Forward-thinking Coventry has introduced success coaches, who work with students one to one and in group coaching sessions to bolster self-confidence, time management and presentation skills. The Phoenix+ programme, another innovation, provides work experience and development as students progress through their courses at the university, a three-time winner of our Modern University of the Year award (2014-16) and shortlisted for University of the Year in 2021. Coventry is a member of the post-1992 cohort of universities, evolving from the Coventry College of Design, founded in 1843. Now its focus is global and the institution has become one of the UK’s biggest recruiters of students from other countries. The Coventry University Group has hubs in Brussels, Beijing, Dubai, Rwanda and Singapore and in 2023 there were more than 22,000 students studying overseas for Coventry degrees.
What is Coventry University’s reputation?
The Coventry University Group’s remarkable global connections earned the university the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2022 — one of the last made in the late monarch’s name.The university has expanded its research centres, increased research and doctoral staff and developed purpose-built facilities. This paid off in the results of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), in which 70 per cent of Coventry’s submission was classed as world-leading or internationally excellent. The best results were in architecture; education; linguistics; and communication and media studies. The outcomes triggered a huge 35-place rise in our research quality index to 73rd, from 108= based on the results of the previous national assessment, REF 2014.
Coventry’s most recent accolade was a gold rating overall in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023). Awarding gold for student experience and silver for student outcomes, the TEF panel said the university’s “physical and virtual learning resources” supported “outstanding teaching and learning”.
However, Coventry has slipped from its former top 20 position for student satisfaction to 34th for teaching quality and 31st for the wider undergraduate experience in our new National Student Survey analysis.
Coventry University Group is renowned for its innovative ethos. Some degree courses have a common first year, enabling students to mix and learn with those from related courses. These students can potentially switch degree subjects at the end of year one. Across the Group, some degree courses offer a January or May start date as well as a September start. The CU campuses in Coventry, Scarborough and London have an academic year broken up into six-week teaching blocks with no end-of-year exams: assessments may take the form of coursework, projects and presentations.
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
A new BSc in psychology with counselling is being introduced in 2024 alongside a range of higher education certificates, and an expanding Coventry’s Better Futures apprenticeship programme.
What are Coventry University’s entry requirements – and my chances of getting in?
Entry requirements range from 128 Ucas tariff points — equivalent to ABB at A-level – (mainly for four-year integrated master's courses) to 96 points (CCC) for degree-level study. Contextual offers offer a reduction up to 24 points. In 2023 17 per cent of new students entered through clearing.
What are the graduate prospects?
Coventry’s focus on teaching technical skills and its links to local and national organisations are intended to create graduates ready to hit the workplace. Acting students, for example, benefit from mentorship through a partnership with the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. At the university’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, run in collaboration with Unipart, a working factory doubles as an academic base for students. A mentorship programme links industry professionals with final-year students to develop their career goals. Overseas opportunities for UK students range from field trips to a semester or year abroad studying, working or both. In our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey, Coventry ranks 75=, down just one place since our previous edition, with 74.4 per cent of leavers finding highly skilled jobs or returning to study within 15 months.
What is Coventry University’s campus like?
The West Midlands university is located in a city that was flattened by bombing in the Second World War and rebuilt with lashings of concrete. It also has campuses in Dagenham and Greenwich in London — where training facilities include a Bloomberg trading floor, hospitality suite and fashion studio — and Scarborough.
The Beatrice Shilling Building opened in 2020 in Coventry for the Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing and the Lanchester library has been renovated to offer five floors of up-to-date resources. The James Starley Gardens at the heart of the campus, named after the father of the bicycle industry in the city, is open to the community as well as students. A £64 million redevelopment of the Delia Derbyshire Building —home to art and design courses and named after the Coventry-born composer of the Doctor Who theme music and early electronic music — opened in 2024. Students will have access to a “hyper” studio designed for cross-disciplinary projects, workshops and spaces equipped with virtual and mixed-reality technologies.
Coventry has branched out around the world with the first British campus in Morocco, and another in Cairo. The Communication University of China — Coventry College opened in 2023 in Beijing.
Everything you need to know about student life and wellbeing support
Support for students includes the 24/7 Spectrum.Life platform, which delivers “in the moment” help and up to six sessions of counselling by telephone or video. The university’s own mental health team is also available for support.
The indoor Sport and Recreation Centre in the city centre features a dance studio, two sports halls and a fitness suite. Outdoor sports facilities at Westwood Heath are five miles away.
What do the students say?
“Coventry University is a great place to study with a diverse student community and an empowering students’ union. You get a dash of culture from different countries along with home students. We have a five-storey central library with different lounging and reading spaces and there are student-friendly spaces at our university like the Hub to relax and chill with friends.”
Aparna Golla, Coventry students’ union community officer 2023/24 and global healthcare management master's graduate
What about student accommodation at Coventry University?
First-years who make Coventry their firm choice are guaranteed a space in halls, but many students commute from home.
How diverse and inclusive is Coventry University?
Coventry has jumped 15 places this year to be ranked 37th in our social inclusion index overall. Its ethnic diversity is in the top quarter of universities in England and Wales (23rd). The university’s flexible start times for its degrees are designed to fit around personal and work commitments and make higher education accessible for more students.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at Coventry University
Care leavers can apply for fully funded accommodation in halls for up to four years. Sports scholarships provide up to £3,000. A range of other scholarships offer support.
