Bath Spa University

Became a university in: 2005

Student population: 17,335 (2022/23)

Location: Main campus just a couple of miles outsideBath, plus several other sites around the city.

Subject areas: Business, Art, Design, Media, Music, Education and the Humanities

Admissions: BBB to BBC, BTEC DDM to DMM, with interviews, auditions and portfolio requirements for most creative, performance or teaching courses. 

📸 Snapshot

Bath Spa may only have become a university in 2005, but as with many so-called new universities, its history is much longer. It can, in fact, be traced back to 1852 and the creation of the Bath School of Art.

Nowadays the university describes itself as ‘professionally creative’ - a rather nice term for a university with a wide range of art, design and performance courses that sit alongside degrees in teaching, business, science and humanities.

The main campus, Newton Park, is located a few miles outside Bath (around 20 minutes by bus), where academic buildings sit alongside the student accommodation on a country estate leased (weirdly) from the Duchy of Cornwall. I had the pleasure of visiting in 2012, when the university was preparing for a period of rapid expansion. The senior staff offices were located in the beautiful 18th Century House that sits at the centre the estate, and work was underway on The Commons, which was to become the modern centre-peice of teaching on campus. There was a palpable sense of a university that was about to grow and transform, and undergo a really significant stage in its history. It has certainly grown since; it now has over 17,000 students.

There are also several other campuses, and for undergraduates the most significant of these is the Locksbrook Campus, home of Bath School of Art, Film and Media and Bath School of Design. It’s an undeniably industrial looking building, but with wide open-plan spaces perfect for creative collaboration. It’s just 5 minutes by bus from the centre of Bath and the university has accommodation nearby.

Bath, of course, is a terrific city. It’s historic and it’s beautiful. It’s small enough to get around, but large enough to have all the shops and facilities you need. And with two substantial universities on either side, you can be confident it’ll have a social life to keep you entertained!

In summary

Bath Spa University could be for you if…

• You are looking for creative or professional focussed degrees.

• You like the idea of a semi-rural campus with living and learning all on one site.*

• You are looking for a university with reasonably straightforward entry grades.

• You are looking for an attractive, historic and beautiful city right on your doorstep.

And if you like Bath Spa, you might also like…

• Arts University Bournemouth

• Arts University Plymouth

• Edge Hill University

• Falmouth University

• Leeds Arts University

• Liverpool Hope University

• Norwich University of the Arts

• University of Chester

• University for the Creative Arts

• University of Gloucestershire

• University of Winchester

* Not for Art & Design