Welsh: Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd | |||||||||||||
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Former names | University of Wales Institute, Cardiff | ||||||||||||
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Motto | Welsh: Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth | ||||||||||||
Motto in English | The most valuable possession is knowledge | ||||||||||||
Type | Public | ||||||||||||
Established |
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President | Rachael Langford | ||||||||||||
Vice-Chancellor | Matty Rees | ||||||||||||
Students | 10,920 (2019/20) [1] | ||||||||||||
Undergraduates | 8,100 (2019/20) [1] | ||||||||||||
Postgraduates | 2,820 (2019/20) [1] | ||||||||||||
Location | , | ||||||||||||
Campus | Llandaff, Cyncoed | ||||||||||||
Colours | |||||||||||||
Affiliations | Association of Commonwealth Universities Wallace Group | ||||||||||||
Website | cardiffmet | ||||||||||||
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Cardiff Metropolitan University (Welsh : Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd), formerly the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; Welsh: Athrofa Prifysgol Cymru, Caerdydd, APCC) and commonly referred to as Cardiff Met, is a university located in the city of Cardiff.
The university offers degree courses in a variety of disciplines. Study is available at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, full-time and part-time, and research opportunities are offered. In the 2021/22 academic year, [update] the university has 11,500 students from over 140 countries studying on two campuses in Cardiff, and more than 10,000 at 17 partner institutions in 15 countries around the world.
In November 2021, Cardiff Met was awarded the title of UK and Ireland University of the Year 2021 by the Times Higher Education . [2]
In September 2020, Cardiff Met was named the Times and Sunday Times Welsh University of the Year. In the same year, Cardiff Met was deemed to be the most financially sustainable university in Wales by the Wales Governance Centre.
In January 2023, Professor Cara Aitchison announced that she would retire as Vice-Chancellor and President of Cardiff Metropolitan University, [3] and in November 2023, the University announced that Professor Rachael Langford would be the next Vice-Chancellor and President, [4] taking up the role in February 2024.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(October 2018) |
In 1865 the Cardiff School of Art opened in the Old Free Library Building, St Mary Street. The School of Art moved to the Technical Buildings in Dumfries Place in 1900, then The Friary in 1949, then to a new campus in Howard Gardens in 1965.
In 1940, Cardiff College of Food Technology and Commerce opened at Crwys Road. The Cardiff College of Food Technology and Commerce moved to a new Colchester Avenue Campus in 1966, home to management, business, leisure, hospitality, tourism and food students.
In 1950 Cardiff Teacher Training College opened at Heath Park. Llandaff Technical College opened in 1954 at Western Avenue, home to health sciences, design and engineering students. In 1962 the college moved to Cyncoed, now home to the Schools of Education and Sport.
In 1976, the four colleges merged to form South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education. The name changed to Cardiff Institute of Higher Education in 1990, in preparation for Incorporation. In 1992, the Institute joined the University of Wales as an autonomous body. The first Teaching Degree Awarding Powers were granted by the Privy Council in 1993. The institute was given the power to award its own degrees in August but placed the powers in abeyance, choosing instead to strengthen their links with the University of Wales. In 1996, it was granted University College status within the University of Wales and named the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC).
In 2003, UWIC became a constituent institution of the University of Wales, and considered merging with the University of Glamorgan. 2004 saw the launch of the FE2HE-UWIC Consortium: a partnership between further and higher education institutions established with Barry, Bridgend, Coleg Glan Hafren and Ystrad Mynach further education colleges, with St David's College joining in 2009. Tony Chapman became Senior Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Wales.
In 2005 the university entered into and then ended merger talks with the University of Wales, Newport. A vote of no confidence was passed by the staff in the Vice Chancellor Tony Chapman. London School of Commerce became an Associate College in 2006.
In October 2010, the new building for the Cardiff School of Management opened in Llandaff with the closure of the Colchester Avenue campus. [5] [6] In June 2011, the new Learning Centre on the Llandaff campus was officially opened. Merger talks with Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity St David universities were discussed.
