A modern university guided by the vision “to change lives and our world for the better”, University of South Wales (USW) offers more than 300 courses and has an emphasis on equipping students with work-ready skills and experience. It is made up of three campuses — in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd — but its heart lies in the Valleys. Calon (Welsh for heart) is the university’s new Computing, Engineering and Technology building at Pontypridd. Calon has a flight simulator, clean and industrial research spaces, and a robotics lab among 40 new innovative teaching, learning and research spaces due to open for students in 2026.
The Cardiff campus, in the city centre, houses USW’s creative courses in the Atrium building. Courses at the £35 million Newport base include cybersecurity, education and psychology.
Its three campuses are united by USW’s upward trajectory in our league tables — after three years of climbing steadily, it places 82= in our main academic ranking. At the same time, USW has shot 16 places up our social inclusion index to rank 15th.
Cardiff is a leading student city and about ten miles from Pontypridd, while Newport is known for its warm welcome and relative affordability.
What is the University of South Wales’s reputation?
USW was established in 2013 through the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. An improved performance in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), compared with 2014, triggered a rise for USW to 94th in our research quality index. Some of the best results were produced by sport and exercise sciences; social work and social policy; music, drama, dance, performing arts, film and screen studies; and allied health subjects.
The proportion of students who stick with their course after the year has been a sticking point for USW. It has boosted its overall position by gaining 20 places to rank 72= for continuation rates this year. However, feedback in the latest National Student Survey has cooled, with USW 61= for teaching quality (a 20-place decline) and 108th for the student experience (down 11 places).
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
In early 2025 USW announced that it was cutting 90 jobs and closing courses as well as withdrawing from some research areas to focus its output on a select number of topics. An up to date course list is available on the USW website.
What are the University of South Wales’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?
USW ranks 80= for its entry standards, based on new entrants across all courses arriving with an average of 118 Ucas tariff points. Contextual offers are made to those who qualify under widening participation criteria, except on medical science courses.
What are the graduate prospects?
Employability is built into all courses, such as cybersecurity students having opportunities to take part in live projects with real companies. Courses within the School of Engineering benefit from industrial advisory boards and provide opportunities for work experience. In our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey, 71.1 per cent of USW students were in highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after finishing their degree (96th).
What is the University of South Wales’s campus like?
The Pontypridd campus is ten miles outside Cardiff and is the biggest campus, occupying two sites (Treforest and Glyntaff). Surrounded by hills and near the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) national park, Pontypridd has new facilities for chiropractic students and a £6 million Learning Resources Centre. Pontypridd also has acute care simulation suites for nursing and midwifery students and serves as a base for USW’s law programmes.
The Cardiff campus for creative courses has industry-standard equipment for advertising, television, film set design and fashion. It also has room for dance studios, rehearsal spaces and photographic studios. The incubation space Startup Stiwdio is at USW Cardiff too. The £35 million Newport city centre campus overlooks the River Usk.
When can I visit?
southwales.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about the University of South Wales’s student life and wellbeing support
As well as students’ union events, every campus has coast and countryside adventures nearby, while Cardiff has a well-earned reputation as a student city that’s hard to beat. FitZone on the Pontypridd campus offers more than 30 classes a week from hot yoga to kettlebells, while USW’s 30-acre Sport Park has a full-size indoor 3G pitch — the only one in Wales built to Fifa Pro and World Rugby specifications, which includes six cameras to film footage, enabling full performance analysis.
Students can book a 45-minute appointment with a wellbeing adviser, who may then refer them for workshops, short courses, activities, mental health advice or counselling.
What do the students say?
“USW is close enough to home to stay connected, but far enough away for independence. The campus had such a homely vibe, and the psychology major-minor course options really sealed the deal for me. Studying broad psychology alongside developmental disorders allowed me to combine my passion with career goals.”
Emily Campbell, BSc (Hons) psychology
What about student accommodation at the University of South Wales?
USW has been able to accommodate all first-year, full-time students who have requested to live in halls, but demand changes annually.
How diverse and inclusive is the University of South Wales?
Ranking 15th overall for social inclusion, USW succeeds in recruiting the 13th highest proportion of students from areas with low participation rates in higher education. Around four in ten USW undergraduates are aged 21-plus when they enrol. Outreach activities include a five-day summer school for children who meet widening participation criteria.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of South Wales
Financial packages include the USW Gwent Bursary of £1,000 for students who meet contextual offer criteria and who are resident at a NP (Newport) postcode at the time of applying. There is extra support for students who have left care, are estranged from families and who are carers. A £1,000 homeless bursary is available to students who lived in hostels and homeless shelters six months before beginning their studies, and is paid to help with living costs in their summer holidays. The university also offers scholarships to reward attainment in sport and in Welsh-language study. The Violet Burns Bursary offers £1,000 plus mentoring for women enrolling in computing, engineering and science courses.
