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TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University is located across three campuses in Staffordshire. The main one is in Stoke-on-Trent with two others in Stafford & Lichfield. The university was created in 1992 out of the Staffordshire Polytechnic.

Campuses

Stoke-On-Trent

The main campus is in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, and primarily offers law, business, sciences, applied computing, arts, design and media production courses. these are split into two areas, one on College Road, and the other (which is more modern looking) on Leek Road.

Stafford

The Beaconside campus in the town of Stafford mainly offers engineering, technology and computing courses, together with the teaching of some business courses and also nursing on the campus. The Beaconside campus consists of the huge Octagon building, housing the Computing Sciences and extensive computer facilities, the JCB Schools Centre, The Beacon Building for Engineering, the new Ruxton Technologies Centre (named after the previous Dean of School, Professor Tom Ruxton) for computer games design, music, film, design technology, digital film, 3D animation, automotive, aeronautic and sports technology and a new television studio centre opened by the H. M. The Queen on April 1st, 2006 as part of the University's commitment to media technology, in particular Film Production Technology and associated courses.

Nursing courses are taught just around the corner from Beaconside on Blackheath Lane following the integration into the University in 1995 of the Shropshire and Staffordshire College of Nursing and Midwifery, which also has bases in Shrewsbury, Telford and Oswestry.

Lichfield

In 1998, in partnership with Tamworth and Lichfield College, the University opened a newly built campus in Lichfield quite near Lichfield City railway station.

Shrewsbury

Facilities

For eating out and socialising there is the Ember Lounge on the College Road campus and the LRV (Leek Road Venue) on Leek Road, which offers various student nights.

Libraries

The University has several large libraries including the Thompson Library on College road and the Law Library on Leek road at the Stoke campus. Stafford's Library is called the Nelson Library. There's almost library services at Lichfield and Shrewsbury. The Thompson is the largest of the libraries and has a wide range of books available to students to help them in their studies, with books avaliable for all study areas. As well as books, periodicals and journals the libraries offer lots of PCs & Macs for students to use; and vast collections of CD's & DVDs for students to borrow. They open at 8am and close at 3am.

IT and Computing

The majority of the IT/Computing courses are situated on the Stafford campus. Many computers are avaliable at Libraries on campus, and all faculities have computer facilities. Multi-function printers have been introduced to both campuses to allow students to print, copy and fax. These also allow students to pick up work from any printer.

Airnet is avaliable for students with wireless internet facilities on their computers in both Ember Lounge and LRV, the Ashley Lecture Theatres on Leek Road campus and at other areas on the Stoke campuses. Airnet operates a good to excellent in Ember Lounge, LRV and in the Ashley lecture Theatres, with an average signal in the area between the lecture theatres. At the Stafford campus, Airnet is available in the in the Lounge SU Bar, Dolcé Vita Cafe and in the main concourse of the octagon. The Red, Blue & Green Lecture Threatres in the Octagon as well as the Tom Ruxton Technology Centre Lecture Threatre (F14) all have very strong Airnet signal for use during lectures.

Sports

The University has large playing fields with many pitches for Soccer, Rugby, Hockey and Lacrosse, and is well known for its sport facilities. The Stoke campus features many all weather five-a-side football courts.

Also in Stoke there is the Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre, which features a fully functional sports hall for indoor sports. The Centre also has a large gym and solarium which students can use at a subsidised rate. The Stafford Campus has The Beaconside Sports Centre, which features a very similiar range of facilities to those on offer at the Stoke Campus.

The University has many sports teams which feature in the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) leagues and competitions in the Midlands.

The American Football team have been particularly successful in recent years. The University also holds a Varsity event with Keele University each April. Staffs won 3-2 in the most recent competition. There is also a partnership with Keele that allows students to try out sports not offered at their respective university.

Welfare

The Counselling and Disability Services are situated at Winton Square, opposite the train station. Students are also avaliable to get advice from the Student Advice Centres (SAC) situated above the Ember Lounge in Stoke. The SAC can advise on all aspects of student life, from money to health issues. There is also the Student Information Centre on the first floor of Flaxman building, also offering advice to students about academic issues. Students are also assigned a personal tutor for their time at Staffordshire University and their personal tutor can advise about issues. Peer Mentors are also avaliable to students via email, this is 2nd and 3rd year students who are assigned to new students and advise on all issues at University from accommodation to going out and local venues.

