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NTU named Guardian 'University of the Year'

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named ‘University of the Year’ by The Guardian.

    University of the Year

    This represents another significant addition to the institution’s growing list of major accolades.

    The prestigious award comes after NTU received the coveted Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017 and the influential Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018.

    It also follows the University soaring to 16th place – a jump of 18 places – in the Guardian University Guide 2019. Crucially, this national league table focuses on student satisfaction, graduate employment, and quality of teaching.

    The Guardian University of the Year award is based upon performance and improvement in its Guardian University Guide as well as considering retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students.

    As part of its ‘Success for All’ agenda, NTU strives to provide the opportunity for all students to succeed and is at the forefront of understanding and implementing what works to support students.

    Representatives from the University attended the Guardian University Awards ceremony in London last night.

    Nottingham Trent University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Peck, said: “I want to thank The Guardian for recognising the achievements of NTU over recent years. My colleagues and our students set out our shared ambitions and challenging objectives back in 2015 and we have all worked incredibly hard to deliver these.”  

    Guardian University Guide editor, Judy Friedberg, said: “Nottingham Trent's performance across a range of measures has been exceptional this year. The university delivers overall academic excellence while paying close attention to the success of each individual student, no matter their background.”

    NTU also won the Course and curriculum design category at the Guardian University Awards for its SCALE-UP project. Originally a small-scale idea trialled in the USA, NTU has enhanced and scaled-up this approach to teaching which turns its back on traditional lecture theatres and the student/teacher relationship and encourages students and lecturers to work more collaboratively in a roundtable environment.

    This initiative has successfully reduced the attainment gap in underrepresented groups, and improved non-continuation rates across all groupings - so that all students now have a greater chance of obtaining a ‘good’ degree. For BME students specifically, the attainment gap reduced by 4.2%, attendance improved in the 90%-100% category by 13 percentage points and the non-continuation rate almost disappeared.

    NTU was named Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017 due to its impressive record on outreach and its use of learning analytics to improve retention.

    The University was also named Modern University of the Year in the 2018 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, in recognition of its strong student satisfaction, quality of teaching, overall student experience and engagement with employers.

    NTU has also been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework, the highest ranking possible.

    More information relating to the University's awards can be viewed here.

    • Notes for editors

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      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2017 at the Times Higher Education Awards, and Modern University of the Year in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      NTU has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available. NTU is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of over 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook

      It is one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, containing some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings. A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving.Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Satisfaction Survey. 

      The University is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable Nottingham Trent to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

      NTU is home to world-class research, and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

    Published on 10 April 2019
    • Category: Press office