A campus community in a sought-after student city, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has best-of-both-worlds appeal. The main Frenchay campus has all the mod cons of a busy modern university in one self-contained spot and is 15 minutes by bus from the city centre. There are low-carbon halls of residence with biodiverse gardens and an active students’ union. Students have access to the latest in hands-on learning resources for degrees spanning engineering, healthcare, business and film production — among many subjects within a broad offering.
With more than 25,500 undergraduates on the register it is the southwest’s biggest university. UWE Bristol has ploughed £300 million into boosting facilities that keep pace with its popularity. Its creative City campus is spread across four sites in the heart of Bristol, one at Bower Ashton and three of them contemporary art centres: Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
In Fishponds, the Glenside health campus houses a £5 million optometry and clinical skills centre. Known for its independent spirit, diversity and epic nightlife — and the annual Balloon Fiesta when hot air balloons take flight over the city — Bristol is so hard to beat that many students stay on and make it their post-graduation home.
What is UWE Bristol’s reputation?
First founded as a merchant navigation school in 1595, UWE Bristol gained university status in 1992. More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of the work it submitted for assessment in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. The best results were in architecture, built environment and planning; allied health subjects; communication and media studies; engineering; and law.
It holds a silver rating overall from the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023), underpinned by a gold award for the student experience and silver for student outcomes. Assessors commended it for “embedding outstanding teaching, feedback and assessment practices that are highly effective and tailored to supporting students’ learning, progression, and attainment … Course content and delivery inspire students to actively engage in and commit their learning, and stretch students to knowledge and skills to their fullest potential.”
Results of the latest National Student Survey show the university is heading in the right direction towards its pre-pandemic heights of student satisfaction, when it ranked in the top 10 for broad experience and 11th for teaching quality. In our new NSS analysis it is 69= for teaching quality (up 27 places from 2024) and 75= for the wider experience (an 11-place improvement).
In turn it has gained ground in our main academic ranking where it is up 11 places to re-enter the upper half of the table and rejoin the top ten modern universities.
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
No course closures are planned. One new programme, in data science, began in September 2025.
What are UWE Bristol’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?
Courses require from 144 to 104 Ucas tariff points. A contextual offer policy gives eligible students a 16-point reduction in the standard requirements, or an eight-point reduction for foundation year courses. Eligibility has been widened and about 40 per cent are now contextual. In 2024, 9 per cent of entrants secured places through clearing.
What are the graduate prospects?
Work placements range from a full “sandwich” year to shorter or part-time opportunities of 60 to 100 hours with organisations such as Disney, the NHS, Nike and PwC. Course content is shaped by partners such as Aardman, Airbus and Lloyds Banking Group. Volunteering is well supported, with links to the Think Pacific project in Fiji. More than three quarters of graduates (76.2 per cent) were in high-skilled jobs or further study 15 months after leaving UWE Bristol, according to our Graduate Outcomes survey analysis, placing 59th for graduate prospects.
What is UWE Bristol’s campus like?
The students’ union, sports facilities, a 24-hour library and the engineering building are at the Frenchay campus — which is undergoing running renovations across teaching spaces and the library during 2025-26. At City, modern design studios are part of a £37 million investment in facilities to prepare students for creative industry careers.
The Fabrication Centre and the Centre for Print Research are at Bower Ashton, as are flexible workshops and collaborative learning areas. The £5 million optometry and clinical skills centre on the Glenside campus in Fishponds, a 15-minute bus ride from the city centre, contains a practical learning space for trainee paramedics, occupational therapy students, nurses and students of optometry.
When can I visit?
uwe.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about UWE Bristol’s student life and wellbeing support
The Centre for Sport on the Frenchay campus has fitness suites, a sports hall, an indoor climbing wall, squash courts and an all-weather pitch. Training for sports including football, American football and rugby teams is held at the £4.5 million Hillside Gardens complex a few miles away, where there are artificial and grass pitches and covered spectator seating.
Trim trails add to active living on campus and through the free Move programme students can access more than 100 weekly activities, from aerial hoop to squash and intramural leagues. Creative life thrives on the Bower Ashton site, where there is a shared studio space with working artists, as well as talks, workshops and opportunities to exhibit work.
There is a walled garden to relieve mental fatigue on the Frenchay campus and UWE’s wellbeing service includes access to counselling, a chaplain and an out-of-hours team. Courses such as peer-assisted learning workshops help to build resilience.
What do the students say?
“There are great halls of residence on campus and across the city centre, so students can live where they feel comfortable and socialise with like-minded students. The university, students’ union and city are sector-leading in sustainability. If you want to make a real societal change, UWE Bristol is for you.”
Kolawole Olure, chair of the board of trustees, director and president of the students' union, and environmental health graduate
What about student accommodation at UWE Bristol?
There are nearly 5,700 spaces, with most at Frenchay, and accommodation is guaranteed for first-year students who apply by July 1.
How diverse and inclusive is UWE Bristol?
UWE Bristol is 49th overall in our social inclusion index. Only 8.6 per cent of its students come from grammar or independent schools and the university ranks in the top 30 for its recruitment of white working class males (5.9 per cent of the intake). Nearly a quarter (23.5 per cent) are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at UWE Bristol
About one in three students received financial aid in 2024 in the form of bursaries and scholarships or from the Student Support Fund. The £500 low-income bursary is paid every year of study, subject to annual assessment. There is support for students who are parents or carers, or who have left care or are estranged from their families. There are also 24 undergraduate scholarships, worth up to £30,000.
