THE number of people studying for university level qualifications at Hartpury has hit an all-time high.

There are now more than 1500 students at Hartpury University Centre, a five per cent increase from this time in 2014.

The biggest increase in numbers has been seen in Sport, where there has been a 13% jump in people studying for Foundation and Honours degrees and postgraduate qualifications, while Equine has seen an impressive 8% rise. The BSc (Hons) Bioveterinary Science programme has also had particularly successful recruitment with over 35 students enrolling on this competitive course.

It’s no surprise that the popularity of university level study at Hartpury has been rising, given the glowing report in 2014 from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and impressive results in the latest National Student Survey (NSS).

The NSS 2015 showed that student satisfaction at Hartpury rose again to 86% last year - up from 84% in 2013 and up 9% since 2010-11. That’s also significantly above the national average of 80% for comparable institutions.

Courses including both the BA (Hons) Equine and Sport Business Management degree programmes, as well as the BSc (Hons) Animal Science, BSc (Hons) Equestrian Sports Science and the Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching achieved an impressive 100% overall student satisfaction rate.

The best performing degree programmes at Hartpury, however, are Bioveterinary Science and Veterinary Nursing Science, with 78.6% and 76.5% of 2015 graduates from those programmes achieving first class and 2:1 honours degrees respectively. Overall degree performance at Hartpury has been on a steep upward trend in the past six years.

Russell Marchant, Hartpury Principal, said: “People are often surprised that Hartpury has such strong provision for students undertaking degree and postgraduate study, just as we do for BTEC Diplomas and A-levels.

“We’re always striving to improve the student experience here and it’s great to see those efforts paying off, with student numbers and satisfaction levels continuing to rise. In fact our National Student Survey scores put us in the top quartile in the country.

“It’s clear that awareness is growing of the quality of the teaching, facilities and opportunities for real-life work experience available to students here, who go on to some really exciting careers. Our reputation for being at the cutting edge of sector-leading research is also playing its part, with students and staff collaborating on some really interesting and innovative projects.”

Hartpury has received a hugely positive report from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) - the independent body that monitors standards and quality in UK higher education – who highlighted the quality of the student experience on offer and identified seven areas of best practice.