Student satisfaction has recovered — up 31 places to 85= in terms of the overall undergraduate experience, according to our analysis of the latest National Student Survey — after dipping more than most during the pandemic.

Graduate prospects is another metric that has shown year-on-year improvement, up ten places to the top 40 in our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey, tracking the numbers in professional jobs or postgraduate study 15 months after leaving university.

The return to on-campus learning for the 2022-23 academic year has been welcomed and the university is providing weekly communications to guide students through their learning plan. A series of pre-induction “learning to learn” activities are offered from April to prepare new students for university, developing their digital and academic fluency, familiarising them with online learning resources, the e-learning portal and student support systems, as well as connecting with fellow students and staff.

More than £250 million has been invested in new and modernised facilities over the past decade at Northumbria’s two campuses, one in the heart of the city and the other three miles away at Coach Lane, which houses the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Further afield, the university has a base in London, near Liverpool Street station, and also offers courses in Amsterdam in partnership with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

Northumbria has world-class teaching facilities for engineering funded by a £2 million grant from the Office for Students. New facilities include a 120-seat microelectronics and communications laboratory with 100 individual workspaces, as well as space for group work with industry partners. More than 560 employers and 60 professional bodies sponsor or accredit Northumbria’s programmes. The university is also a leader in successful start-ups. The latest Higher Education Business and Communities Interaction survey for 2020-21 placed Northumbria in the top five in the UK, with turnover for its graduate start-ups reaching £95.3 million. It was the 12th consecutive year that Northumbria has been in the top ten.

Six degrees, in business, economics, and sport and exercise science, take their first students in September 2022. Another six will be launched in 2023 in computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, games computing, business computing, and networks and cybersecurity. The university offers 21 higher or degree apprenticeship programmes and expects trainees to exceed 2,000 in 2023. Apprenticeships range from nursing, policing and engineering to programmes for architects, chartered surveyors and academics.

Northumbria’s relationship with neighbouring Newcastle University is much stronger than is often found between institutions in other cities. The Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement is an innovative partnership to support the economic and social recovery of the region post-Covid. One example is NUdata, a centre for doctoral training in data-intensive science. The universities have teamed up with more than 40 industrial partners including Amazon Alexa, the BBC, Britishvolt, the Met Office and the National Audit Office, all of which rely heavily on big data to deliver their services. 

Northumbria has a wide range of scholarships and bursaries to encourage underrepresented groups into higher education and has the 12th-highest proportion of white working-class male recruits, the most underrepresented group.

A 20 per cent discount on postgraduate fees is an incentive to stick with the books. Northumbria scores in the top 25 for recruitment from areas of low participation in higher education. As well as targeting local students, the university offers global scholarships of up to £3,000, which are taken up by 80 per cent of international students. 

The university has a strong record in competitive sport, and students enjoy good facilities at both campuses. The £30 million Sport Central development at the City site was refurbished in 2019 and has a pool, sports science laboratories, sports halls and a 3,000-seat arena. Northumbria has some illustrious sporting alumni, including the England rugby players Owen Farrell, Anthony Watson and Mako Vunipola. They all graduated with the business school’s leadership and management distance-learning degree, which was designed with the Rugby Players’ Association and provides the flexibility to study around a sporting career.

En-suite accommodation is guaranteed to all first-years from a stock of 2,880 rooms owned or endorsed by the university. Newcastle’s nightlife is legendary and the city features regularly among the most affordable study locations. Culture is thriving too. Gallery North, part of the University Gallery, has been refurbished and relaunched as a public space, and Northumbria has forged a partnership with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, in Gateshead, for teaching and research.