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The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has four campuses in Scotland and one in London. UWS traces its roots to the Scottish Enlightenment and the Paisley Philosophical Institution, founded by the industrialists Peter and Thomas Coats. Paisley College of Technology, founded in 1897 and later renamed the University of Paisley in 1992, was a successor to the Philosophical Institution and one of the founder members of UWS in 2007, incorporating Craigie College of Education in Ayr, Bell College in Lanarkshire and premises at The Crichton estate in Dumfries.
UWS proudly calls itself “a 21st-century university”, and it was recently named Higher Educational Institution of the Year at the 2022 Herald Higher Education Awards, and in 2020 was named the best “young university” (founded within the last 50 years) in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings for the second consecutive year. With more than 20,000 students representing 70 countries across five campuses, UWS is one of Scotland’s largest and most international modern universities. The university offers more than 100 courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level in subjects from forensic science to chemical engineering, business, accounting and biomedical science.
“94 per cent of UWS students are in work or further study within six months of graduating, and the Scottish Funding Council reported in 2019 that UWS was Scotland’s leading university for widening access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds”
UWS has close links with industry, with many courses offering students the opportunity to undertake work placements during their studies. 94 per cent of UWS students are in work or further study within six months of graduating, and the Scottish Funding Council reported in 2019 that UWS was Scotland’s leading university for widening access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The university has been recognised by THE for its strengths in working towards the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), being ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide when assessed against these metrics. UWS was named the most impactful university in Scotland for SDG 8 (“decent work and economic growth”) and the 23rd most impactful in the world for SDG 10, “reducing inequality”.
90 per cent of research conducted at UWS is considered world-leading, internationally excellent or recognised internationally by the Research Excellence Framework. UWS’s areas of expertise are varied, from engineering to ophthalmology and the creative industries. UWS’s School of Health and Life Sciences formulated the world’s first treatment for Acanthamoeba keratitis, a serious eye condition that can lead to blindness, which affects millions worldwide. A UWS professor was part of the team behind the documentary Colours of the Alphabet, screened on UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day in 2018, the first ever simultaneous multilingual live stream of any film across all 54 countries of Africa in 27 indigenous languages as well as English, French and Portuguese.
In 2020, UWS published Strategy 2025, which sets out its vision for the future. UWS aims to be one of the top 200 universities globally by 2050, commits to reducing emissions and becoming net zero by 2040, aspires to be one of the UK’s most successful widening-access universities and to be Scotland’s leading university for knowledge-transfer partnerships. If the current league tables are anything to go by, UWS is already well on its way.
