The
University of Wales, Lampeter. Come to study in the tranquil, green
hills of Wales.
Lampeter is a small and friendly town, situated in West Wales
on the banks of the river Teifi, surrounded by some of the
most beautiful countryside in Britain. The University of Wales
Lampeter has approximately 1400 students and Lampeter town
has about 3000 inhabitants. This means that you get to know
people very quickly and there is a welcoming, family atmosphere
about the place. Just to prove it, Ceredigion, the county
in which Lampeter is situated, has the lowest
crime rate in the whole of Britain.
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Country-lovers will especially enjoy Lampeter,
with its rolling green hillsides dotted with sheep and its
many walking possibilities. Though very small, Lampeter is
a market town and has surprisingly good
facilities, with three supermarkets, a wide variety of shops
and numerous pubs. In the town you will hear a lot of Welsh
spoken, one of the ancient languages of Europe - but everyone
speaks English too. English and Welsh are both used on public
documents but all courses (except Welsh courses!) are taught
through the medium of English.
Lampeter is part of the federal University of Wales, with
sister institutions in Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Swansea
and other cities and towns in Wales. So, although Lampeter
is one of the smallest university institutions in Britain,
it is also part of one of Britain’s largest universities.
The original St. David’s College at Lampeter, founded
in 1822, is the oldest degree-giving institution in England
and Wales, apart from Oxford and Cambridge. The first building,
still the centre of the campus, was modelled on the Oxbridge
colleges and built in a neogothic style. Since then Lampeter
has expanded considerably and it now has extensive student
accommodation, lecture halls, sports facilities,
libraries, all on the same site and within easy walking distance
of each other. Although Lampeter has all the facilities one
would expect of a twenty-first century university, the campus
retains the serenity of its nineteenth-century origins. From
the academic computing service or the media centre you can
still watch the rare red kite hunting over the Teifi valley.
Like most universities in Europe and North America in the
nineteenth century, Lampeter was founded with a religious
purpose. These days, the university retains an international
reputation in Christian theology but it has diversified in
a multi-cultural and multi-faith world. Islamic Studies was
established at Lampeter a number of years ago, for instance,
and there is a small mosque on campus. At Lampeter, the emphasis
is on choice, individual fulfilment and free-ranging discussion.
Lampeter combines the best of traditional practice with a
progressive attitude to teaching and research in the contemporary
world.
The students are drawn from all over Britain and Ireland,
from other European countries - Sweden, France, Germany, Spain,
Denmark, Greece - and from North America, Malaysia, the Middle
East, Africa, Canada and China.
Here are some of the points international students tell us
they really appreciate about Lampeter:
Students receive individual attention from teaching staff;
most teaching is done in small
groups and staff members are very approachable.
The compact nature of the campus and the town means that
going from one lecture to
the next or heading back home at night does not involve
a long cross-city trek.
There is a range of accommodation available on campus,
including en-suite and self-catering. Lampeter aims to provide
the cheapest student accommodation rates in Great Britain.
For those who require it, some accommodation blocks are
set aside as male-only and
female-only
The University social life is lively, with lots of events
organized by the Students’ Union.
You can explore the idyllic Welsh countryside whenever
you wish: it’s always just outside the door. And, as
one French student remarked: “Don’t forget to
mention that Lampeter is the most welcoming university I
have ever had the pleasure to experience!”
The university’s academic disciplines are grouped in
two Schools: the School of Humanities and the School of Social
Sciences. We don’t teach sciences and we don’t teach
engineering. We teach
the traditional liberal arts, but with an emphasis on their
relevance in the modern world, and we teach the skills required
in modern management. There are also degree courses which
span a number of
disciplines, such as Medieval Studies, Environment and Archaeology,
or Australian Studies.
The majority of subjects can be taken as part of a Single
Honours Degree (one main subject only), a Joint Honours Degree
(where two subjects are studied in parallel), or a Combined
Honours Degree
(three subjects). This allows a very wide range of possibilities
for your studies. You can tailor your degree programme to
your particular interests and requirements.
Students may register full-time or part-time. A number of
degree programmes are also available on a distance-learning
basis. Lampeter offers courses of study leading to the degree
of Bachelor of Arts (three-years full-time study or the equivalent
in part-time study), and shorter courses leading to the Certificate
or Diploma in Higher Education, in areas such as:
American Studies
Anthropology
Archaeology
Australian Studies
Business Management
Chinese Studies
Classics
English Literature
Enviromental Management
Film and Media
History
IT
Medieval Studies
Philosophy
Theology, Religious & Islamic Studies
Victorian Studies
Welsh Studies
There is also a lively graduate teaching programme across
the range of disciplines, leading to the degrees of Master
of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy.
