Bath Spa University


Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath and London, as well as a site at Corsham Court in Wiltshire.
The institution gained full university status in August 2005, having been previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College.

History

The institution can trace its roots back to the foundation of the Bath School of Art in 1852, following the impact of The Great Exhibition of 1851.
In 1946, Bath Teacher Training College was opened on the Newton Park campus, as part of the post-war initiatives to fill wartime teaching shortages. It was a women's college offering two year courses, under the Principal Mary Dawson. The present institution was formed in 1975 as Bath College of Higher Education by the merger of Bath Teacher Training College and Bath College of Domestic Science. In 1983 Bath Academy of Art also merged into the college.
In 1992, the college was granted degree-awarding powers and in 1997 adopted the name Bath Spa University College. In March 2005 the institution was granted university status, becoming Bath Spa University in August 2005.
In 2013, the university was the UK's sixth-largest provider of teacher education.

Campuses

Newton Park, Bath

The Newton Park campus, to the west of Bath near the village of Newton St Loe, is the largest of the university's three main campuses. It is here that courses from all schools are taught, with the exception of art and design. The campus is in Newton Park, in grounds designed by English landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown and leased from the Duchy of Cornwall.
The campus has buildings from a mixture of ages. These include the Grade I listed Main House built between 1762 and 1765 by Stiff Leadbetter for Joseph Langton MP; the remnants of the 14th-century Newton St Loe Castle, a scheduled monument also with Grade I listed status; and Grade II* listed stable buildings, gardens and a walled garden.
It is the university's only campus to have student accommodation on site, and is also home to the Students' Union. The site has a lake, nature reserve, woodlands and arable farmland. The site underwent extensive development in the 2010s.

'Commons' academic building

In the summer of 2012, work began on the development of a new academic building called "Commons", roughly in the centre of the Newton Park campus. Next to the academic building is an outside amphitheatre, primarily for use by the School of Music and Performing arts. The building was officially opened on 5 June 2014 by film producer Lord Puttnam.

Michael Tippett Centre

The Michael Tippett Centre is the only purpose-built concert hall in Bath. The building has many teaching rooms and spaces, and the hall is used for lectures, mainly by the School of Music and Performing Arts. The hall is also used for exhibitions, musical performances and plays from student performers as well professional acts from around the country.

University Theatre

The University Theatre, completed in 2006, was part of a £5.7m scheme designed by Fielden Clegg Bradley Architects LLP. It consists of a 186-seat auditorium with backstage and technical facilities, and three large teaching studios. The venue is used by the School of Music and Performing Arts for teaching actors, directors, production managers, choreographers and dancers.

Locksbrook, Bath

In October 2015, the university announced that it had submitted proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of the former Herman Miller furniture factory on Locksbrook Road, Bath, about west of Bath city centre. The site would become a new home for Bath School of Art and Design, as the Sion Hill campus did not provide enough academic space. The factory was designed by Nicholas Grimshaw, completed in 1977 and Grade II listed in 2013.
In 2016, the purchase went ahead, and the planning application for the redevelopment was approved by Bath and North East Somerset Council in September 2017. Remodelling and refurbishment was again designed by Grimshaw Architects, and the building was opened as the Locksbrook Campus in October 2019.

Sion Hill, Bath

The Sion Hill campus in the north of Bath, in the Lansdown district, previously housed the Bath School of Art and Design and the majority of art and design courses were taught here before moving to Locksbrook Campus in 2019. It is now home to the university’s education space for its PGCE courses.
Its history extends to the original Bath School of Art which was founded in 1852. One of the earliest Masters of the school was Anthony Carey Stannus, an Irish painter noted for marine scenes, who later helped establish a society which evolved into the Royal Ulster Academy.
Until 2009, the university also owned the nearby Somerset Place. The sale of this listed Georgian crescent was intended to finance a new campus in the city centre. This development, alongside the Dyson School of Design Innovation, did not proceed due to planning issues relating to the chosen riverside site.

