BU consolidates position as Number One New University

12 May 2009

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran with BU Students

BU’s “magnificent achievement” in The Guardian University Guide consolidates its position as Number One New University.

BU has maintained its position as the UK’s leading ‘new’ University for the second consecutive year according to The Guardian University Guide 2010.

Overall, BU has risen five places to 32nd overall. This puts BU first among the institutions which became universities since 1992 and also means that the University has outperformed older institutions such as Cardiff, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Reading and Queen’s University, Belfast.

During the last four years alone, BU has leapt a remarkable 48 places in The Guardian Guide.

“This represents a magnificent achievement,” says BU Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran. “As we rise in these influential league tables we find ourselves outperforming not only institutions which gained university title since 1992, but much older, traditional universities. These results are indicative of the drive, direction and momentum of BU, its staff, students and supporters.”

Over the last four years, BU’s ranking has increased in all four of the UK’s major university league tables and features among the top ten new universities in all league tables.

Other recent successes highlighted at BU’s recent Annual Review event include:

Assessed in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) as the fourth most improved UK university in research quality (of the ten areas assessed, eight featured research that was rated as being of world leading quality in terms of its originality, significance and rigour)
Increased three-fold to £2.2m its core research funding from government
Awarded the highest category of confidence in the maintenance of its academic standards and the enhancement of its quality by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
Doubled its Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) funding to circa £800,000 per year (in 2008/09)
Improved the success rate of its Research Council funding bids to 31% (greater than the national average of 28%)
Appointed approximately 150 academics over the last three years to foster the development of an academically led culture
Increased attendance at its undergraduate Open Days from 1,600 to over 6,000 in three years
Invested significantly in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) to develop several major student-facing systems, including online enrolments and payments.