Staffordshire University

(Flickr (Futurilla))

Overall ranking: Came 105th out of 123 in the Complete University Guide for 2015.

History: North Staffordshire Polytechnic was formed with the merger of Stoke-on-Trent College of Art and the North Staffordshire College of Technology in Stoke, and the Staffordshire College of Technology in Stafford, later absorbing a teacher training facility in Madeley, before changing its name to Staffordshire Polytechnic and then eventually Staffordshire University.

Address: Two main campuses, Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. There is also a satellite site at Lichfield and bases at Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Telford Hospital.

Who's the boss? Professor Michael Gunn, former pro vice chancellor of Derby University.

Prospectus: Download one online here.

UCAS Code: S72

Easy to get into? Standard entry requirements are between 240 and 320 UCAS points, but there's some flexibility. Aims to take a national lead in offering learning opportunities to all who can benefit, at a range of levels and in a variety of modes to suit individual needs. Under the PASS scheme, all school leavers in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire guaranteed a place so long as they meet minimum requirements. They also offer ‘Step Up to HE’ programmes – a free short course – aimed at helping anyone over 18 get onto the Higher Education ladder.

Ambience: Stoke is the biggest campus, housing law, business, sciences, art and design, sport health and exercise, and computing. Engineering and technology, business, health (nursing), and computing are studied at the yellow and red brick Stafford campus, on a green-field site on the outskirts of the county town, which boasts a £5m Octagon computer centre with high-tech facilities. The Lichfield campus is the administrative base for Foundation Degree Forward and the site where students can further their entrepreneurial dreams in a cluster of enterprise units.

Vital statistics: Big, with over 16,000 students, of whom around 12,677 are undergraduates. Two thirds of students are full-time. Good sports facilities with sports centres on the Stoke and Stafford campuses, including a fitness suite, a dance and aerobics studio, a sports hall, and all-weather outdoor football and tennis courts.

Added value: Diverse range of media courses and also courses in music technology and sports technology, aimed at those who want to go into sound recording or become sports coaches. Other popular courses include forensic science, business management, computing science, film technology, graphics design, law, computer games design, and sports studies. Fast-track (two-year) degrees available in accounting and finance, business management, English literature, geography, law, and motorsport technology (nine-month foundation degree). The university have invested more than £10m in transforming the Stoke campus, which involved moving the engineering facility from Stafford to the re-purposed Mellor building in Stoke as part of Staffordshire University’s plan to create a regional powerhouse for the STEM subjects. The new £30m Science Centre, boasting state-of-the-art engineering facilities, opened in October 2012. Crucially, the university also plans to move the majority of courses to the Stoke-on-Trent campus by 2016. Click here to find out more about the move.

Teaching: 72nd out of 123 in the Complete University Guide 2015 for student satisfaction.

Graduate prospects: 102nd out of 123 with 53.6 per cent of students finding graduate level employment.

Accommodation: Yes. Costs for on-campus accommodation ranges from £82.50 to £111.50 a week depending on whether a student chooses from a single study bedroom with shared kitchen and bathroom to en-suite accommodation. There is a mix of halls of residence and shared student houses.

Cheap to live there? Rents typically vary from £50 - £75 per person per week for a room in a shared house.

Transport links: Stoke site is literally a minute's walk from Stoke train station. Good road and train links, in the centre of the UK.

Fees: £8,620 per year for UK/home students for the majority of degree courses. Tuition fees of £9,000 per year apply to fast-track degrees (studied over two years) and up to £6,000 are charged for Foundation degrees and HND offered by partner colleges.

Bursaries: 388 National Scholarship Programme and University Bursaries each worth £6,000 (awarded over 3 years) are available. Students awarded a scholarship/bursary will receive discounted residential accommodation or support with the costs of travel and food or other institutional services to the value of £1700 and a bursary of £300 in years 1, 2 and 3 of their studies. For more information, click here.

Nightlife: Four nightclubs/venues run by students union, hosting big name bands as well as cabaret and comedy nights. Student hangout The Ember Lounge was named best new late bar in the Midlands by a national survey.

Price of a pint: Around £2.50 in Stoke-on-Trent.

Sporting reputation: Not great. Currently 89th out of 145 in the BUCS league for 2013/14.

Glittering alumni: Jim Davies, former Prodigy and Pitchshifter guitarist; Michael Dent, multi-millionaire owner of Spectra International.

Alternative prospectus: Put any burning questions you have about Staffordshire to current and prospective students on The Student Room.