Good University Guide 2023

Anglia Ruskin University

National rank

109
th
76
%
Firsts / 2:1s
79.3
%
Completion rate

Key stats

37
th=
Teaching quality
73
rd
Student experience
84
th
Research quality
104
th=
Graduate prospects
Anglia Ruskin University

Contact details

Address

Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ,

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Telephone

Anglia Ruskin continues to be the main provider of essential staff in the east of England, including social workers, operating department practitioners and teachers. Many will be trained at the new ARU Peterborough site, where students on more than 72 new degree courses will walk through the doors in September 2022. The £30 million campus has a mission to raise academic attainment in the region and the courses have been co-created with regional organisations to meet local demand for skills.

Longer term, Anglia Ruskin expects to invest more than £100 million in the Peterborough site, the centrepiece of a university quarter in the city. It aims to have 12,500 students by 2030.

New degrees and degree apprenticeships offered in Peterborough span business and marketing, computing and games development, education, engineering, food and environment, health and social care, nursing and midwifery, law, construction and surveying.

The university’s degree apprenticeship numbers have already reached about 2,000 in 25 programmes training students for roles in policing, business and management, building, digital, data and technology, and nursing and healthcare.

Anglia Ruskin’s world-leading research in music therapy for patients with dementia was recognised in February 2022 with the award of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize, presented by (the then) Prince Charles. The honour — the highest in UK further and higher education — singles out innovative work that delivers significant public benefit.

Nine subject areas at Anglia Ruskin were judged to have a world-leading impact, according to results from the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021): allied health professions; business and management studies; communication; cultural and media studies; language and literature; history; music; drama; dance; performing arts; psychology; social work and social policy; and sociology. The university rises five places in our research quality ranking this year to 84th place.

Anglia Ruskin’s strong tradition in healthcare education is backed up by simulated hospital wards and clinical skills facilities at the Young Street Building in Cambridge. The university was shortlisted for the Nursing Times pre-registration Provider of the Year award in 2019 and 2020.The £20 million medical school, opened in 2018, is at the riverside Chelmsford campus. The Cambridge campus is the base for students taking degrees from the Cambridge School of Art. Hands-on learning facilities at the Cambridge site include crime scene rooms in the Science Centre, a mock law court and gaming laboratories.

Anglia Ruskin also has two London bases — in the City and Docklands — mainly for business and law students.

Even before ARU Peterborough opened, there had been a spike in applications to Anglia Ruskin. Applications exceeded 19,000 in the 2021 admissions cycle and enrolments were at their highest level since 2016.

As well as the new courses at Peterborough, the university introduced degree courses in creative writing; fashion communication and branding; computer games (both design and programming); media production; television production and biological sciences with sustainability in September 2022.

Rated silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), Anglia Ruskin was commended for its strong support for students at risk of dropping out. More students complete their courses than expected, when the background of students and the subject mix is taken into account.

Ruskin Modules were incorporated into most degree courses from September 2021, teaching skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and creative thinking. For students whose degree structure does not include a formal work placement, Anglia Ruskin makes sure students have real-world experience through industry links and live briefs. However, the university has fallen from 63rd to 104= in our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey comparing the proportion of students in highly skilled work or further study 15 months after leaving university.  

Widening access is part of the university’s mission. A contextual offer scheme operates in most undergraduate subjects — including medicine, which accepts applications from the most disadvantaged students with two grades lower than standard. In 2021 almost 23 per cent of offers made by Anglia Ruskin were contextual, a proportion expected to be similar in 2023. Unusually, Anglia Ruskin does not require maths A-level for some of its engineering programmes as part of its efforts to diversify its intake.  More than half of Anglia Ruskin’s students are the first in their family to go to university and more than two-thirds are over 21 (the sixth-highest proportion). Although the university has fallen seven places year-on-year to rank joint 24th in our overall analysis of social inclusion, it remains in the top 25 for its record on recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds.

At the university’s foundation year centre, ARU College, Navitas, students develop study skills and aim to progress to a degree programme. There are courses available in computing and digital technology, business, animal sciences, health and medical sciences, art and design, psychology and public health.

Anglia Ruskin’s financial support includes the ARU Bursary of up to £300 per year for UK and eligible European Union students from low-income households and international merit scholarships of £1,000-£2,000 for international students.

Accommodation in Cambridge and Chelmsford is guaranteed for all first-years who apply by the July deadline. The Chelmsford campus has the new Old Factory gym, featuring fitness mod cons including sled tracks and a spin studio. The Cambridge campus has a gym, fitness studio and tennis court. Students also get discounted membership at the Kelsey Kerridge Sports Centre near by.A Welcome Buddy scheme links new undergraduates with existing students before freshers week and beyond.

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Performance

Category Score Rank
Ranking - 109 (115)
Teaching quality 76.8 37th=
Student experience 71.4 73rd
Research quality 30.2 84th
Ucas entry points 110 115th=
Graduate prospects 67.4 104th=
Firsts and 2:1s 76 80th=
Completion rate 79.3 106th
Student-staff ratio 19.4 110th=

Vital statistics

Undergraduates

Full-time

22,138

Part-time

2,171

Postgraduates

Full-time

4,022

Part-time

3,850

Applications/places 19,015/4,380
Applications/places ratio 4.3:1
Overall offer rate 71.2%

Accommodation

Places in accommodation 2,136
Accommodation costs £112 - £152
Accommodation contact https://aru.ac.uk/student-life/accommodation

Finance

UK/EU fees £9,250
Fees (placement year) £1,250
Fees (overseas year) £1,250
Fees (international) £14,300 - £15,000
Finance website https://aru.ac.uk/student-life/preparing-for-university/help-with-finances/scholarships
Graduate salaries £24,395

Sport

Sport points/rank 313.5, 72nd
Sport website https://aru.ac.uk/sport

Social inclusion and student mix

Social Inclusion Ranking 24=
State schools (non-grammar) admissions 93%
Grammar school admissions 3.8%
Independent school admissions 3.2%
Ethnic minority students (all) 31.5%
Black achievement gap -21.5%
White working class males 5.1%
First generation students 53.5%
Low participation areas 16.3%
Working class dropout gap -0.3%
Mature 71.9%
EU students 8.8%
Other overseas students 4.4%

Student satisfaction with teaching quality

Education 89.6%
Social work 89.1%
English 88.8%
History 87.6%
Archaeology and forensic science 84.2%
Creative writing 83.9%
Sports science 83.7%
Nursing 81.2%
Business, management and marketing 80.9%
Psychology 79.6%
Building 78.2%
Architecture 77.6%
Art and design 76.8%
Law 76%
Accounting and finance 75.8%
Biological sciences 74.6%
Criminology 74.5%
Sociology 74.5%
Communication and media studies 72.6%
Subjects allied to medicine 70.5%
Information systems and management 67%
Computer science 64.8%
Animal science 64.4%
Drama, dance and cinematics 58.8%
Music 53.8%
Civil engineering 53.3%