University of Buckingham guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Buckingham is the only independent university in this guide and it pioneered two-year degrees long ago as a more efficient way of delivering higher education. The cost of a two-year degree here is now the same as a three-year course in the state sector, but the saving of a year of living costs still makes going private a cheaper option. The quid pro quo is that students have to work harder - the academic year is divided into four terms with much shorter breaks between them. The numbers of applications and admissions at the university, which recently marked 40 years of Royal Charter status, have never been higher. However, it remains one of the smallest universities in this guide, with around 3,500 students. Fewer than half of these are undergraduates. Around 50% of the students come from overseas, giving the campus a cosmopolitan feel, but numbers of UK students are increasing. All courses will soon be taught in Buckingham, following the decision to close the university's costly campus for medicine and health sciences students in Crewe, Cheshire by 2026.
Paying the bills
Buckingham's private status means that government tuition-fee loans cover only £14,800 (for two-year courses) to £15,410 (for nine terms). However, students on most courses can now defer up to £12,950 of tuition fees with a Future Earnings Agreement, under which UK students agree to pay a percentage of their post-university income to clear the debt. Buckingham students qualify for government maintenance loans at the same rate as other universities. The University of Buckingham bursary is worth £2,000 a year for two years and is paid to all students in receipt of a maintenance loan of £7,500 or more. The money is paid in the form of a tuition fee reduction of £500 a term. A similar sum is paid in the first year only for UK students achieving AAB or above in their A-levels if they have made Buckingham their firm Ucas choice. There are subject-specific awards worth up to £13,000 available, too. Prices have been frozen for 2024-25 for Buckingham's 608 student rooms. All first-years are guaranteed a room if they meet application deadlines. Self-catered rooms cost between £7,000 and £11,750 for a 50-week contract, and from £11,250 to £19,750 for catered accommodation, also for 50 weeks.
What's new?
Refurbished library spaces have opened on both the Hunter Street and Verney Park campuses, while an upgrade to the university's digital library facilities will be rolled out from this month. LibGuide software will allow library staff to create specialist online subject pages to guide students on their reading and studying. The newly opened Mount Pleasant site in Buckingham has 71 twin ensuite rooms, alongside free laundry facilities, study spaces, a gym, a swimming pool and a bar. A refurbishment of the Franciscan Building has also created new facilities for the faculty of computing, law and psychology, such as laboratories for robotics and artificial intelligence, games and cybersecurity, as well as a moot court. These will benefit students taking several new degrees, notably computing (cybersecurity), computing (gaming pathway) and psychology. Further additions to Buckingham's course portfolio include history studied in combination with economics, English literature or politics, as well as liberal arts with or without a foundation year.
Admissions, teaching and student support
Contextual offers are made to students only after interviews. Mature students with relevant work experience often benefit from this flexibility, although the university does not reduce offers by a set number of grades or Ucas tariff points, preferring to judge each candidate individually. As a private university, Buckingham is not required to produce an access and participation plan. However, it achieves good levels of social inclusion regardless, with roughly one third of students being the first in their immediate family to go to university. The university prides itself on Oxbridge-style, small-group teaching. While lecture capture is available in most lecture theatres and seminar rooms, the vast majority of courses are delivered face-to-face. Remote attendance is allowed only in exceptional circumstances, such as for the innovative online BA in primary education introduced last year, which has been created for teaching assistants working in UK schools who want to become primary school teachers. Students have access to mental health advisers, counselling staff, and wellbeing advisers who specialise in drugs and alcohol support. Mentors are based in each faculty and there are 75 mental health first-aiders on campus. Induction week includes sessions on mental health, wellbeing, finances, drugs and alcohol. Student safety is addressed through a Think About It online module for new students, which covers bystander intervention, consent, unconscious bias, personal safety and budgeting. A follow-up quiz tests student knowledge.
