University of Essex guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Sixty years ago next month, a little more than 100 students arrived at a new university near Colchester based in three academic schools: comparative studies, physical sciences and social studies. Most of the Brutalist buildings for which the university is famous were still to be built, but from the outset Essex offered something different to the norm, the 'radical innovation' promised by founding vice-chancellor, Sir Albert Sloman. This university in the heart of Essex countryside became an unlikely hotbed of student radicalism in the late 1960s and 1970s, and built an international reputation in politics and the social sciences more broadly. Today, it is home to a large international population of students, who make up about one third of the intake. Home students come predominantly from East Anglia and London. Students are split between three campuses: the mothership near Colchester; a second coastal campus at Southend-on-Sea, specialising in health and social care and business; and a third base in Loughton on the fringes of London and Epping Forest, where the East 15 acting school is based. They all offer a great experience and higher education for eminently achievable grades.
Paying the bills
A bursary revamp has extended support for students to include those from homes with an income of up to £35,000. The new Essex Futures bursary provides up to £3,000 in the first year of study (£1,000 in cash and £2,000 in university-owned accommodation credits) to students from homes with up to £25,000 of income. Accommodation discounts of £1,500 and £1,000 are offered to students from homes with incomes of between £25,001 to £30,000 and £30,001 to £35,000 respectively. Essex Pathways awards are open to students progressing from a foundation year (Year 0) to the first year of a degree. They are worth £1,500 to those who earned a first in Year 0, and £1,000 for those gaining a 2:1. There is a distinctive merit award for students entering with 34 points or more gained in International Baccalaureate, which is worth £2,000 in the first year. Top athletes can also get full tuition fee remission as well as performance coaching and support services. Student accommodation costs from as little as £4,646 for 39 weeks in one of the iconic towers on the Colchester campus, rising to £9,823 for 39 weeks in a premium apartment.
What's new?
Extensive work placement opportunities for Essex healthcare students are a welcome by-product of the opening of the new Health, Wellbeing and Care Hub on the Colchester campus. The centre brings together students, academics and health professionals to provide innovative and integrated services for local people. Subject areas for placements cover nursing, oral health science, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, social work, law, sports science, clinical psychology and computing. New skills labs and simulation spaces at both the Colchester and Southend campuses have opened, giving health and social care students somewhere to practice technical skills. An indoor crop-growth facility, the Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (Steps) has been created in the school of life sciences, building on the university's expertise in plant productivity research. It is capable of replicating natural outdoor environments in real time, with regulation of temperature, humidity, water and carbon dioxide levels. Last September saw the first intake of students to benefit from new residential blocks at The Pastures, also at Colchester. The development of 1,204 rooms and 58 studios cost £168m, with the university's landmark Towers accommodation now undergoing a makeover to keep pace.
Admissions, teaching and student support
Essex introduced contextual admissions for the first time for this month's intake of students, with recipients benefiting from offers up to two A-level grades (or equivalent) below standard conditional requirements. They are made across most courses to a swathe of applicants from under-represented groups (including those receiving free school meals and those living in postcodes among the 40% that send the fewest into higher education), those progressing from University of Essex Schools Membership institutions, those attending a compulsory admissions interview and - most unusually and generously - all of those who simply attend offer-holder days at the Colchester and Southend campuses. For these students a revised lower offer is made within five days of attendance. Students are well looked-after when they arrive on campus. Student staff are part of Residence Life teams in university accommodation providing support, advice and signposting of further help available to their peers. Since last year, Essex has offered suicide prevention workshops in partnership with the mental health charity Papyrus, again empowering students to support one another. In addition to their academic tutors, all students have a named personal tutor who meets them at the start of their course and periodically throughout each term. The university is one of very few to require students to complete an online module on sexual consent and bystander training.
