Manchester United Season Tickets at UCLan FoC!

Do we have a treat in store for our 2014/15 cohort!

This year we have three season tickets for Manchester United football games.  Students will be able to see their favourite Premiership players in action at Old Trafford.

A little good work certainly deserves a reward so we hope our students enjoy the tickets as much as we've been enjoying them before they arrive.

Satisfied Students Give Thumbs Up to UCLan

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has maintained a high level of student satisfaction for the second year in a row with nearly eight-and-a-half out of ten students saying they are happy with the quality of their overall educational experience.

The results of the latest National Student Survey have been released today, 12 August, and show that UCLan has retained an overall satisfaction rating of 84%.

A range of academic areas have seen an increase in satisfaction over the last year with learning resources now at 90% and up 2% from 2013, academic support is also up 2% to 82% and personal development has risen to 85% from 84% last year. The University is also ranked 26 out of 159 for its assessment and feedback.

UCLan has also seen three subject areas ranked in the top ten for overall satisfaction; general engineering is second in the country out of 17, marketing is fifth out of 61 and imaginative writing is eighth out of 35. A wide range of other subject areas including business studies, forensic and archaeological science and sports science achieved high levels of satisfaction with 11 ranking in the top 20 nationally.

You can read the full article on UCLan's news page here; http://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/nss_2014.php

UFP Art

Our Art students have clearly been busy this year.

Students have the opportunity to progress through either a Creative or Technical Art course in order to develop their knowledge, skills and techniques in preparation for their chosen future Art based degree.

History of Art is integrated into both courses and students have the opportunity to progress onto a wide variety of undergraduate degrees.  This year we have had students going onto BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion with Styling, BA (Hons) Interior Design, BA (Hons) Graphic Design, BSc (Hons) Architecture, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, BA (Hons) Animation, BA (Hons) Fine Art and BA (Hons) Games Design - to name but a few!

Topics included natural forms, pop art, recycled materials and other cultures and students adapted the topics to meet their discipline.

Take a look at a just a few of finished pieces;

Queen's Award for Cambridge Education Group

UCLan FoundationCampus teachers, Christine and William, at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge with the award (the glass bowl) for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise given to Cambridge Education Group (CEG) for outstanding contribution to International Trade.

UCLan FoC is one of a number of university-based centres run by Cambridge Education Group, along with sister companies CATS College and Stafford House Study Holidays.

The bowl was presented to Fergus Brownlee, CEG's CEO, by the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Hugh Duberly.  It was signed by both the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Congratulations to all involved in achieving this award which is great recognition for the work of CEG's Senior Management Team and all of the staff.  A fantastic day was had by all.

BAE Systems Industry Day

Omani students studying at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) yesterday attended an Insight Day at BAE Systems’ Military Air facility at Warton in the North West of England. 

Insight Days are a unique opportunity for students to visit BAE Systems to explore and learn how international organisations operate, in order to broaden their commercial understanding.

The twelve students, who are studying Engineering, Computing, Business and Law at UCLan, were given the opportunity to spend the day with senior executives from BAE Systems to explore the world of work, whilst learning about the company and its history in Oman. 

Focused talks from BAE Systems’ executives on engineering, law and aircrew equipment were accompanied by visits to the Eurofighter Typhoon final assembly line and the simulator.

Sir Simon Bryant KCB, CBE, Vice President (Oman), BAE Systems, commented: “We are delighted to have hosted the Omani students at Warton, the home of Eurofighter Typhoon.  We were keen to give them an insight into the way we work but, more importantly, relate it back to their learning. 

“BAE Systems relationship with Oman goes back many years and with both Hawk and Eurofighter Typhoon coming into service in Oman before the end of the decade, we look forward to strengthening our ties even further, providing both education and training for young Omanis to support that programme.”

Shadhan Hamood Ali Al-Rashdi, studying Mechanical Engineering, was delighted with the visit: “The Insight Day at BAE Systems gave us an excellent opportunity to learn more about how an organisation works, particularly from an engineering and legal point of view, both of which are studied by my colleagues and me.  As an engineering student, I found the assembly line for Eurofighter Typhoon, which will be in Oman in the not too distant future, particularly was extremely interesting and we were amazed to think those aircraft will fly across the jebels of Oman.”

In December 2012 Oman purchased 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers from BAE Systems.  The first Hawk aircraft will be delivered to Oman in 2017.

Chemistry Practicals

One of the big benefits to studying a foundation programme is having the opportunity to use the University's facilities before joining the degree programme.  Students studying science subjects with us use UCLan's laboratories during the foundation year as part of assessed practical work.

Here are just a few pictures of our latest Chemsitry practical experiment;

Calling all aspiring journalists!

''UCLan Magazine Journalism Scores Hat-Trick;

For the third year running the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has scooped the Oscars of the magazine industry after a graduate won the coveted prize at the Professional Publishers Association awards.

This year the Most Promising Student (undergraduate) award was won by Andy Biddulph for the work he produced while studying on the BA (Hons) Journalism magazine course under the guidance of Course Leader Cathy Darby. He graduated last year and is now working as a freelance music journalist for Rock Sound and a range of other titles.

This hat-trick means only UCLan has won this award since its launch three years ago.

Andy, who beat two other nominees from Bournemouth University, said: “It was nice to be rewarded for all of the time and effort I've put in over the past year, and the fact that a UCLan student has won this award three years running is an indicator of just how valuable UCLan's magazine journalism route and Cathy Darby's expertise can be.”

Catherine, who was Andy’s module tutor, rejoiced at Andy’s triumph. She said: “I was so pleased that my student Andy entered the competition as winning this award gives a wider platform to his undoubted talent and engaging writing style. I am sure his freelance career can only benefit from such an accolade from industry experts. And, personally, I am thrilled that UCLan magazine students have secured the remarkable achievement of being the best in the UK for the third year running.”

Guests at the industry’s prestigious event, which was held in London earlier this week, were told: “The judges were impressed by the consistently excellent standard of Andy's work. They found his writing captivating, despite having little or no knowledge around the subject areas themselves. Andy is an excellent storyteller who has developed his own voice in a very short amount of time. A very talented writer, said one judge, who takes on big challenges with real confidence, resulting in poignant, mature pieces way beyond his years.”''

Congratulations to both Andy and UCLan for their success.  If you are interested in studying a foundation coursse leading to any of UCLan's Journalism degrees visit www.foundationcampus.com/uclan for more information.