UWIC formally ended its association with the University of Wales, and was renamed Cardiff Metropolitan University in November 2011. [7] The university now awards all of its degrees in its own name. Despite this 'withdrawal' from the University of Wales, the new Cardiff Metropolitan University retains close formal links with it. Until summer 2012 they shared the same Pro Vice Chancellor of Research. Cardiff Metropolitan University briefly continued to supply its staff for the University of Wales to use as moderators for their overseas franchised degrees. [8]
From 2004 to 2007, Cardiff Metropolitan University's Vice Chancellor, Tony Chapman, was the Senior Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Wales, whilst also holding the post of Vice Chancellor at UWIC. [9]
In December 2003, UWIC withdrew from merger talks with the University of Glamorgan, stating that it was not in the 'best interests of UWIC and the students'. In December 2004, UWIC announced merger talks with University of Wales, Newport, but withdrew from merger talks in July 2005 when the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales stated they indicated that any proposed merger must also include the University of Glamorgan. [10]
On 4 July 2011, UWIC pulled out of merger talks with both Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, for a new University of Wales citing the fact that it was 'dissatisfied with a lack of attention to good governance, due process and administration (in the University of Wales)'. [11] This was despite the fact that its own Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Robert Brown, was also one of the most senior figures in the University of Wales, serving as a member of the University of Wales Council. [12] In December 2011 the newly established Cardiff Metropolitan University rejected the plans of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for the future structure of Wales' universities which proposed merging it with the universities of Glamorgan and Newport to form the UK's largest higher education institution. [13]
Pressure on Cardiff Met to merge continued to mount throughout 2011 and 2012, however, in line with Leighton Andrews' controversial Higher Education agenda. This included a plan to create a new super-university of 45,000 students in the Welsh Valleys, involving the University of Glamorgan, the University of Wales, Newport, and Cardiff Metropolitan. Newport had already agreed to merger plans put forward by Glamorgan, although it was described as a 'bilateral arrangement' with neither institution technically taking precedence. This merger plan left open the possibility of a third university becoming involved, which was recognised as a reference to Cardiff Met's position. [14]
Cardiff Metropolitan continued to oppose a merger with its neighbours, citing the lack of a business case, concerns that the new institution (which would be the largest campus university in Britain) would simply be too big to manage properly. [15] In response to their efforts, Leighton Andrews (a strong supporter of the mergers on any terms) threatened to forcibly dissolve Cardiff Metropolitan and hand its assets over to the university formed by Glamorgan and Newport's merger. [16] As of October 2012 [update] , more time had been granted to consider a three-way merger, but Cardiff Metropolitan still demanded more evidence before committing to further talks. [17] Cardiff Metropolitan has described the existing plans as high cost and high risk, and have threatened to refer the matter to spending watchdogs, including the Auditor General. [18] However, Cardiff Metropolitan stressed that it retained an 'open mind' on the subject of a merger, and has ruled out moving to the private sector. [19]
On 6 November 2012, the threat of dissolution was removed when the Education Minister made a statement to the Senedd that he had taken the decision to cancel the previous consultation on the proposed dissolutions because of a request from the chairs of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. [20] [21]
Cardiff Met has two campus – one at Llandaff and the other Cyncoed.
Llandaff is the home of the Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences (Llandaff), Cardiff School of Management, Cardiff School of Technologies and the Cardiff School of Art & Design. The campus is located approximately two miles from the city centre, surrounded by numerous parks, playing fields and the historic village of Llandaff. This campus is also located near Cardiff Met's Plas Gwyn residential campus.
Cyncoed is home to the Cardiff School of Education & Social Policy and the Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences (Cyncoed). It offers on-site accommodation and a new purpose-built Campus Centre. The campus offers sporting facilities, on-site shop, coffee bars and refectory. The campus also acts as the head office for the Students' and Athletics Union.
The Student I-Zone opened in October 2010, to provide information to students from one location.
