Edge Hill University

Age: 126

History: Founded in 1885 in the Edge Hill district of Liverpool as the first non-denominational teacher training college for women. Moved to Ormskirk in 1933. It was granted taught degree awarding powers in November 2005 and full university status in Spring 2006. Research degree awarding powers were granted in August 2008.

Address: Main campus on the edge of Ormskirk, Lancs. Continuing professional development is at Woodlands in Chorley. Business learning centre in Merseyside.

Ambience: The 75-acre Ormskirk site comprises a number of steel and glass edifices built around the original 1930s building. Wrought-iron sculptures adorn the grounds. Close to some lovely countryside and the seaside at Southport. Manchester and Liverpool are near enough for easy access and frequent kicks.

Vital statistics: Applications to Edge Hill University have increased four-fold since 2000, and the university now boasts around 24,000 students - 8,000 of whom are full-time. Edge Hill is the largest provider of Initial Teacher Training for secondary education and foundation degrees for classroom assistants in the UK.

Added value: More than £80m has been spent on campus regeneration since the early nineties and a further £70m of investment in new facilities is planned in the university’s estates strategy. A new £14m Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning opened in 2008, which won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) North West Award for Sustainability, 2009. A new £8m business, law and criminology building opened in January 2009.

Easy to get into? For most degrees you need 240-300 UCAS points. At the higher end are primary education and English.

Glittering alumni: Freda Lightfoot, novelist; Jonathan Pryce, actor; Stuart Maconie, DJ and author and the late Steve Sinnott, former general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

Transport links: To get to Ormskirk from London, you need to take a train to Liverpool and change. Nationwide connections can also be made at Preston, or you can simply hop on a bus. The M6 and M58 motorways are just three miles away.

Who's the boss? Social geographer, Dr John Cater.

Teaching: Rated 27th out of 116 in the Complete University Guide. The Faculty of Education also achieved grade one 'outstanding' results across all 33 areas covered by the Ofsted Initial Teacher Education inspection in 2011.

Research: Ranked 111th out of 115 in the Research Assessment Excercise.

Overall ranking: Came 86th out of 116 in the Complete University Guide.

Nightlife: The Venue is the social hub on campus, with dance nights, quizzes, resident and visiting DJs and live music. For a more cosmopolitan buzz, try Garlands in Liverpool or Manchester's "village" area.

How green is it? The University takes its sustainability and environmental responsibilities seriously. Groundbreaking initiatives include the introduction of an energy wall within the new, £14m Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to monitor the building’s energy usage. Through modern construction and design, the building is reducing its carbon emissions by more than 100 tonnes a year. The building won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) North West Award for Sustainability, 2009. Additional projects include replacing personal computers with server-backed desktops that use a fraction of the electricity of a standard PC. Came 46th out of 138 universities ranked by People and Planet in their 'Green League 2011'.

Any accommodation? Yes. It costs just £56 to £97 per week for a room in student accommodation, depending on whether you want self-catering or full board.

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

Sports ranking: Ranked 76th in the BUCS league.

Fees: £3,375 for full-time undergrads starting in 2011. Edge Hill plans to charge the maximum fee of £9,000 from 2012.

Bursaries: The university will be distributing National Scholarship funds worth £342,000 with a further £342,000 provided from the university itself, to help students in 2012. For information on current scholarships, visit www.edgehill.ac.uk/study/fees/scholarships.

Prospectus: 01695 657 000; www.edgehill.ac.uk

UCAS code: E42