At Stafford this service is situated on the Ground Floor in the Beacon Building, Beaconside. The Student's Union also arranges many campaigns for students to educate about health and welfare. Recent campaigns include free condoms and fruit for Healthcare and welfare week, and a week on Student Security with reps stickering items which have been left unattended.

Healthcare

The Stoke campus GP Surgery is situated in Federation House, and is shown to all students on campus tours when they arrive at Uni. The nearest Pharmacy to the Stoke Campus is at Sainsburys, open long hours, or there is an indepentdant pharmacy in Stoke. All students are encouraged to sign up to for a GP when they move into Halls, and this takes place when they arrive to collect their keys. The Stafford Campus has an On Site GP Surgery and pharmacy. All new students can register when they arrive on campus. This Beaconside Surgery is also open to the General Public.

Shops

Each of the Stoke Campus sites have a shop, Leek Road shop and College Road shop, both open 8am til 6pm on weekdays, with the Leek Road Shop open on weekends as this is where the accommodation is. Around the Uni, there are many small newsagent-type shops, selling items such as food and alcohol. There is a Bargain Booze situated about a 30 metre walk from the College Road campus on College Road.

The main Supermarket in Stoke is Sainsburys, open from 6am to 10pm weekdays and saturdays, and open 10am til 4pm on sundays. Situated just past Sainsburys there is Lidi. 15 mins walk from Leek Road, on Victoria Road there is a Netto, and further down Victoria Road there is an Aldi. Tesco is situated in Hanley, about 5 mins from the Potteries Centre, or alternatively there is a large Tesco Extra at Longton. Morrisons is situated on Festival Park, a 15 minute walk from Hanley, or a 5-10 bus ride from Hanley.

The Closest Supermarket to the Stafford Campus is ASDA, which is a 20 minute walk from the halls; Tesco, Sainsburys & Lidl are all located within a 30 min or on a bus route. Bargain Booze is the nearest off-licence and is a 5 min walk from the campus down West Road; this is located next to a Co-Op Mini Supermarket.

Restaurants

The main restaurants for the Stoke Campus are situated on Festival Park, which include a Pizza Hut and Frankie and Benny's. There are also a number of independent restaurants in Hanley, although there are not many in Stoke. There are many takeaway restaurants near to Uni, including Brunchies and Sweet and Spice located a 30 second walk from Leek Road. There are also many restaurants located on College Road where many students live.

Banks

There aren't any Bank branches on campus at Staffordshire University but there is one free to use ATM at the Stafford campus located by the main entrance to the Beacon Building, and one on each of the Stoke Campuses, in locations such as by the SU Shop near the LRV at the Leek Road site, and by the SU Shop at the College Road Site. As well as these, inside the SU Venues there is at least one cash machine, however these are not free to use and currently charge £1.50 (or more) per transaction.

Stafford town centre itself has a large number of branches, including Alliance & Leicster, Natwest, HSBC, Barclays, Halifax, Nationwide, and quite a few more. There certainly isn't a lack of ATMs.

Located in Federation House near the Stoke Campus, there is a branch of Natwest where students are able to deposit money. Most of the large Banks, such as HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds TSB are situated in Hanley, although there is a small HSBC, Barclays and Natwest in Stoke town centre.

Transport

The main transport link between the Stoke & Stafford Campus's is via a Bus run by BakerBus; This X1 service runs hourly with a journey time of about 50 minutes to an hour. Alternatively the trains are a faster option; whilst the bus services drops passengers off Campus to Campus, the Stafford train station is about 15 minutes walk from the campus. The Stoke Station lies inbetween the College Road and Leek Road campuses, about 2 minute walk from each. Services into Stoke include the 23, 23A, 24 and 25 FirstBus services which run directly into Hanley, and students are able to get a Student Single for £1.20, although a cheaper option is to get a return for £2.20. As most facilities are near to the Stoke Campus a car is not needed.

Careers service

This is situated in the Thompson Library building alongside the Workbank. There are appointments offered with qualified career advisors as well as a library of careers information and computer access. The Careers and Emploability service offers information and guidance on career oppotunites and employment during and after your studies. Advisors can discuss anything from volunteering overseas, mock interviews, and finding a job whilst studying at Uni. There is also an e-guidance service if you are unable to see an advisor.