Cardiff Metropolitan University is made up of five academic schools:
Cardiff School of Art & Design opened in 1865 as the Cardiff School of Art and is the oldest constituent part of the university. From September 2012 onwards CSAD's learning & teaching, research and enterprise activities are focused in thirteen [22] 'subjects': Artist Designer: Maker, Architectural Design and Technology, Architecture, Animation, Ceramics, Fashion Design; Fine Art; Interior Design; Illustration; Textiles; Graphic Communication; Photography and Product Design. The school is housed in a modern building on the Llandaff Campus. The School houses a FabLab and Perceptual Experience Laboratory that are open to both the public and the student body. Workshop facilities for all subject areas are open to students on a cross disciplinary basis and include access to digital and manual processes including 3D scanning, chemical photographic developing, foundry casting and printmaking on and with ceramic, plastics and paper including one Columbia Press which is as old as the School itself.
The school was assessed as number 39 of the top 80 destinations to study art and design in the UK by the Guardian's University Guide in 2010. [23]
The School of Education has over 2000 students and over 100 academic and administrative staff. The School was established in 1951 to provide Initial Teacher Education Training (ITET) provision in Cardiff, and it remains the largest in Wales.[ citation needed ]
In September 2017, the university's Health and Social Care, Social Work and Housing Studies programmes merged into school of education to become the School of Education & Social Policy. [24]
The School of Management is based at the Llandaff Campus. It moved to a new building in October 2010 following the closure of the Colchester Avenue campus. [25] Research activities at the School are organised into five broad themes within business and management and six Research Centres in specific areas.
In September 2017, the Cardiff School of Sport merged with the Cardiff School of Health Sciences creating the Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences. [26] The school is currently split between the university's two campuses, with sports at based at Cyncoed and health sciences at Llandaff; however, the university plans to unite the school at the Cyncoed campus following investment in new facilities. [26]
School of Health Sciences
The School of Health Sciences is made up of 9 areas and provides applied research and consultancy services. These include: the Centre for Biomedical Research, the Centre for Health, Safety & the Environment, the Food Research & Consultancy Unit, the Zero2Five Food Industry Centre, the Wales Centre for Podiatric Studies and the Department of Applied Psychology.
School of Sport
The School of Sport is based at the Cyncoed Campus, Cardiff.
The National Indoor Athletics Centre is an indoor athletics centre housed at the university's Cyncoed campus and was opened in January 2000 by Colin Jackson. The centre offers multi-sport provision and includes a sports injuries clinic and biomechanics laboratory. It is the only designated 'High Performance Centre'[ clarification needed ] in Wales. [27]
The Cardiff School of Technologies was created in 2018.[ citation needed ]
Cardiff Metropolitan University's research includes a number of research centres, offering applied research and consultancy to business and industry, and to local and national government across the UK and abroad. This includes the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre and the National Centre for Product Design & Development Research (PDR).[ citation needed ]
National rankings | |
---|---|
Complete (2025) [28] | 63 |
Guardian (2024) [29] | 100 |
Times / Sunday Times (2024) [30] | 78 |
Global rankings | |
THE (2024) [31] | 1201–1500 |
As of 2016 [update] the university is ranked as the top 'new' university in Wales by the major university guides – The Guardian University Guide 2013, [32] the Complete University Guide 2013 [33] published in The Independent and the Times Good University Guide 2013.[ clarification needed ]
Cardiff Metropolitan University has been independently acclaimed for its academic standards, with an old Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Institutional Report (2008) [34] stating that 'confidence can be placed in the soundness of the institution's current and likely future management of the quality of its programmes and of the academic standards of the associated awards.'
In 2021, The university won the Times Higher Education University of the Year award. [35]
Cardiff Metropolitan University has student accommodation available close to its campuses in Cyncoed and at Plas Gwyn. [36] The university also has agreements with private residences such as Tŷ Pont Haearn in the city centre, which has 179 beds reserved for students and Victoria Hall which is located near to the Llandaff Campus [37] and has 198 beds reserved for students.
