Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England and one of the UK's largest and most diverse universities. It is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away in the Broomhall Estate off Ecclesall Road in south-west Sheffield.
The university is the 11th largest university in the UK (out of 169) with 30,715 students (of whom 4,400 are international students), 4,494 staff and 708 courses.
Foundation and growth
In 1843 as the industrial revolution gathered pace and Sheffield was on the verge of becoming the steel, tool and cutlery making capital of the world, the Sheffield School of Design was founded following lobbying by artist Benjamin Haydon. The day-to-day running was controlled by the local council, whilst the Board of Trade in London appointed the head. Tuition began in a 60x40ft rented room off Glossop Road. In 1850 the School of Design was renamed Sheffield School of Art.
In 1905 the City of Sheffield Training College (later renamed Sheffield City College of Education) on Collegiate Crescent admitted its first 90 students. During the First World War, the Collegiate Hall was requisitioned by the War Office to create the 3rd Northern General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.
In 1967 the Owen Building was constructed. Built in a functional 1960s design, it has since been modernised and comprehensively renovated with an atrium linking it to four adjacent buildings. In 1969 the Sheffield School of Design merged with the city's College of Technology to form Sheffield Polytechnic. In 1976 Sheffield Polytechnic merged with the city's two teacher training colleges (Sheffield City College and Totley Hall College) and was renamed Sheffield City Polytechnic. In 1987 Sheffield City Polytechnic became a founding member of the Northern Consortium.
University status to present day
In 1992 Sheffield City Polytechnic became Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), with the right to award its own degrees.
In 2005 SHU was reorganised into four faculties. The new Faculty of Development and Society, with an emphasis on 'people, places and spaces', brought together education, geography, humanities, law, and social sciences. At the same time, with the intention of further developing research and teaching in the new Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, a new Clinical Academic Group was launched. The building that had been designed and constructed to house the National Centre for Popular Music became the university's students' union building (the HUBS). The Nelson Mandela Building, the former students' union building, was sold and has since been demolished.
In 2007 SHU took over the teaching of nursing and midwifery from the University of Sheffield. These activities are now based at the Collegiate Crescent Campus. The following year the Psalter Lane campus (formerly the Sheffield College of Art) was closed, and the activities transferred to the City Campus. The £26 million energy-efficient Furnival Building opened in September (renamed Cantor Building in 2011 in recognition of a major donor to the university). The building, which includes teaching spaces and an art gallery has been described as "the impressive new entry point to the campus".[11]
The below information combines the most recent and up-to-date statistics as of 7 March 2019 (with some relating to the year 2016/17).
About Sheffield Hallam University
As of 2017/18, Sheffield Hallam is the 10th largest university in the UK, with 30,729 students (79.1% undergraduates and 20.9% postgraduates), 4,357 members of staff (including 2,027 academic staff), and a turnover of £276.6 million.
For information on the structure and location of the University, click the links.
Our students
The University recruits a large proportion of students from South Yorkshire, which has one of the lowest rates of participation in HE in the UK. In 2017/18, of all the University's new young full-time undergraduate UK students:
- 97 per cent were from state schools or colleges
- 21.2 per cent were from low participation neighbourhoods
In 2016/17:
- 78 per cent achieve a first or 2:1 at graduation
- 93 per cent of our graduates are in employment or further study within six months of graduation
- 93.6 per cent of students were home fee students and 6.4 per cent were overseas fee students
Our courses
In 2016/17 our students were enrolled on 688 different courses, and more than half of all courses offer integrated practice or work placement opportunities.
Sheffield Hallam is one of the UK's largest providers of health and social care courses, teacher training, and sport and physical activity courses. We are also home to one of the UK's oldest established art and design institutions.
Our most popular subject areas are (2016/17):
- Business and administrative studies (5,673)
- Subjects allied to medicine (5,428)
- Biological sciences (4,012)
- Social studies (2,232)
- Education (2,038)
- Engineering and technology (2,021)
Student satisfaction
The results of the National Student Survey 2018 show that:
- 86% agreed that overall they were satisfied with the quality of their course
- We are in the top 30 universities in the country for student satisfaction, moving up 18 places to 28th among 127 comparable higher education institutions in England.
- We are also ranked 5th in the country for satisfaction with learning resources.
Research
The University has a range of research centres and institutes and specialised research groups. In 2016/17 total research and innovation income was £15,085,000 - this includes Research (£8.037 million) and Knowledge Transfer income(£7.048 million).
The University had particular grant success in 2016/17, in securing a record £4.2 million research and knowledge exchange grant income. Prestigious UK research grant funders include the Research Councils (AHRC, ESRC, MRC, EPSRC) Innovate UK, National Institute of Health Research and major charities. Significant grants have also been secured through the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme bringing our total number of grants to 14 since the launch of this programme in 2014, securing £3 million funding for the University over this period.
The University made submissions to 11 Units of Assessment for Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. Results were published in December 2014, showing that:
- 18 per cent of research gained the top rating of 4* (world leading) and 47 per cent was rated as internationally excellent (3*)
- 65 per cent of research activity was rated at internationally excellent or world leading (4* and 3*)
- Sheffield Hallam is in the top five of all UK modern universities for research quality.
Estates
Sheffield Hallam is made up of two campuses within easy walking distance of one another, which linked by a range of privately-owned student accommodation. The University's physical environment includes Grade II listed buildings as well as brand new facilities.
Over the past ten years we've invested over £200 million in our estate with the aim of creating spaces that are innovative, flexible, safe and sustainable. We are one of the best performers in the sector in terms of sustainability.
Rankings and reputation
In the National Student Survey, several subject areas at SHU have performed very well in terms of overall student satisfaction with their courses: for example, architecture and geography have both been placed first, and planning has been placed second.
In the 2013/14 university league tables, Sheffield Hallam University was placed 73rd out of 116 UK universities by The Guardian University Guide; 62nd out of 123 by The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide; and 66th out of 124 by the Complete University Guide. In 2019, it ranked 485th among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.
Hallam received a First Class award and was ranked 15th out of 151 universities in the People & Planet University League 2015 which assesses universities on their environmental credentials. In 2020, the University was awarded The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year award for teaching quality.
- Complete (2021) 73
- Guardian (2020) 70
- Times / Sunday Times (2020) 70=
- THE (2020) 801–1000
- Teaching Excellence Framework Silver