Part-time jobs

There are various jobs available within the student union ranging from bar work, answering telephones and general admin work. Jobs with the student union are capped at 16 Hours a week so as to not get in the way of your studies. The university also employes dozens of student amasadors each year which help out with open days, and represent the university at various functions. There is also the Workbank job service situated in the Thompson Library building on the College Road campus. At the Stafford Campus Rouge Recruitment are based in the Business Villiage and offer a variety of part time work for students.

Local job opportunites range from working in bars, Shops, and Supermarkets. There are also several agencies that can help arrange work for students. Many students also comute about 45 minutes away and work at the Alton Towers Resort; doing jobs such as Ride Operators; Life Guards and Customer Experience Hosts.

Religious facilities

There is a Multi-Faith Chaplaincy house situated on the College Road campus at Stoke, just behind the Ember Lounge, as well as a Christian Society which meets on Wednesdays. On the Stafford campus the Chaplaincy is situated on the Ground Floor 'Block D' in the Beacon Building, Beaconside.

Staffordshire Discussions

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Social

Bars, Pubs and clubs

Staffordshire University has four student bars - two on each site.

The Stafford campus has Legends & Lounge, previously Sleepers, while Stoke has the large LRV (Leek Road Venue) and the Ember Lounge, based on the College Road site.

The LRV and Legends both have many featured nights. Such as Rock Night (Saturdays nights) and Project Friday at Legends and Gobble (Wednesday nights) and Super Friday at the LRV. All of which are very popular with lots of games and fun to be had.

The other venues have hosted Comedy nights and open DJ sets.

Outside of the campus there are several pubs that operate for the use of students - with chains such as Wetherspoons, Scream operating pubs.

In Stoke there is a vast array of popular night-time venues in the city centre (Hanley) which features many bars and clubs, such as Walkabout, Chicago Rock, Liquid, Flares and Revolution.

There are also venues such as the Sugarmill, The Stage Door, Coco's, Revolution and The Underground in Hanley and The Rigger in Newcastle for rock/metal fans.

Also within close range are the many bars of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Traditional student nights in Hanley are Mondays, Stafford on Tuesday and in Newcastle are Wednesdays.

Events

Clubs and societies

There are many different societies and sports groups at Staffordshire, ranging from Football, Lacrosse, Drama society, Psychology society and Hockey, amongst others. Staffordshire also has an innovative Cowboy club, which allows students to try horse riding. We also have a pole dancing society, and oppotunites are avaliable for students to write for the student newspaper GK (Get Knotted) or host shows on GKRadio. More information can be found on the Staffordshire University Student's Union www.staffsunion.com

Accommodation

Accommodation policy

To be guaranteed accommodation you need to hold a firm offer of a place, be heading in to your first year at uni and apply by the set deadline (normally the end of June). You're also told to apply if you don't meet all these points, even after the deadline as there is a reasonable chance you could still get a place.

Despite the early deadline for applying, your application will be processed until you have an unconditional offer - so after results day. Make sure you're around to receive a reply in the few weeks after results day as you'll only have 7 days in which to confirm you'll take the room. If you don't do this you'll lose the room.

Facilities

There are two types of accommodation available at Staffordshire.

Firstly the En-Suite Halls, which are smaller flats in size and accommodate around 6-8 students in Stoke and 3-5 in Stafford.

Secondly there are the shared bathroom options. These flats house around 14 students in Stoke and 3-6 in Stafford.

Each set of halls comes with a cooker and fridges, freezers and fridges.

Student also receive a welcome pack with cutlery, duvet covers etc.

The halls are basic but at the same time very affordable and all that you need for your time at Staffs.

Phone & Internet

All on-campus accomodation have free internet provided; this service is called ResNet and you can register one MAC address per room. The connection is 6.5mbps up and down. Each room also has a keycome phone that enables free internal calls between all rooms on the same campus. Free intercampus communication via keycom isnt possible. The geographic numbers for the rooms are Stoke = 01782 76 xxxx and Stafford is 01785 60 xxxx. Where xxxx is replaced by the 4 digit extention number listed on your phone socket.

