University of Winchester

Professor Joy Carter became Vice-Chancellor in April 2006.[6] In the period since, the university has seen significant development. On Tuesday, 29 January 2013, His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex officially inaugurated the new "state-of-the-art learning and teaching building, St. Alphege" at the University of Winchester.

The new University Centre opened in 2007, which includes the Student Union and forms the focus of the campus, providing facilities for the whole university community. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded the University Centre the RIBA Award for the South region in 2008 in recognition of its high architectural standards.[7]

The Winchester Sports Stadium, which opened in 2008, cost £3.5 million and includes an Olympic standard 8-lane running track and supporting field events and an all-weather astro turf suitable for hockey and football.[8]

In 2013, the new St Alphege building received a RIBA regional award.[9] The new Learning and Teaching Building provided additional state-of-the-art teaching spaces for lectures and group study and adjoins the existing 1970s St Edburga Building with a glazed atrium link. The new buildings combine to form a new landscaped piazza space fronting the Sparkford Road entrance.[9]

In 2018, work began on the expansion of the West Downs campus, to include new lecture and exhibition spaces. This was completed by September 2020, a year after the scheduled completion date.

The main University Campus, King Alfred, is located close to the city centre of Winchester. Some of the buildings on this campus are named after former staff or governors. The Tom Atkinson and Herbert Jarman buildings are named after former staff and the Kenneth Kettle and Fred Wheeler Buildings are named after long-standing governors. Others are named after Anglo-Saxon saints: St Alphege, St Edburga, St Grimbald and St Swithun and St Elizabeth's. The Martial Rose Library is named after a former Principal. A subsidiary campus, home to the Winchester Business School and West Downs Centre, is located a short distance away at the West Downs site. A smaller third section of the university, known as the Medecroft Quarter, is located just off the King Alfred Campus and contains extra learning facilities.

Major redevelopment has taken place in recent years to modernise the campus. In 2007, work finished on the University Centre on site of the former refectory, at a cost of £9 million. The building includes a new Student Union, a cafe and bar, and a nightclub as well as catering facilities, main reception, a bookshop, a mini-mart convenience store and a social learning space in the WiFi-equipped Learning Café. It was designed by architects Design Engine.

In 2010, a new several-storey student residence, Queens Road, was completed. In 2012, St. Alphege, a new teaching block which contains state-of-the-art teaching spaces, was opened. Work also finished on providing the university library with six new private study rooms for student use. In 2013, the Burma Road Student Village finished construction, providing the university with five blocks that make up a third student village, including a gym and an extra laundry room. In 2013, the Kenneth Kettle building was converted into a social learning space and cafe known as Cyber Italia.

The redevelopment of the university's sports grounds at Bar End in Winchester was completed in 2008 after Sport England formally pledged the funding required for the project's completion, in partnership with Winchester City Council. The facilities at Bar End include an Olympic-standard 400m eight-lane athletics track with supporting field events, an all-weather hockey and general sports pitch, floodlighting and an extended pavilion.

The university's new West Downs Centre opened in September 2020. The new project was built on undeveloped land within the West Downs site next to the Grade-II-listed Winchester Business School and West Downs Student Village. It provides state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities, a new library, a gallery, multiple shops and cafes, a variety of social learning spaces, and a 250-seat drum-shaped auditorium, and is also home to the university's new computer and digital-related degree programmes. The initial completion date was set for 2019, and then early 2020; however, this was pushed back to the start of the 2020-2021 academic year following the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] For the 2022–2023 academic year, a new eco-friendly store, The Pantry, was opened on the West Downs campus, accessible to both students and staff, as well as members of the general public. A statue of the climate change activist Greta Thunberg was placed outside the building, but was moved to an internal courtyard in 2023.

Dame Mary Fagan, the former Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, was appointed the first Chancellor of the university in 2005. She was succeeded by Alan Titchmarsh, who was designated as the new Chancellor of the university in 2014.

Sarah Greer is the current Vice-Chancellor and was appointed in 2022. She succeeded Joy Carter, who was appointed in 2006, succeeding Paul Light, appointed in 2000 as Principal of King Alfred's College, and who became the first Vice-Chancellor in 2005.

Winchester is ranked the 109th (of 130) best university in the UK by the Complete University Guide Rankings, 110th (of 121) in the Guardian Rankings, and 106th (of 121) by the Times / Sunday Times. Winchester received a silver award in the Teaching Excellence Framework, which indicates that "the university is of high quality and regularly exceeds the baseline quality expected of higher education institutions".[19] Winchester first appeared on the THE in 2023, ranked in the 801-1000 bracket.

