The University of South Wales (USW) is guided by the vision “to change lives and our world for the better.” In line with its mission and rooted in the regional economy — it is based at campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd and offers more than 500 courses — the emphasis is on equipping students with the skills and experience to give them every chance in their careers. 

The city centre campus is home to USW’s creative courses, where students are riding the wave of a drama renaissance in the Welsh television industry. More than 40 landed shadowing placements on the BBC and HBO production of His Dark Materials, based on the Philip Pullman novels, and 30 students gained paid positions. Via another tie-in, USW partners with seven police forces in Wales and England to provide educational programmes for new recruits, delivering the undergraduate courses on force premises so that students are immersed in the profession.

For sporty students, links with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and Football Association of Wales Trust are an attractive advantage. As is the 30-acre Sport Park in Pontypridd with 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.

What is the University of South Wales’ reputation? 

A modern university, USW was established in 2013 through the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. It has risen nine places up our league table over the past two years edging it further inside the top 100, ranking at 94=.

An improved performance in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), compared with 2014, triggered a nine-place rise for USW to 95th in our research quality index. Sport and exercise sciences; social work and social policy; music, drama, dance, performing arts, film and screen studies; and allied health subjects produced some of the best results.

Students are increasingly content with the teaching quality, according to their feedback in the National Student Survey, which puts USW 41= (up 13 places). However, their evaluation of the broader student experience is less upbeat, with USW ranking 97= (down five places).

Continuation rates remain a sticking point. The latest figures show that about one in ten students is projected to drop out between the first and second year of their degree: USW ranks 92nd. This can be a side-effect of a diverse intake, and with around four in ten USW students aged over-21 when they enrol the university has the 22nd highest proportion of mature students in England and Wales.

What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?

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What are the University of South Wales’ entry requirements – and my chances of getting in?

USW ranks 90= for its entry standards, based on new entrants across all courses arriving with an average of 119 Ucas tariff points. Applications and new student enrolments remain down on the demand a decade ago when applications and enrolments were over a third higher. Contextual admissions were introduced in 2022 and those who qualify under widening participation criteria receive an offer lower than the standard requirement, or will consider when results are released and places confirmed.

What are the graduate prospects?

Employability is built into all courses at USW, such as cybersecurity students having opportunities to take part in live projects with real companies and courses within USW’s School of Engineering benefiting from industrial advisory boards — which inform course development and provide opportunities for work experience and future employment. In our analysis of the latest Graduate Outcomes survey, 71.1 per cent of USW students were in highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after finishing their degree (97th), up from two thirds two years ago.

What is the University of South Wales’ campus like?

The Pontypridd campus, ten miles outside Cardiff, 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 in the city centre houses USW’s creative courses in the Atrium building, which has industry-standard equipment for advertising, television, film set design and fashion. It also has room for dance studios, rehearsal spaces and photographic studios. Startup Stiwdio, an incubation space, is at USW Cardiff too. Courses at the £35 million Newport city base include cybersecurity, education, and psychology.  

Everything you need to know about the University of South Wales’ 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 during term time, from hot yoga to kettlebells. USW’s Sport Park has high-performance facilities for elite athletes and regular users alike.

A wellbeing service encompasses specialist mental health support and counselling and there are wellbeing groups to boost mood, from therapy dogs as well as craft workshops, yoga and book clubs.

What do the students say?

“Studying here at USW is so supportive, the lecturers have this open-door policy so we can go and ask them any questions outside of lecture times.”
Courtney Childs, BSc (Hons) policing and security

What about student accommodation at the University of South Wales?

There are halls of residence at all three campuses. 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 31st overall for social inclusion, USW succeeds in recruiting the eighth-highest proportion of students from deprived areas in England and Wales and nearly all (96 per cent) are drawn from non-selective state secondary schools.

Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of South Wales

Wide-ranging financial packages include the USW Gwent Bursary of £1,000 students open to contextual offer holders 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, paid to help with living costs in their summer holidays. The university also offers scholarships to reward attainment in sport, and in Welsh-medium study.