Press Release: Places available at university free of government cuts

17 August 2009

Monday 17 August 2009

This week there will be the most intense competition for university places ever. Many wanting to go will find they cannot get in. Some are thinking of universities abroad, others learning at a distance with the Open University, but there is one campus university in the UK entirely free of government cuts. As such it is able to take as many well-qualified students as come forward, and it has been growing year by year.

The University of Buckingham was established 30 years ago by a number of Oxbridge dons who were concerned at the government’s increasing interference in universities. As the present Vice-Chancellor, Dr Terence Kealey, puts it, “every other university in Britain has to follow government targets but we at Buckingham work for the students.”

The University has been top, or near the top of the National Student Satisfaction Survey since it first took part four years ago. Buckingham also topped the recent Times Higher Education league of employability on graduation. Its degrees are valued by employers because there has not been the pass rate inflation that there has been at other universities.

The University has a staff:student ratio of 1:9, which is twice as good as the UK average of 1:18 and our teaching is based on traditional small group tutorials. Contact hours, moreover, are high, at 9 hours a week.

Thomas Snodgrass, who is currently studying Business Economics says: “I chose to come to Buckingham because of the focused nature of studies at the University, the small class numbers and the contact with the lecturers.”

Buckingham charges full fees of £8,500 per year, but is actually more cost-effective than other universities in Britain. This is because students can work through the summer to take a fourth term and get their degree in two years. This allows students to save on a third year’s fees and living costs, and to earn a salary while their peers are accumulating further debts. The overall cost of studying at Buckingham can work out less than at other universities.

Joshua Cvitan, who graduated this year in Economics with Information Systems said:- “Buckingham’s main attraction to me was its two-year degree. Being able to graduate ahead of my peers and save a small fortune on living expenses was highly desirable.”

The university has a distinctive ethos and is likely to appeal to school leavers and mature students who are serious about studying. Buckingham is a small, safe, leafy country town without the clubs and drinking culture of large cities.