This large indoor sporting facility is a venue for many sporting events such as the Welsh Open Taekwon-Do Championships hosted there each year [38] by the United Kingdom Taekwon-Do Association. The UK Open Taekwon-Do Championships is often held there too.
Cardiff Metropolitan University (formerly UWIC) has alumni in the fields of sport, art, education, design, nutrition, business, healthcare and media. [39]
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties and is one of the largest universities in the UK, measured by the size of its student population in 2020/21.
The University of Wales is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first university established in Wales, one of the four countries in the United Kingdom. The university was, prior to the break up of the federation, the second largest university in the UK.
Cardiff University is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed University College, Cardiff in 1972 and merged with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in 1988 to become University of Wales College, Cardiff and then University of Wales, Cardiff in 1996. In 1997 it received degree-awarding powers, but held them in abeyance. It adopted the operating name of Cardiff University in 1999; this became its legal name in 2005, when it became an independent university awarding its own degrees.
In the United Kingdom (UK), a post-1992 university, synonymous with new university or modern university, is a former polytechnic or central institution that was given university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, or an institution that has been granted university status since 1992 without receiving a royal charter. This is used in contrast to "pre-1992" universities.
The University of Glamorgan was a university based in South Wales prior to the merger with University of Wales, Newport, that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with campuses in Trefforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff. The university had four faculties, and was the only university in Wales which had no link with the University of Wales.
Birmingham City University is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in 1992.
The University of Wales, Newport, was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city, which was subsequently closed during July 2016, and a £35 million campus on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre which opened in 2011. In 2012 the university was ranked 111th out of 120 UK universities in the Guardian League Table for university rankings, 105th out of 116 in The Complete University Guide and 104th out of 116 UK universities in the Times Good University Guide.
Cardiff High School is a comprehensive school in the Cyncoed area of Cardiff, Wales. Stephen Jones has been Headteacher since 2011.
The National Indoor Athletics Centre is an indoor track and field athletics sports venue in the Cyncoed area of Cardiff, Wales. It is sited on the Cardiff Metropolitan University Campus and is one of the main facilities used by Welsh Athletics, which organises the Cardiff branch of the Athletics Development Centre at the National Indoor Athletics Centre.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
The Cardiff School of Sport is a department of the Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences at Cardiff Metropolitan University, that provides sport, physical education and dance degrees and courses in Wales and the UK. The school was originally established in c. 1949, however following the merger with the Cardiff School of Health Sciences, in September 2017, it became part of the Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences.
The Food Industry Centre (FIC) at Cardiff Metropolitan University (also known as UWIC) is a Welsh research and education organisation designed to address issues of food safety and food-related health concerns. Its mission also includes supporting the Welsh food industry. The centre, which is part of UWIC's Cardiff School of Health Sciences at the university's Llandaff campus, was launched in 1999. A new facility for the centre opened on 21 April 2009 and was built at a cost of £5,000,000.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is a multi-campus university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, England, and learning centres in Cardiff, Wales, and Birmingham, England.
Cardiff School of Art & Design (CSAD) is one of the five schools that comprise Cardiff Metropolitan University. It originated as the Cardiff School of Art in 1865.
The University of South Wales is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The university is the second largest university in Wales in terms of its student numbers, and offers around 500 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university has three main faculties across its campuses in South Wales.
Coleg y Cymoedd is a further education college located at four main campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Caerphilly, Wales. Coleg y Cymoedd was formed after the merger of Coleg Morgannwg and Ystrad Mynach College in September 2013.
Cara Carmichael Aitchison,, FWLA, FLSW is a British social scientist and university leader. She was President and Vice Chancellor of Cardiff Metropolitan University from 2016 to 2024, and was formerly Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive or Plymouth Marjon University in England (2013–2016). She was previously Dean of Moray House School of Education and Professor in Social and Environmental Justice at Edinburgh University in Scotland (2010–2013) and has an international research profile in the geography and cultural economy of leisure, sport and tourism and in gender studies, cultural identity and social inclusion.
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