University College Plymouth St Mark and St John (UCP Marjon)

University College Plymouth St Mark and St John (UCP Marjon)

Age: 170, from its first incarnation.

History: Founded by Derwent Coleridge, brother of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, it was a marriage in 1923 of the teacher-training colleges St John's of Battersea and St Mark's of Chelsea. In 1973, it moved to Plymouth. Until 1957, all students were male. It received University College status in 2007 and has been renamed University College Plymouth St Mark and St John, or UCP Marjon for short.

Address: Greenfield site outside Plymouth.

Ambience: Views to die for, overlooking Dartmoor and the sea. Five miles from Plymouth centre. Modern premises swathed in shrubs, trees, flowers, hanging baskets and frolicking squirrels. Friendly, close-knit atmosphere. Set on a single campus with lecture rooms, library, accommodation, bars and more.

Vital statistics: ‘Marjon’ – as it is to those in the know – has about 3,500 students, and is known for teacher training and sports degrees. Has diversified energetically, and now runs a variety of subjects, including media, speech and language therapy, English language, literature and writing, live music, outdoor adventure, sport health coaching and PE, drama and theatre arts, and children youth and community.

Added value: Free laptops are offered to all undergrads and PGCE students until 2012. Floodlit, all-weather sports arena and pitches, a sports centre with gym and weight-training room, squash courts, climbing-wall and indoor-heated 25m swimming-pool. The college is currently undergoing a £20m refurbishment which will see improvements to the sports centre, refurbished student housing and a new entrance and student centre. In 2012, Marjon will start to offer two-year, 'fast-track' degrees.

Easy to get into? Yes - their motto is 'it's not the grade, it's the student'. UCP Marjon is committed to widening participation, aiming to combine high-quality teaching whilst maintaining low entry requirements.

Glittering alumni: Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe novels; Joy Carroll, the original Vicar of Dibley.

Transport links: If you don't have a car, you can take the bus to and from Plymouth until midnight. Road links with the rest of the country are not bad nowadays and the A38 Devon Expressway links to M5 at Exeter. Or catch a train.

Who's the boss? Professor Margaret Noble took over as principal in September 2009.

Teaching: 87 per cent of students said they were satisfied with their courses in the most recent National Student Survey. The college was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in the 2006-7 inspection of their teacher training programme.

Research: The college's highest score in the Research Assessment Exercise was for 20 per cent of its philosophy submission, which was deemed to be of a "quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour".

Nightlife: Bopping in the students' union; Freshers Ball and the May Ball.

Any accommodation? Yes – space for 460 students in seven catered halls of residence and 38 self-catering houses. Single catered rooms go for between £85 and £105 per week, with food costing £750 for the year. A standard self-catered room will set you back £85 per week.

Cheap to live there? About average. Private rents in Plymouth range between £75 and £90 per week.

Fees: £3,375 for full-time home undergrads starting in 2011. Marjon plans on charging £7,800 per year for standard degrees as of 2012. For two-year accelerated degrees, it hopes to charge £8,700 per year – or £17,400 for the degree.

Bursaries: Free laptop for all new undergrads and PGCE students starting in 2011.

Prospectus: 01752 636 890; www.ucpmarjon.ac.uk

UCAS code: P63