History, Affiliations and Rankings
Established in 1883, Cardiff University was formerly known as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. In 1997, the university started granting degrees to the students, and in 1988 it merged with the renowned university, the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology. The university got its name as Cardiff University in 2005. The university is affiliated with Russell Group, European University Association (EUA), Universities UK and Great Western 4(GW4). The Association accredits the university's business school to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). Cardiff University was ranked as one of the world's top 151 Universities by the QS World University Rankings 2022. In the other rankings released by QS, the university holds #=28 in the QS World University Rankings by Subjects and #191-200 in the category of graduate employability. As per THE World University Rankings 2022 and US News Best Global Universities Rankings 2022 rank the university at #189 and #166. The university is ranked #25 and #38 in the Complete University Guide's University League Tables 2022 and the Guardian's top UK universities 2022 - rankings, respectively.
Campus, Courses and Infrastructure
Cardiff University has 26 academic schools, further categorized into three colleges, including the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. The university offers more than 300 undergraduate courses and over 200 master's degrees, diplomas and certificates. Cardiff University has two large innovative campuses. These campuses are located at Cathays Park and Heath Park. It is known that the Cathays Park campus is home to 22 out of 26 academic schools and has an ongoing £200m investment in state-of-the-art facilities, libraries, and other facilities. The majority of the university's Academic Schools are located on the Cathays Park campus. It's an attractive environment to study, especially for international students, with broad tree-lined streets and exquisite Portland stone buildings. Modern amenities, such as new labs, lecture theatres, and IT offices, combined with the palpable sense of heritage. Heath Park is home to healthcare-related courses (with the exception of pharmacy and optometry). It's about a mile from the city centre and is surrounded by 100 acres of parkland and sports grounds. The Academic Schools of the university share the property with the University Hospital of Wales, one of the UK's major hospitals. Each school is equipped with its unique set of specialised resources and facilities. Study areas and IT facilities are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lecture theatres, seminar rooms, libraries and operating theatres are also on campus.
Accomplishments and Alumni
The Guardian mentioned Cardiff University in its University Guide 2016 as "The university is as confident and forward-looking as the city it's located in, and has an excellent reputation for the quality of its teaching and research". The university aims to be a world-leading, research-excellent, educationally outstanding university, driven by creativity and curiosity, fulfilling its social, cultural and economic obligations to Cardiff, Wales, the UK and the world. The Down's Syndrome Vision Research Unit at Cardiff University is a world leader in the study and treatment of vision problems in children with Down's syndrome. One of the Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education was given to it in 2017. The university also includes professors/researchers that have won Noble Prize in their respective fields of study. In 1988, Professor Robert Huber was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre. Professor Sir Martin Evans of the School of Biosciences was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2007 for his groundbreaking work on embryonic stem cells and mammalian DNA recombination. Over the years, the university has made a special place for itself. It now attracts a large number of international admissions every year. Additionally, it also has an extensive list of alumni. Some of the notable names include - Roy Jenkins, Gutto Harri and Huw Edwards.
Student Diversity and Visiting Companies
Currently, the university has 28,269 students, out of which around 8,000+ are international students. Every year, a significant proportion of learners becomes a part of university from across the globe. Cardiff has over 200 sports clubs and societies offering something for everyone. The university also ensures the development of transferable and industry-based skills to ensure placement opportunities for its outgoing students. According to a survey report by HESA Destinations of Leavers, 95.7% of Cardiff graduates gain employment to further study shortly after graduating. 78% of graduates of this prestigious university obtain graduate-level employment.
