University of Worcester

The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005.

In 1946 an Emergency teacher training college for the University of Birmingham was established in Worcester on the site of one of the former RAF bases used during the Second World War. Henry Hines came to Worcester from the Canterbury Technical Institute as the principal of the college. E.G. Peirson followed Hines's lead as the principal of the college from 1951 to 1978. During his time at the college, in the 1970s the Council for National Academic Awards validated the degrees for the Worcester College of Higher Education and the former Peirson Library, now The Peirson Study and Guidance Centre was opened. The third principal of the college, David Shadbolt, started his leadership in 1978 bringing a new system of organisation, based around three schools – Education and Teaching Studies, Arts and Sciences. In 1992, Dorma Urwin became the new principal and Coventry University agreed to validate the institution's degree courses. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire College of Nursing and Midwifery was absorbed in 1995. In 1997 the Privy Council affirmed the institution's degree-awarding powers and it subsequently became known as University College Worcester. In 2003, David Green was appointed as Dorma Urwin's successor and later became the vice chancellor of the institution. In 2005 the Privy Council granted university status. The institution was renamed "University of Worcester" in September of that year. In 2010 HM Privy Council conferred research degree-awarding powers on the university. In the same year, the university opened the City campus in the renovated former infirmary to create a home for the Business School. Two years later, in 2012, the university opened The Hive, a £60 million facility focused on learning resources, technology, social and study spaces. This facility is a joint venture between the university and Worcestershire County Council and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2021, the university decided to close its archaeology department, with the change to come into effect the end of the 2021/22 academic year; this led to a petition being started, asking the vice-chancellor and executive board to reconsider the decision.

Since 2005, the university has expanded greatly and acquired many new sites across the city of Worcester. Its long-term strategy includes building joint community and university facilities, and expanding to a 4th campus.

The university's main campus is known as St John's and is the main base for all courses, support departments and academic institutes, except those related to business, computing, marketing or management. The site contains Halls of Residence with over 872 rooms, a sports centre, sports pitches, facilities for training nurses, midwives, and physician associates, a commercial standard digital arts centre and motion performance centre. The Peirson Centre provides study spaces, as well as ICT facilities, support and a Student Guidance Centre. The campus is located close to the local area of St John's, Worcester.

The university's second campus is known as City Campus, and is the home of the Worcester Business School. The campus opened in September 2010 on the site of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary in Infirmary Walk. The buildings of the original infirmary, which remain, are the work of the noted eighteenth-century architect Anthony Keck. Work began in January 2007, and cost approximately £120 million. Phase 1 was completed in time for the 2010 academic year. As part of this, new Halls of Residence with accommodation for 250 students were completed on the site as well as the restoration of the main buildings. All Worcester Business School courses are run here, including undergraduate and postgraduate courses. A latter addition is the Art House, which sits opposite City Campus on Castle Street and is the hub of the School of Arts. Created from a former Carpet Warehouse (and before that a 1930's Art Deco garage known as Austin House) and refurbished by GWP Architects. The building is only the third building in the whole of the UK to earn a Gold standard for environmental sustainability. The Jenny Lind Chapel has been refurbished to its original state as has the boardroom in which the British Medical Association was founded in 1832. The history of the building inspired the development of an interactive exhibition, The Infirmary, which opened on City Campus in 2012. Phase 2 has had to be reviewed due to deep cuts in government funding and caps on student numbers, and is no longer considered feasible due to current budget deficits.

In addition, the university occupies a large site adjacent to the River Severn, now known as "Riverside". This includes an Art Space & Exhibition building and a 2,000-seat-capacity sports arena built as a new facility for sports, events, a base for the Worcester Wolves basketball team, a national centre of excellence for disability sports and as a further teaching and office space. The facility, known as Worcester Arena is also accessible to the local community.

Lakeside Campus is located in the Worcestershire countryside, just a 10-minute drive from the main campus. The 50-acre (20 ha) site includes watersports lake, grass pitches, woodlands and an activity centre