The 1960s generation of universities, which specialises in disciplines ranging from sport to science, is giving the 'Ivy League' institutions a run for their money.
Four decades after earning their Royal Charters, the “baby-boomer” universities have come of age as a modern academic elite. Warwick, York and Bath have risen into higher education’s premier league to challenge the traditional dominance of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and University College London. Such “Ivy League” notables as Bristol, Edinburgh, and King’s College London already trail in their wake. Other upstarts from from the 1960s generation of universities, including Newcastle, Aston and Essex, are also gaining ground.
Warwick marks its 40th anniversary this year with its reputation confirmed as Britain’s top provincial university. It has thrived during the Blair era, with the Prime Minister describing it as “at the cutting edge of what has to happen in the future”. The “what” is a self-confident, entrepreneurial swagger: technologically minded, forward-looking, commercial and increasingly self-funding. That spirit has taken it from a small collection of buildings plonked on a 720-acre site three miles south of Coventry in 1964 to a place among the top five universities in The Times rankings.
While other universities were over-reaching themselves by trying to teach all the major disciplines, Warwick ignored expensive subjects such as dentistry and veterinary science to concentrate on business, science and engineering. Overall, Warwick excels in both teaching and research. More than 70 per cent of its subjects are rated among the best taught in the country, while only Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics have a higher score in the latest research ratings, with all but one subject at Warwick rated internationally outstanding.
It has also been unfashionably interested in the Government’s two-year vocational foundation degrees, winning even more Blair plaudits by providing courses for classroom assistants and community workers.
Blair returned the favour by visiting the campus at the start of the 2001 election campaign for a question-and-answer session with industrialists, and by recommending that Bill Clinton visit the university on the last stop of his last overseas tour as President.
“It is one of Britain’s newest and finest research universities, singled out by Prime Minister Blair as a model of academic excellence and independence from the Government,” said Bill Clinton.
The university was similarly in tune with government thinking when it set up its summer school for gifted and talented pupils two years ago, running 900 places for bright youngsters at five partner universities. Scouts have toured the country’s schools, looking for “neglected geniuses” — particularly from deprived backgrounds — who can be coached to bring the best out of them.
Warwick’s business school has also shown its flair for eye-catching innovation by starting a programme to train future football managers. Mark Hughes, the Wales manager, is among those to have taken part.
No university can better York’s record for teaching quality, with almost half of subjects assessed by inspectors awarded perfect scores. Founded in 1963 with just 200 undergraduates, it has grown to accommodate nearly 10,000 students and has ambitious expansion plans for a further 5,400.
Like its rival and contemporary Warwick, York has concentrated on producing strong departments rather than spreading its efforts too thinly. Unfashionably, it concentrated on science and technology subjects in expanding its entry in the 1990s, in part to correct a previous imbalance with the arts.
Its main campus is set in 200 acres of parkland and the university is organised along collegiate lines, with students joining one of eight colleges, which combine academic and social roles. Former students include the erstwhile BBC Director-General Greg Dyke and the comedian Harry Enfield.
Bath, whose students are often dismissed as country cousins by the grander undergraduates at Bristol, pips its neighbour in the rankings for the third successive year. It received its Royal Charter in the same year as Loughborough and has a similar reputation for outstanding sports facilities, with an international-standard swimming pool, an indoor running track and even a bobsleigh push-start track.
Bristol, fourth in 2001, sinks out of the top ten for the first time since 1997. Applications this year have also fallen by 2,000, though this will be of little comfort to the ten candidates who continue to chase each available place. |
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