Arts University Bournemouth


Arts University Bournemouth is a further and higher education university based in Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The Arts Institute at Bournemouth and is the home of Bournemouth Film School
AUB is the second largest university in Bournemouth and Poole. Bournemouth University being much larger and AECC University College being smaller.
The university was awarded Gold in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework, a government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England. This award noted high levels of professional employment among graduates.

History

The first art school in Bournemouth was the Bournemouth Government School of Art, established in 1880. There was a considerable demand in Bournemouth at that time for instruction in Art and the numbers in the art school soon rose to 180. In 1884, the school became a Science and Art school. In 1885 the Bournemouth School of Science and Art moved to 1 Regent's Terrace, in Old Christchurch Road, where it remained until 1890.
When the Bournemouth School of Science and Art was forced to close due to a decrease in numbers and loss of grant in 1890–91, the majority of its students were transferred to the Bournemouth West School of Science and Art.
In 1913, the two Science and Art Schools at Bournemouth East and Bournemouth West were incorporated into the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design along with the Technical and Commercial Schools. All art subjects then came under the umbrella of the School of Art within the Bournemouth Municipal College.
The name was changed to Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design in 1979. The first new building on the present campus was opened in 1984 and built at a cost of £2.3 million.
In 1998, the name was changed to The Arts Institute at Bournemouth and won a Queen's Anniversary Prize for "Education in the film industry". In 2001 the AIB became a higher education institution.
In 2009 the Arts Institute Bournemouth changed its name to the Arts University College at Bournemouth following the acquisition of taught degree awarding powers in 2008.
In June 2012 the Government announced that the qualifying threshold required by an institution in order to gain full university status was to be lowered from 4,000 to 1,000 full-time higher education students. The Arts University College at Bournemouth satisfied this criterion for full university title and officially became Arts University Bournemouth following approval from the Privy Council on 13 December 2012.

Bournemouth Film School

Bournemouth Film School was established in 1963 as part of a Cine pathway within the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design by Reginald Johnson.
The Bournemouth Film School is a registered trademark owned by the Arts University Bournemouth. In 2016 Bournemouth Film School celebrated over 50 years of excellence. Arts University Bournemouth is a full member of CILECT.
BFS is made up of:
Most courses are based within one campus which is located in Poole, next to Bournemouth University and Wallisdown. The Campus covers around 3.7 hectares and houses 19 buildings with specialist workshops and workspaces, many of which are shared across similar courses.
The BA Dance course is partly based at Pavilion dance South West.
Notable facilities include:
The university ranked 120 out of 151 in the 2015 The People & Planet Green League table with a total score of 31.1%.
The Students’ Union at Arts University Bournemouth and AUB have formed a partnership with the Woodland Trust which will see a tree planted for each new student at AUB.
In 2016 Arts University Bournemouth announced its commitment to never invest in fossil fuels.
In 2019, the university was awarded EcoCampus Platinum.

Organisation and governance

AUB is governed by its Board of Governors. The Principal and Vice-Chancellor, through the University Management Team, is responsible for the executive management of the University, supported by a number of executive committees. The Academic Board is the University's principal academic authority. Subject to the responsibilities of the Board of Governors and the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, the Academic Board has oversight of academic activities. In 2020, Professor Paul Gough was appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of the university, following the retirement of Professor Stuart Bartholomew, who had served as Principal and Vice Chancellor at the institution since 1997.
Arts University Bournemouth is currently divided into the following faculties:
The university also validates courses in various art-related subjects for Bournemouth and Poole College and The Northern School of Art.
Arts University Bournemouth is a member of GuildHE, one of the two recognised representative bodies for Higher Education in the UK.

Academics

The university offers short courses, Summer courses as well as Foundation Diplomas, BA, MA and Research degrees. The main focus of all courses lies within the areas of art, design, media, and performance.
The institution runs 23 undergraduate and 10 postgraduate programmes organised in two faculties: the Faculty of Art and Design and the Faculty of Media and Performance. These courses are validated for a maximum period of five years and, during the final year, a periodic review is undertaken by a process similar to that for validation with the addition to the panel of up to two student representatives.
AUB was awarded Gold in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework, a government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England. Further Education teaching at AUB was also rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2018.

Rankings

AUB was named No.1 Creative University in the Which? University 2012 survey. The university was not ranked in 2014 due to the lack of students taking part in the survey but was listed in the top 5 in 2018.
In 2016 Arts University Bournemouth was the first university or college of art to receive The Sir Misha Black Award, created in 1999 to honour the exceptional work of a teacher, team, department, or course within or between educational establishments in the UK.
AUB has twice won a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. In 1999 Arts University Bournemouth won the Arts prize for "Education for the film industry." and in 2017 it was announced that the costume design course had won the prize.

Student life

Students’ Union

All students of the Arts University Bournemouth are automatically a member of the Arts University Bournemouth Students’ Union, a registered charity affiliated with the National Union of Students. AUBSU runs over 30 clubs and societies, organises Freshers’ Weeks, volunteering and fundraising events, trains course representatives, and hosts annual general meetings for all students. Each year, elections are held for both sabbatical and all volunteer posts.
AUBSU publishes a free, student led magazine called BUMF. It is published termly and includes content from university course programmes, music, poetry, and writing.

Student housing

The University maintains four off campus student halls throughout the town. Places are allocated with a priority to students living further away from Bournemouth and to students with disabilities/medical conditions. The University hosts two accommodation days before the beginning of each academic year, so prospective students can independently form house-sharing groups and view private rented accommodation.
The four main halls of residence are:
In their second and third years, many students live in nearby suburbs of Bournemouth: typically Winton, Charminster or Boscombe, where they can live in independently owned residences.

Notable alumni