North East Universities
There are five major universities in the northern region. They are listed here so you can go to their websites and see what they have to offer for yourself.
Durham University is a world-class university in two locations: in the city of Durham and at Queen's Campus in Stockton. The University is collegiate, with colleges providing residential, social and welfare facilities for their student members, and creating a sense of community for staff and students together.
Academic teaching and research programmes are delivered through departments contained within three faculties: Arts and Humanities, Science, and Social Sciences and Health.
Newcastle University is a forward-looking, dynamic community of more than 18,000 students and 4,500 staff. They say: "As one of the UK's leading universities, our reputation rests on the quality of our teaching - both for undergraduates and postgraduates, our outstanding research, and our work with the regional and local community, businesses and industry."
The next two years will see extensive development of the Haymarket-facing perimeter of the University's main campus.
Interested in studying at Northumbria? With 31,500 students, Northumbria is one of the largest universities in the country, offering almost 500 courses on either a full-time, part-time or distance learning basis. You can access an extensive course database where you will find initial details of all taught programmes of study.
The Open University (OU) is the United Kingdom's only university dedicated to distance learning. It has around 150,000 undergraduate and more than 30,000 postgraduate students. 10,000 students have disabilities. The Open University's style of teaching is called supported open learning.
Nearly all students are studying part-time. About 70 per cent of undergraduate students are in full-time employment. More than 50,000 students are sponsored by their employers for their studies.
A third of OU undergraduate students have entry qualifications lower than those normally demanded by other UK universities. The University itself is ranked among the top UK universities for the quality of its teaching (see news release).
The University of Sunderland describe themselves as "an innovative, forward-thinking university with high standards of teaching, research and support that sits at the heart of one of the UK's most up and coming cities."
There are two campuses - one in the city and one on the coast - as they say both "perfectly placed to ensure one of the best student experiences in higher education."
The University of Teesside describe itself as: "a vibrant, innovative University dedicated to pursuing excellence and enabling individuals and organisations to achieve their potential through high quality learning, research and knowledge transfer."
Amongst alumni who have gone on to great things are opera singer Suzannah Clarke; Marek Reichman, Design Director for Aston Martin; Deborah Dyer (singer, Skin); Roger Shannon, Cannes award-winning film producer.