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), 82 per cent of research was considered to be recognised internationally.[20]

Winchester Student Union is an organisation run for and by the students of The University of Winchester. Established in the 1960s, it has been known as both King Alfred's College Students' Union and King Alfred's Student Union. The not-for-profit charitable organisation, which is funded by a university grant and commercial services revenues, became known as Winchester Student Union in June 2004, and continues as the main representational body for all students. The National Student Survey 2015 ranked Winchester Student Union 7th out of 108 universities in England, and it retained this position through 2020.

The Student Union is based in the University Centre and has a 550 capacity venue that includes the Vault nightclub, a cinema screen, three bars, one of which doubling as a cafe serving Costa Coffee during the day, and the main shop on campus. A smaller shop is also based in the West Downs Student Village. BOP and Ctrl Alt Dlt are regular events held at the Vault during the semester, as well as seasonal club nights (Halloween and Christmas being popular examples), and a variety of smaller ones also taking place. Other events run by the Student Union include weekly quiz nights, movie screenings and cocktail nights, pop-up shops and clothing swaps, karaoke nights, society-organised events, and a range of seasonal activities.

Winchester Student Union is home to the many societies and representational networks on campus, and it runs over 40 sports teams, including football, netball, hockey, the Rugby Union, Rugby Sevens, tennis and basketball teams. The majority of the teams take part in BUSA, SESSA or local leagues.

All student media are the responsibility of the Student Union, except for the weekly internet bulletins released, produced, and created by "Winchester News Online" or WINOL, as part of the BA Journalism course.

All students of the university are automatically members of the union, though are able to opt out if they choose. The president and two vice-presidents are full-time sabbatical officers who are elected from the student body every year. There are also permanent staff.

The Union provides welfare, academic advice and representation to students. The Union can also support student appeals to the university.

Winchester Student Union is affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS).

Winchester Student Union is currently ranked as one of greenest student unions within Britain, as measured by its Gold ranking in the NUS award system entitled: Green Impact: Unions. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Winchester Student Union won NUS's national 'Best Bar None' competition, cementing its status as one of the best student union venues in the country.

Sound Radio, the Student Union's radio station, was set up on 10 June 2011, before launching as an official society in September. The station briefly was broadcast on 87.7FM, before becoming predominantly an internet station. Sound Radio rebranded as Venta Radio in 2013, but this was then reversed after a failed attempt at becoming a full-time community FM station.

Broadcasting from their studio inside the Student Union building, Sound Radio streams live on the Winchester Student Union website.[21] Shows are broadcast on weekdays during term time, and occasionally on weekends. All shows are live and presented by members of the Student Union.

Sound Radio is an active member of the Student Radio Association (SRA), after joining in early 2017. The station regularly participates in the SRA Chart Show, which broadcasts every Sunday from 2 pm until 4 pm.

In 2018, Sound Radio won SRA Silver Award for Best Chart Show.[22] They also won Most Improved Student Radio Station at the I Love Student Radio Awards 2019.[23]

A variety of student accommodation is available across the University's campuses, and range from self-catered en-suite rooms to catered shared facilities. These include:

• West Downs Student Village
• Alwyn Hall
• St Elizabeth's Hall
• Beech Glade
• Queens Road Student Village
• Burma Road Student Village

External university-managed housing options, such as the Unilife building on Sparkford Road, Cathedral Point, and various houses off-campus are also available.

• Eric Anderson – Sociologist and Professor of Sports Studies
• Imruh Bakari – Film maker and writer. Head of Film Studies.
• June Boyce-Tillman – Professor of Applied Music, and MBE
• Martin Day – Screenwriter and novelist[24]
• Michael Hicks – Emeritus Professor of Medieval History
• Elizabeth Stuart – Professor of Christian Theology and Deputy Vice Chancellor
• Judy Waite – Writer of children's fiction
• Barbara Yorke – Emerita Professor of Early Medieval History

• Martin Bashir – ex-television journalist
• Stuart Brennan – BAFTA-winning actor, writer and film producer
• Mike Bushell – BBC television journalist
• Sara Coburn – BBC business presenter
• Lauren Cohan – American-British actress
• Mark Diacono – food writer, grower and photographer
• Claire Fuller – novelist
• Steve Furst – comic actor
• Geoff Hampton – school principal
• Nick Helm – comedian
• Mark Johnson – horse racing commentator
• Shappi Khorsandi – comedian
• Dirk Maggs – radio producer
• Jill Marshall – writer
• Andrew Norriss – children's book author and TV sitcom writer
• Jonathan Pointing – actor and comedian (Plebs)
• David Prosho – actor and performer
• Angus Scott – television journalist and lecturer in journalism
• Anne Snelgrove – former Labour MP for South Swindon
• Bob Taylor – past president of the Rugby Football Union
• Stephanie Twell - middle- and long-distance runner, bronze medal winner in 1500 metres at 2010 Commonwealth Games