Residences

Each of the Halls of Residence on the Stoke campus are situation on the Leek Road site and each is named after famous Pottery works which originated from the region, such as Coalport, Spode, Wedgwood, Minton, Royal Doulton. Clarice Cliff is en-suite accommodation, made of of 7 small halls of about 30 students over 3 floors, named after famous female Potters, such as Jessie Van Hallen, Rachel Bishop and Star Wedgwood. On the Stoke campus, there are also 33 mini-houses, each housing upto 6 people. Away from campus, within a 10 minute walk from the campuses, there are other University owned accommodation, rented to 2 years and post-grad students, and 1st year students who have requested this. Each hall has large car parks, which are free for students to use.

The On-Campus Halls of Residence at the Stafford campus is called Stafford Court; and has 264 en suite single study bedrooms and 290 single study bedrooms with shared facilities. Grouped in flats of between three and seven study bedrooms, sharing catering facilities, the accommodation includes 19 specially adapted rooms for disabled students. The complex is divided into houses which are named after local villages – Norbury, Ranton, Shugborough, Weston Brocton, Derrington (Phase one), Eccleshall, Gnosall, Haughton, Knightley, Levedale, Milwich (Phase Two), . An additional 51 single study bedrooms are provided in Yarlet, a traditional Hall of Residence on three floors, each accommodating 17 residents who share a kitchen, dining room and four shower rooms.

The University prides itself on low accommodation costs which range from around £54-£85 a week, inclusive of bills, and also prides itself on assuring accommodation for all 1st year students.

Most of the accommodation has shared bathrooms, however Clarice Cliffe and Phase One of Stafford Court provides students with en-suite bathrooms.

They are all extremely close to both teaching, sporting and Union venues.

Private sector

Private sector housing in Stoke-on-Trent is very affordable with prices ranging from £38-£55 a week (exclusive of bills) for basic terraced houses.

The Shelton area of Stoke is where many students choose to live after their first year. The area has many houses which are used by students - each fairly big in size.

Although the area may appear slightly run down and shabby most of the private accommodation is very good and provides students with good access to the University facilities. The closeness of Shelton to the university have turned into what is effectively a mini-student village.

Alternatively there is also the popular College Court Halls - which are run University run and operate in a similar way to halls. The Halls are situated opposite to Hanley Park and are within close range to the University. The Halls are also newer than most accommodation in the area and also provides students with a large common room with SKY television access. However the cost is much higher than the houses in Shelton.

Student union

Staffordshire University Students' Union (SUSU) aims to represent students at Staffordshire University, England. SUSU is run by five Sabbatical Officers and four part time Executive Committee Officers, all of whom are held to account by a Union Council.

The student newspaper published each term is called GK News, formerly known as Get Knotted. The new radio station broadcasts on the internet and is called GK Radio.

Prices

£1.80 - Pints of Strongbow, Fosters, Carlsberg. £2 - Double Vodka Shark £1.50 - VK Fruits £1 - Pint of Coke/Lemonade. £1 - Shots of Smirnoff, Whiskey and Gin.

Environment

Architecture

Local area

Behind the stoke campus there is a large nature reserve where students and members of the public are encourage to explore and chill out; taking in the beauty of the environment.

Teaching quality

In 2006 the teaching was rated 4 out 5 in the national student survey. Entry requirements are typically 200 to 300 UCAS points.

Applying to Staffordshire

Applications to Staffordshire University are accepted through UCAS.

Notable Alumni

Fatmir Besimi, Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Macedonia

Claire Curtis-Thomas MP

Jim Davies, Guitarist for The Prodigy and Pitchshifter.

Emma Jones, Tabloid journalist, and former editor of Smash Hits magazine

David Leach, Studio potter

Ian McMillan, Poet and broadcaster

Joanna Spear, Director of the Security Policy Studies Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

John Mayock, Athlete and olympian.

Tom Smith, Lead Singer for Editors (who met and formed whilst studying Music Technology at Staffordshire University)

Andrew Triggs-Hodge, Olympic Oarsman

Chris Urbanowicz Lead Guitarist for Editors (who met and formed whilst studying Music Technology at Staffordshire University)

Other Staffordshire Articles

Why not read these other Staffordshire Articles?

Links

• Our Staffordshire Discussion Forum
• Staffordshire University Homepage
• A-Z of Universities