Corsham Court, Corsham

At Corsham, about north-east of Bath, the university has since 2008 used buildings attached to Corsham Court, a Grade I listed house which dates back to 1582. Corsham Court Centre is primarily the base for postgraduate research students, who have access to study and meeting spaces, a library, seminar rooms, and research development support. The site also houses the university's Research Support Office, the Graduate College, the Wellcome Trust-funded Disabled Researchers Network, and the university's art collection, managed by the Bath School of Writing, Publishing and Humanities.

Hackney, London

Opened in 2024, the University Centre in London was born out of a longstanding partnership between New City College and Bath Spa University. The jointly operated University Centre, on Hoxton High Street, is home to Bath Spa University London and offers a combination of degree courses with professional development programmes and short courses. The Centre provides flexible studying, inspiring teaching and dynamic learning, reaching students from a broad range of backgrounds and creating new routes to higher education.

Canary Wharf, London

Opened in 2025, Bath Spa University London is in the heart of the City’s financial district and is home to over 2000 adult learners who are studying BSU degrees in Health and Social Care Management, Business and Management and Computing.

Additional teaching sites

The university maintains smaller satellite teaching spaces around Bath for use by students on certain courses, often those that require large amounts of space that are not available at the other campuses.
  • Burdall's Yard, Bath is an Arts Centre for the School of Music and Performing Arts. The centre is used as a teaching, rehearsal and performance space and also hosts cultural events. These have included Party in the City and a UK Songwriting Festival gig with singer/songwriter Eddi Reader.
  • Oldfield Park Theatre Workshops. Located near the city centre, the university’s theatre workshop facilities include carpentry workshop and separate carpentry teaching space, a costume making workshop, prop-making workshop, rehearsal studios, ‘black box’ space with a truss-mounted LED lighting system, breakout spaces, quiet study areas, lecture and seminar rooms and an IT Suite.
  • The Studio at Palace Yard Mews. The Studio provides a space for local micro-businesses, Bath Spa University students, academics, and graduates to work on projects and ideas which focus on creativity and technology. It is also a venue to share learning through regular workshops, events and activities which are open to the wider community.
  • Artswork Media Ltd at Paintworks, Bristol is the university's media production company that is run by media professionals and third year students. It offers training, professional practice and experiential learning for students of various programmes. It provides a production office, edit suites, lighting equipment and video cameras.

    Academic profile

Partnership and collaboration

The university has formed partnerships with a number of regional Further Education Colleges and institutions. Under the partnership, students take the first year of their higher education course in their local college and, if successful, the rest of their course at Bath Spa University. The British and Irish Modern Music Institute campus in Bristol has all of its courses verified by Bath Spa University.
The partners are:
  • Circomedia
  • Bath College
  • City of Bristol College
  • New College, Swindon
  • Weston College
  • Wiltshire College at Trowbridge and Salisbury
  • British and Irish Modern Music Institute in Bristol

    Student life

Student accommodation

The university currently offers accommodation to 2,264 students in several locations around the Bath area, as well as on its main Newton Park campus.

Newton Park Campus

The Newton Park Campus houses 868 students in single, shared and en-suite study bedrooms. The accommodation forms two groups of buildings at either end of the campus, known as Lakeside and Gardens. Bus stops by the library building and Lakeside accommodation service the U5 bus. Both groups of accommodation have access to laundrette facilities. Because of the limited availability of parking, students living on campus are not permitted to bring a car, however bicycle racks and some motorcycle parking spaces are available.
In June 2013, work began on the development of a new "student village" in the main Newton Park campus, known as Gardens, which houses 561 first year students in separate "houses" of up to ten students. Building work was completed during the summer of 2014 in time for the start of the academic year in October. Work on the surrounding landscaping and car parks was completed during early 2015.
Mail services at the university are handled at a building called 'The Vinery', which also contains the estates and management team and is located adjacent to the Students' Union building, and next to the estates and management workshops and garages. The university also has two Amazon Lockers on campus, situated in the Refectory and outside Stanton building.