Founded in 1843 as Coventry College of Design. It became Coventry University in 1992, when it changed its name from Coventry Polytechnic.

Address: In the middle of Coventry, opposite the cathedral.

Ambience: The large, modern campus is convenient for shopping, bus and train station, and sports facilities. The city is very studenty with a mile-long pedestrianised shopping strip and a growing number of festivals. The university has some swanky buildings: a £16m award-winning library; a £5m student centre; performing arts and media are housed in a redeveloped cinema; a £3.6m sports facility opened in January 2004. The aerospace laboratory has a full-size Harrier Jet and a Scout helicopter. The university has begun a £160m regeneration programme, which includes a range of catering outlets, a mini supermarket, post office and an exclusive roof garden. The students’ union building has been designed to harness solar energy and much of the area inside the campus is set to become pedestrianised.

Vital statistics: Just over 24,000 students; over 80 per cent of which are undergrads and 4,600 are on non-degree courses. 97 per cent come from state schools, 47 per cent come from the local area and 34 per cent are aged over 21 at the start of their course.

Added value: Strong in design. The brains behind Eurostar, the Ford Ka, Mercedes A-Class, BMW 1 Series and the new Landrover Freelander all started out here. In 2009, students won an international competition organised by Ferrari. Recently awarded £9.5m to fund three new centres of excellence in teaching and learning in design, maths support and health and social care. One of the first universities in Europe to launch an iTunes store – featuring over 150 podcasts. CUTV – the university’s YouTube receives over 1,500 hits a day and students are regular contributors to the channel.

Easy to get into? Varies from 240 UCAS points to 320, with most courses asking for around 280. Health subjects are extremely popular, as are sports, design, performance, psychology, law, humanities subjects, business courses and engineering programmes.

Glittering alumni: John Kettley, former weatherman; Andrea McLean, former GMTV weather presenter; Mike Short, vice-president of O2; Alison Snowden, Oscar-winning animator; Gideon Coe, BBC Radio 6 presenter; David Yelland, former editor of The Sun newspaper.

Transport links: Five miles from M1/M6 intersection, 20 minutes to Birmingham by train, 60 minutes to London.

Who's the boss? Professor Madeleine Atkins is the vice-chancellor. An ex-comprehensive school teacher, she joined from Newcastle University in September 2004.

Teaching: 108th out of 116 in the Complete University Guide.

Research: 96th out of 115 in the Research Assessment Exercise.

Overall ranking: Came 72nd out of 114 in the Complete University Guide.

Nightlife: Three bars and regular club nights at the SU, which has just been rebuilt.

How green is it? OK – Joint 41st out of 138 universities graded by People and Planet in their 'Green League 2011'.

Any accommodation? Yes – a wide range of university-owned and managed buildings. Catered halls are £110 per week and self-catered rooms range between £103 and £115 per week. Rents include internet and sports hall membership.

Cheap to live there? Very; private rents are around £60 a week.

Sports Ranking: 50th in the BUCS league table.

Fees: £3,375 for full-time undergrads starting in September 2011. Fees from 2012 will range between £4,600 and £9,000 per year.

Bursaries: A Conventry University Bursary of £329 is available to all eligible students who are in receipt of the full maintenance grant. The university also offers excellence and sports-based scholarships. For more information visit the website.

Prospectus: 024 7615 2222; www.coventry.ac.uk

UCAS code: C85