Good University Guide 2023

Solent University

National rank

114
th
73.1
%
Firsts / 2:1s
77.8
%
Completion rate

Key stats

37
th=
Teaching quality
67
th=
Student experience
128
th
Research quality
123
rd
Graduate prospects
Solent University

Contact details

Address

East Park Terrace, Southampton , SO14 0YN,

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Telephone

An immersive learning experience with specialist facilities that include Europe’s largest maritime simulation centre awaits at Solent. Based at sites across the centre of Southampton, the university formed in 2005 via mergers between Southampton College of Art, the College of Technology and the College of Nautical Studies at Warsash. 

Maritime education remains a special focus, and the university provides tuition for Merchant Navy senior officers, yacht certification, maritime safety management, leadership and security courses. Solent is unique in having its own fleet of 11 manned model ships, based at a training centre on Timsbury Lake. It offers the UK’s only three-year officer cadetship training leading to a full honours degree approved by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Most cadets are sponsored by shipping companies such as Maersk, Carnival, Princess and Aramco. The university’s superyacht academy is also renowned within the industry. 

Elsewhere, courses are arranged under faculties of creative industries, architecture and engineering; sport, health and social sciences; and business, law and digital technologies. The university’s £33 million Spark building featured educational technology including lecture-capture facilities even before the pandemic hit.    

Technological advances of late include free access for all students to the entire suite of Adobe creative software, while physical developments have added an attractive new quad with outdoor space and a replica law court. A new student services hub (located within the teaching and learning spaces) is planned for 2023. Allowing easy access to student-facing supports should further improve Solent’s rates of student satisfaction, which took a big hit in during the pandemic but have risen to enter the top 40 for teaching quality (up 13 places) this year and the top 70 for the wider experience (up eight places).     

The uplift in students’ evaluation of teaching quality suggests that Solent’s blended approach is being reasonably well received. As the university emerged from lockdown in September 2021 Solent adopted a new teaching model based on three pillars — of collaborative, guided and directed learning. Previously known as seminars, collaborative sessions take place mainly on campus and gather groups of students to explore case studies and solve real-world problems. The guided element relates to opportunities for gaining work-ready skills either live online, live on-site or on demand via the university’s virtual learning environment. Directed learning is Solent’s new term for lectures, which happen mainly online.     

Building industry connections into courses Southampton’s newly established Business Advisory Boards have placed senior leaders from organisations such as NatWest, Sunseeker and Pinterest at the heart of the university, allowing them to inform the future curriculum and provide opportunities for students. 

There is also a 2021-launched strategic partnership with Southampton FC (“Saints”) that has resulted in Solent and Saints now collaborating to attract, retain and develop sporting talent and learners. The link gives students real-world industry experience with Southampton FC, and football studies degree students receive more than 20 hours of professional coaching and development from the team’s coaches. 

The university’s portfolio of higher and degree apprenticeships encompasses 19 programmes, with about 650 student apprentices on programmes at the last count. Options span subjects within business and administration; marketing; health and science; digital; construction; engineering and manufacturing; and transport and logistics. Courses in cybersecurity and advanced clinical practice are being offered from 2023, in line with Solent’s plan to grow its earn-as-you-learn options. 

The university’s employment-boosting initiatives have yet to lift its ranking in our graduate prospects measure however, where it places 123rd this year (down one place on last year), based on the latest figures showing 63.3 per cent of graduates in high-skilled jobs or further study 15 months on from their degrees. 

Solent was upgraded to silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Assessors were impressed by students’ high levels of engagement and commitment to learning, and by the substantial investment in learning resources and successful integration of research and professional practice into the curriculum.

In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 34 per cent of the work submitted for assessment by Solent achieved the top ratings of world-leading or internationally excellent. Though modest, the scores have prompted an improvement for Solent in our research quality index, where it has moved off the foot of the ranking to fourth-from-bottom. Two new research centres — the Centre for Maritime Sustainability and the Maritime Autonomy research centre — strengthen the university’s commitment to building its research profile. 

Among the eight indicators included in our social inclusion index, Solent excels in its recruitment of white working-class boys, which at 9.3 per cent of entrants is among the top ten proportions in England and Wales. A fifth of students are recruited from underrepresented areas (a top 15 measure) and more than four in ten are aged over-21 when they enrol. Contextual offers are among the initiatives supporting the university’s widening participation ambitions and are worth a 16-point or 32-point reduction on the standard UCAS tariff for entry, depending on how many eligibility criteria applicants meet.

The sports complex on the main campus is a recent addition and features equipment for Solent’s performance athletes as well as for general use. Sports scholars receive accommodation discounts and other valuable benefits. At Test Park, a few miles away, there are outdoor pitches for football (and American football) and rugby union. Students have access to the Coalporters Rowing Club near campus and Spinnaker Sailing Club 18 miles away, among other local pursuits. Team Solent Sailing teams compete successfully in national competitions.

First-year students are guaranteed a residential room if they apply by July 1. Along with student-friendly pubs and clubs in the East Park area, Southampton offers sea air, beaches nearby and the New Forest.

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Performance

Category Score Rank
Ranking - 114 (112=)
Teaching quality 76.8 37th=
Student experience 71.7 67th=
Research quality 12.6 128th
Ucas entry points 112 108th=
Graduate prospects 63.3 123rd
Firsts and 2:1s 73.1 98th
Completion rate 77.8 115th
Student-staff ratio 17.5 85th=

Vital statistics

Undergraduates

Full-time

9,562

Part-time

514

Postgraduates

Full-time

865

Part-time

400

Applications/places 8,460/1,870
Applications/places ratio 4.5:1
Overall offer rate 87.4%

Accommodation

Places in accommodation 1,200
Accommodation costs £109 - £156
Accommodation contact www.solent.ac.uk/accommodation

Finance

UK/EU fees £9,250
Fees (placement year) £1,425
Fees (overseas year) £5,200
Fees (international) £12,875 - £13,800
Finance website https://www.solent.ac.uk/finance
Graduate salaries £21,000

Sport

Sport points/rank 527.5, 59th
Sport website www.solent.ac.uk/solent-sport

Social inclusion and student mix

Social Inclusion Ranking 42
State schools (non-grammar) admissions 96.2%
Grammar school admissions 0.7%
Independent school admissions 3.1%
Ethnic minority students (all) 17.3%
Black achievement gap -35.7%
White working class males 9.3%
First generation students 48.1%
Low participation areas 20.2%
Working class dropout gap -0.8%
Mature 44.2%
EU students 15%
Other overseas students 6.7%

Student satisfaction with teaching quality

Social work 85.6%
Communication and media studies 81.6%
Law 79.8%
Information systems and management 79.4%
Sports science 78.5%
Accounting and finance 78.2%
Art and design 76.9%
Criminology 75.4%
Computer science 74.9%
Hospitality, leisure, recreation and tourism 72.7%
Music 70.9%
Drama, dance and cinematics 70.7%
Business, management and marketing 68.6%
Psychology 67.1%