With a focus on practice-based learning environments and real-world experience, the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) stops off at four campuses along Scotland’s west side, and one in London. The modern university is up 11 places in our main academic table, boosted by rates of student satisfaction with teaching quality that rank it 15th in the UK, based on our analysis of the latest National Student Survey (NSS). Music students take part in the long-running EuroGig project — which enables them to perform at big events abroad — or develop their careers via UWS’s record label, Damfino. Headquarters are at the Paisley site near Glasgow and there’s a riverside campus in a coastal setting at the Ayr campus. The smallest USW base, Dumfries, is in an 85-acre parkland site. UWS Lanarkshire is characterised by its high-tech facilities for healthcare students. Across all sites, USW is Scotland’s leading university for access, and it tops our Scottish social inclusion index again this year. USW provides practical financial help to support students in need. In 2023-24 it awarded £1.75 million in total through Discretionary and Childcare Funds — the latter helps eligible student-parents to meet costs that may otherwise stand in their way of attending university.
What is the University of the West of Scotland’s reputation?
Sport and exercise sciences, leisure and tourism, and physics led the way for UWS in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), with 71 per cent of the submissions assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent. The university’s Institute of Clinical Exercise and Health Science is responsible for some of its leading research.
In our NSS 2025 analysis, UWS has risen 32 places, to 15th, as a result of feedback on teaching, and it is up 19 places (to 85=) for satisfaction with the wider undergraduate experience. The improvements have fuelled its 11-place ascent of our main academic league table. However, UWS remains held back by its continuation rate (often an issue for universities with a diverse intake) and with only 77.7 per cent of students projected to continue past their first year it is at the foot of the table. The UWS Student Success Model — which supports students at risk of dropping out with early interventions — may help the university turn a corner in time.
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
UWS has withdrawn courses in occupational safety and health; environmental health with professional practice; various business courses; chemical engineering and computer-aided design. New for 2025 are: events and tourism; data science and artificial intelligence; town planning; energy and environmental engineering; business with HRM; business with marketing; Scots law; social work; and English language.
What are the University of the West of Scotland’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?
Standard entry requirements range from 80 Ucas tariff points on nursing courses to 112 points for the education degree. Each applicant is assessed on their life experience as well as qualifications and UWS makes a minimum offer to people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Care-leavers are guaranteed an offer if they come through one of the university’s recruiting programmes, or are guaranteed an interview/audition for courses that require them. In 2024, 7.2 per cent of new students enrolled via clearing.
What are the graduate prospects?
Employability initiatives at UWS include academic, professional and personal development modules built in to undergraduate programmes. There are also strong ties to the creative industries and many UWS staff are still active in their industries. Yekemi Otaru, UWS’s chancellor, is an entrepreneur, and a new partnership with Robert Gordon University and the University of Stirling supports mothers to start new business ventures under the Pathways Pre-start Fund. UWS ranks 81st for graduate prospects in our analysis of the numbers in highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after finishing a degree.
What is the University of the West of Scotland’s campus like?
The headquarters in Paisley — a ten-minute train ride from Glasgow — have specialist laboratories and a well-equipped library. At the pre-hospital simulation centre, healthcare students learn to develop clinical skills in an immersive environment that recreates the challenges of complex care scenarios. At UWS Ayr, £81 million of investment has added facilities including a prizewinning library shared with Scotland’s Rural College. Ayr also has radio, podcast and television studios, and digital sound and editing suites.
The Dumfries campus shares an 85-acre parkland site on the Crichton estate with the University of Glasgow and Dumfries and Galloway College. New facilities include simulated healthcare wards and an immersive learning video suite, along with flexible teaching areas, open study spaces and a new IT studio. The Lanarkshire campus features high-tech equipment for nursing, midwifery and paramedic teaching, an extreme environments laboratory and a health and fitness centre. The London Docklands base offers programmes in fields including business, health, project management and accounting.
When can I visit?
uws.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about the University of the West of Scotland’s student life and wellbeing support
Most courses leave Wednesday afternoons free to encourage students to take part in sport and social activities, and membership to gym and fitness facilities at the four Scottish campuses is free of charge. London students have discounted access to local gyms. UWS Radio is a hybrid student and community station that broadcasts from UWS Ayr and is available on DAB.
A new partnership between UWS and OneRen, Renfrewshire’s culture, leisure and sports charitable trust, is behind the £45 million redevelopment of Paisley Museum, Scotland’s biggest cultural heritage project.
There is a counselling service and support for students who are struggling to engage with their studies.
What do the students say?
“From the beautiful campus grounds to societies, events as well as local amenities, you can tailor your UWS experience to suit you.”
Gemma Murrell, union chair, psychology student
What about student accommodation at the University of the West of Scotland?
Paisley and Ayr campuses have 696 beds between them, with allocation on a first-come, first-served basis. However, most students live at home, which eases pressure on space in halls; in 2024-25 all first-years who requested a place got one.
How diverse and inclusive is the University of the West of Scotland?
The UWS Foundation Academy, now in its fourth year, worked with 631 senior school pupils from 33 schools across the west of Scotland to pave the way to university for eligible pupils. Its free programme starts with a campus visit and leads to online training in academic skills and a reduced offer. UWS, which remains the most socially inclusive institution in Scotland overall, recruits the most students who are the first in their family to go to university (50.8 per cent) and no Scottish universities have a higher intake of mature students (55.8 per cent).
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of the West of Scotland
UWS has a flexible approach to means-tested funding, rather than fixed awards; in 2023-24 it awarded £1.75 million in discretionary and childcare funds. There are also sport scholarships, and a merit bursary of £1,000 a year for entrants from the rest of the UK or Ireland.
