University of Essex

The University of Essex is one of the UK's leading academic institutions. It has a well established reputation, with researchers and scholars of international distinction, and in recent UK assessments was rated eighth nationally for teaching quality and ninth for research.

There are now around 10,000 students, studying at three campuses across Essex. Academic departments span the humanities, social sciences, science and engineering, and law and management. Essex is the UK's most internationally diverse campus university, with students drawn from 130 countries.

Academic excellence

The Higher Education Council for England assesses each university department for their academic research, with ratings on a scale of 1 to the highest mark of 5-star. In the last Essex assessment Essex re-confirmed its place as the UK's leading university for the social sciences, with Politics top, Sociology joint top, Economics third and Linguistics fourth nationally. The highest proportions of world-leading research at Essex were in Politics and Economics with 45 per cent and 40 per cent respectively classed as 4-star, while 35 per cent of research in Sociology was classed as 4-star.

However, Essex also scored strongly in other fields, featuring in the UK's top ten in half of the 14 subject areas submitted. This included being rated second in the UK for History and Essex Business School (Accounting and Finance subject area), ninth for Art History and tenth for Philosophy.

Studying at Essex

The University of Essex offers a wide range of taught Masters courses and research opportunities. Within the four Faculties, the University has eighteen academic departments. All are strongly student focused in their teaching, providing the resources, facilities and opportunities to empower students to succeed. They are also committed to research and in national research assessments Essex has consistently been placed amongst the top universities in the country, with many departments achieving the highest rating.

• Art History and Theory
• Biological Sciences
• Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, School of
• East 15 Acting School
• Economics
• Essex Business School
• Government
• Health and Human Sciences, School of
• History
• International Academy
• Language and Linguistics
• Law, School of
• Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
• Mathematical Sciences
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Sociology

Most of these departments are large by British standards and all are strongly committed to research. There are also a number of renowned centres and institutes at the University of Essex, including:

• Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents
• Centre for Environment and Society
• Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies
• Human Rights Centre
• Institute for Social and Economic Research

The Colchester Campus is just two miles from the town centre and is set in over 200 acres of beautiful parkland. All teaching buildings can be found on site, along with shops, a well-equipped library, extensive computing laboratories, excellent sporting facilities (including a gym and 40 acres of pitches) and an active Students' Union. There is a theatre with regular professional and student productions, a full programme of musical events and an art gallery that holds regular exhibitions. When taking a break from studies, students can chill out in one of the numerous cafés, relax in one of our four bars or visit the nightclub on campus.

Colchester is the perfect town for students. It has an excellent variety of shops, cafés, bars and restaurants to visit. There is also a multi-screen cinema, theatre, art galleries, museums and further leisure facilities, including a swimming pool.

The Southend Campus offers a purpose-built, high-quality teaching and research environment in the heart of Southend-on-Sea. It combines state-of-the-art teaching facilities, including an IT lab, open study area, rehearsal studios, medical skills lab and Students' Union, with a business hub and retail units. Being located in the town centre means that shops, cafes, transport hubs and other amenities are right on your doorstep. Seven miles of coastline, an array of leisure and cultural activities, and only 50 minutes to London by makes Southend a great destination for postgraduate study.

The Loughton Campus, located near London, is the base for students on many of East 15 Acting School s programmes. East 15 has been training actors for almost 45 years and is one of the UK's most innovative acting schools. The School is international in its outlook, regarding itself as a bridge between the best of British and Continental traditions.

Accommodation

The University of Essex is the 2009 Winner of 'Best University Halls' by the National Student Housing Survey.

The Colchester campus offers modern, single room accommodation, with favourable rents which can be up to half the amount that students would have to pay in London. Rooms are offered to all new overseas graduate students, provided they apply before the deadline. Home and EU students are also eligible for accommodation on a first come - first served basis. All accommodation is networked for access by students' own computers to University systems. In addition, rooms have a telephone service available with free internal calls.

Construction is underway at the Southend campus which will establish residential accommodation at Southend for the beginning of 2010 academic year. The location of the residential accommodation is just a two minute walk from The Gateway Building and is the heart of the town centre.

Location

The Colchester and Southend Campuses are only 50 minutes by train to London and there are excellent road and rail links across the south east. Stansted airport, which offers many budget flights to Europe, is less than an hour away and Harwich ferry port can be reached in 30 minutes from Colchester. The Loughton Campus is just five minutes from the nearest London Underground station, Debden, on the east end of the Central Line.

Visiting the University

The University of Essex is holding a Postgraduate Open Day on Wednesday 10 November 2010.
This runs from 4.30pm to 7.30pm in the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall of the Colchester Campus.

Our Postgraduate Open Day will allow you to:

• Meet academic representatives from all departments to answer subject-specific question
• Speak to staff support services (Graduate Admissions, Student Support, Careers, Accommodation and the Students' Union)
• Take a guided tour of the Colchester Campus with a current Essex student from 4.30pm to 6pm
• Attend range of talks on applying and funding postgraduate study

For further detail and to book your place, please visit the Postgraduate Open Day page on our website.

We welcome visits from prospective postgraduates throughout the year, so if you are unable to join us at the Open Day, please contact us either by telephone: +44 (0)1206 872719 or e-mail: pgadmit@essex.ac.uk.

Faculty-specific Postgraduate Open Days

The University is also holding four faculty-specific postgraduate open days. These run from 5pm to 6.3pm in the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall of the Colchester Campus.

Faculty of Science and Engineering
Wednesday 23 February 2011

The Faculty of Science and Engineering includes the Departments of Biological Sciences; Mathematical Sciences and Psychology, and the Schools of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering and Health and Human Sciences.

Faculty of Social Sciences
Wednesday 2 March 2011

The Faculty of Social Sciences includes the Departments of Economics; Government; Language and Linguistics and Sociology, the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies and the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Faculty of Humanities and Comparative Studies
Wednesday 9 March 2011

The Faculty of Humanities and Comparative Studies includes the Departments of Art History and Theory; History; Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies and Philosophy.

Faculty of Law and Management
Wednesday16 March 2011

The Faculty of Law and Management includes Essex Business School, the School of Law and the Human Rights Centre.

Our faculty-specific postgraduate open days will allow you to:

• Meet academic representatives from departments within your faculty for subject-specific questions
• Speak to staff from Graduate Admissions about applying for study within your faculty
• Find out more about funding opportunities within your faculty
• Take a guided tour of the Colchester Campus with a current Essex student from 4.30pm to 6.00pm

A booking form for the University's postgraduate open day is here

If you would like to visit the University before November, then a campus tour can be organised by e-mailing scl@essex.ac.uk.

If you would like to have an informal discussion about your application, then please contact the relevant school/department directly.

For further details about studying at Essex, please contact us:

Tel: +44 (0)1206 872719
Email: pgadmit@essex.ac.uk