University of West London Information

The University of West London (UWL) is a public university in the United Kingdom which has campuses in Ealing and Brentford in Greater London, as well as in Reading, Berkshire.

The university has roots back to 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, which later became Ealing College of Higher Education. In 1990, Ealing College of Higher Education, Thames Valley College of Higher Education, Queen Charlottes College of Health Care Studies and the London College of Music merged to form the Polytechnic of West London. In 1992, the Polytechnic of West London became a university and adopted the name Thames Valley University. In 2004, Thames Valley merged with Reading College and School of Arts and Design. A former campus in Slough was closed in 2010.

In August 2010, the university announced that it had been granted permission to change its name to the University of West London, to reflect a focusing of operations onto its Ealing and Brentford campuses. The new name was formally adopted on Wednesday 6 April 2011.

The University of West London traces its roots back to 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded at what is now University of West Londons Ealing campus. The school later became Ealing College of Higher Education.

The Slough campus was founded in January 1912 as a selective secondary school in William Street. By the 1960s, it had become Slough College of Further Education. In the 1980s it became Thames Valley College of Higher Education and in 2011 it was closed down.

In 1990, Ealing College of Higher Education, Thames Valley College of Higher Education, Queen Charlottes College of Health Care Studies and the London College of Music were merged to become the Polytechnic of West London. Two years later, the polytechnic became a university under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, and adopted the name Thames Valley University.

In 2004, the university merged with Reading College and School of Arts and Design (which had been founded in 1947 as Reading Technical College). Reading Colleges sites at Kings Road and Crescent Road became TVU sites.

In 2009, the university decided to divest itself of its further education courses, together with its Kings Road site, that it had inherited from the Reading College and School of Arts and Design. In 2010 the responsibility for further education, along with the Kings Road site, were transferred to a relaunched Reading College. Although some 40 miles west of London, the university retained its other sites in Reading, including the Crescent Road site that also originated with the Reading College and School of Arts and Design.

In May 2009, the university announced that it would be closing its Slough campus in 2010 due to the relocation of nursing students, who make up the majority of the student body there, to Reading. Other courses will be moved to one of the universitys Greater London campuses, although some part-time and nursing courses will remain in Slough at a different site.

In August 2010, it was announced that the university would change its name to the University of West London, with the Privy Council subsequently granting permission for the change. The university unveiled a new logo in April 2011. Vice-Chancellor Peter John stated that the changes reflected the universitys development since 1992 and new focus on its Brentford and Ealing campuses.

There are two campus sites in western Greater London, located in St Marys Road, Ealing and at Paragon House in Brentford. There is also a third site in Reading, Berkshire, which is some 31 miles / 50 km from the Ealing sites.

The University of West London has planning consent for the redevelopment of the St Marys Road site in Ealing. The development was originally opposed by Ealing residents so a new planning permission was submitted and accepted. In 1992 the University signed an agreement to landscape the site for the community.

The University of West London comprises eight schools. These are Claude Littner Business School, the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism, the School of Computing and Engineering, London College of Music, the College of Nursing, midwifery and Healthcare, the School of Law and Criminology, the School of Human and Social Sciences, and the London School of Film, Media and Design.

The Graduate School (based in Ealing) co-ordinates and provides support to research activities and research degree courses. The University offers traditional Phd programmes and Professional Doctorates.

The university also works with the Met Film School, a private film school that is based at Ealing Studios in London, United Kingdom. The school, which launched in 2003, offers two and three year Bachelors programs as well as various masters degree programs, which are accredited through the University of West London.

The new Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018 rankings placed the University of West London in 56th place nationally on 24 September 2017. The University now sits in the top half of UK universities.

In the 2015 edition of the major rankings of British universities the university was placed 97 out of 116 in The Guardian university guide, and the University has been in the top half position of 58 in 2017. The University rank in the latest league table in The Sunday Times in 2017 shows a good progress with rank 56.

The University of West London has recorded the best results of any university in Greater London in the annual National Student Survey (NSS) in 2016, with students’ responses showing it to be the best University in Greater London for student satisfaction. In the NSS 2016, there were 100 per cent overall satisfaction rates for nine courses across the University’s eight schools, ranging from Midwifery to Business Studies and Music Technology to Hospitality Management. Among these 100 per cent overall satisfaction rates, the University recorded the best overall satisfaction rates in the UK for Civil Engineering and Building courses in the NSS 2016.

In 2009, the university was the only university to win the Queens Anniversary Prize for outstanding achievement and excellence in hospitality education – and it regularly wins awards from major industry bodies. University of West London Careers and Employment Service is a member of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services and has been awarded the Matrix Standard for Quality.

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