The University of East Anglia (UEA) is an internationally renowned university based in a campus that provides top quality academic, social and cultural facilities to over 13,000 students.
UEA is one of Britain’s premier research and teaching universities and is committed to achieving international standards of excellence. The quality of its research work has earned it a reputation as one of the top research universities in the UK. Eleven of their research units were graded internationally excellent by achieving a grade of 5, 5*or Double 5* in the last Government-sponsored Research Assessment Exercise, with 89 per cent of academic staff submitted working in units rated as being internationally or nationally excellent.
UEA is ranked amongst the top three for student satisfaction according to the first National Student Survey and in the top 20 in the UK by the Sunday Times. It also came top of the most recent research effectiveness league table published by Research Fortnight.
Norwich, Norfolk
University of East Anglia
Location
Located in 320 acres of rolling parkland but just two miles from the centre of the cathedral city of Norwich the University is adjacent to the Norwich Research Park which is home to over 1,000 scientists working in several world ranked institutions.
The campus is compact with all teaching, research and accommodation within a few minutes walk of each other. Sporting, cultural and social facilities, including one of the largest sports complexes in the UK and the world famous Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, are also located on campus. The campus and its grounds are open to the public and the site is visited by thousands each year who enjoy the beauty of the parkland, woods and the Broad (a man-made lake).
Buildings on the campus represent a microcosm of some of the best of late 20th century British architecture with Sir Denys Lasdun’s initial scheme complemented with buildings by Lord Foster and Rick Mather. Several buildings on the site have been listed by English Heritage and over 30 have received architectural awards, with the Elizabeth Fry Building being described by Building magazine as ‘the best building ever’ and the Zuckerman Institute for Interconnective Research receiving plaudits for its energy efficiency.
History
UEA was founded in 1963. People in Norwich had begun talking about setting up a university in the city as long ago as the last century, but it wasn’t until 1960, as the post-war ‘bulge’ generation was bringing about an expansion in higher education, that the University of East Anglia finally got the go-ahead.
UEA’s academic thinking was distinctive from the word go. The choice of ‘Do Different’ as the University’s motto was a deliberate signal that it was going to look at new ways of providing university education. At the heart of UEA’s innovative thinking was the principle of interdisciplinarity where related subjects are studied in combination with each other. UEA has continued to be academically innovative throughout its development.
The city had donated what was the Earlham municipal golf course for the site of the campus, and traces of the fairways can still be seen around the grounds today. In 1962, Denys Lasdun (who designed the National Theatre) was appointed as UEA’s founding architect, and was asked to produce an integrated physical design which would reflect and complement the academic structure.
It was Lasdun who designed the University’s core buildings including the monumental Teaching Wall, the raised walkways, the central Square and, most famously, the striking ‘ziggurats’ of Norfolk and Suffolk Terrace. His plan was that no building on campus should be more than five minutes’ walk away from any other – an intention that has been honoured as far as possible in spite of the building expansion over the last 10 years.
Special Achievements
Rated “Excellent” by the Quality Assurance Agency with a teaching quality score of 23 out of 24 points
The University of East Anglia is one of the best places in the country to train to be a teacher, according to new data published by the Training and Development Agency for Schools.
A report in the Independent places Norwich in one of the top 10 "coolest" places for students in the UK.
INTO University of East Anglia
INTO University of East Anglia, a new initiative, led by the University of East Anglia. As the department of the University responsible for the teaching of the pre-university gateway and pathway programmes, INTO aims to provide the highest quality academic and English programs for International students.
