University of Essex

The University of Essex is a public research university that is located in Essex, England. It is well-known for its world-leading academics in an environment that is supportive and intensively dedicated to research. It believes that students must be equipped with curiosity, braveness, and boldness. The university has also been rated Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) of 2017 and has been ranked in the top 25 best universities for the quality of its research work by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021. The university is focused on two important goals they believe to achieve in the future, which is: Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in research.

The University of Essex is ranked as the 22nd worldwide university for global outlook in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021. It has also been ranked in the top 50 for social sciences, and politics, and sociology, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019, and the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021. The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate study levels for subjects such as Humanities; Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies; Law; Philosophy; Art History; Life Sciences; Mathematical Sciences; Psychology; Computer Science & Electronic Engineering; Health & Social Care; Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Studies; Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies; Business; Politics; Language & Linguistics; and Sociology.

The University of Essex originates back to the year 1964 with only 122 foundation students. It grew quickly over the following decades with the number of enrolments increasing up to 100,000 from backgrounds all over 140 countries. Now, it offers education on three campuses: Colchester Campus, Southend Campus, and Loughton Campus.

• The university has been ranked in the top 30 universities in the UK according to the Complete University Guide 2022.
• The university’s reputation has achieved a lot in the world of academics and has also been awarded as the University of the Year by the Times Higher Education Awards of 2018.
• The quality of research that the university has been providing is very high and the university has been ranked as the 25th best university in the UK for research quality by the Times Good University Guide of 2019.
• The government’s Training Excellence Framework (TEF) has given the university a gold rating for teaching excellence.
• The university offers its students opportunities to study, work, or volunteer at its partnered institutions worldwide. This is a great way for students who are interested in traveling to another country for employment or further studies to gain some experience and understand new cultures beforehand.

Several degrees offered by the university have placement options for a year which will most probably happen on the third year before commencing the final year of the degree. Paid internships are also available at all times but usually allow students 20 hours of work time during academic sessions and 40 hours during vacations. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) gives students a chance to take up a paid research experience on-campus while they study. Some students can even be selected to be research assistants and experience first-hand knowledge from professionals.

Some of the notable alumni are:

• David Yates, an English film director who has hugely been part of films, short films, and television productions. His best-known work in film directing is the later four films of the Harry Potter series as well as the first two of prequel series.
• Priti Patel, a British politician who has been currently serving as the Home Secretary since 2019. Previously, she was the Secretary of State for the International Development for a year (2016 – 2017). Before that, she was a Member of Parliament for Witham since the year 2010.

The facilities that the university has to offer are found within the following:

Art and culture - 

The Art exchange, the Lakeside Theatre, Escala, SubZero, and Family wall

Sport & fitness –

Gym & fitness classes, Green outdoor area, Essex sports arena, spaces for kite-surfing and swimming

Study facilities –

Libraries, The Forum, Group study spaces, the Silerrad Student Centre, Creative studios, IT laboratories, Childcare, STEM Centre, Robotics, Dental, Health, Language, Sports therapy clinic, and more

Religion & faith –

Faith Centre

Accommodation –

Studios, single en-suite rooms, retro towers, and townhouses.

The university also offers a lot of services to assist its students. Some of these are:

• Skills for Success – Assistance with identifying strengths, capabilities, and talents, and supporting students through resources, classes, networks, and research for development and improvement of their writing, studying, language, problem-solving, and digital skills.
• Careers Service – Assistance with supporting students with information for work experience, CV, interviews, workshops, and work opportunities
• Student Support – Assistance with finances, health & wellbeing, disability, and healthcare.