University of Bristol
A Brief History of Bristol
Bristol is a city in Southwest England. It is England’s sixth and the UK’s eighth most populous city, and the most populous city in Southern England after London.
Early in its history, Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon. The city began life as a settlement called Brigg stow (Brycgstow). At some point a wooden bridge was erected across the Avon (Avon is a Celtic word meaning ‘water’). The bridge was used as a meeting place and a village grew up by it. In time the name Brigg Stow changed to Bristol.
Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was in Gloucestershire until 1373, when it became a county. A grammar school was founded in Bristol in 1532. Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, became the first European since the Vikings to land on mainland North America. In 1499, Bristol merchant William Weston was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America. The Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock.
Bristol’s modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries, and the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as centres of heritage and culture. The city has two universities, the best known being University of Bristol.
Education
The university, which is also referred to as Bristol University, offers a truly international experience. More than one sixth of students are from overseas, which means that all of our students benefit from living and studying in a diverse, global community.
Students at the university are among the most employable in the world. The QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2016-17 place Bristol at 39th in the world and 6th in the UK out of the global institutions surveyed. Performance indicators focused on factors which are deemed to reflect graduate employability, with Bristol scoring highly thanks to its partnerships and reputation with employers.
The university is ranked 11th in the UK for its research, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 by GPA. A highly selective institution, it has an average of 6.4 (Sciences faculty) to 13.1 (Medicine & Dentistry Faculty) applicants for each undergraduate place.
The university is a research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1909, and its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876. Bristol University is a Russell Group University. The university’s motto derives from the famous Roman lyric poet Horace, and translates into English as “learning promotes one’s innate power”.
Bristol University is organised into six academic faculties composed of multiple schools and departments running over 200 undergraduate courses. It is home to 25 academic schools, divided into six faculties: Arts, Biomedical Sciences, Science, Engineering, Social Sciences and law, and Health Sciences. Its particular strengths lie in mathematics, medicine, engineering, psychology, economics, biology, chemistry, management, politics and law. Sir Winston Churchill was a former chancellor of the university from 1929 until his death in 1965.
It was the first higher education institution in England to admit both genders on an equal basis, with 30 men and 69 women registering as day students during its first session. It currently has a student population of about 15,000 students.
The university boasts strong connections with hundreds of employers, ranging from small businesses to worldwide organisations.
As an accredited Fairtrade university, caring for the environment is one of the university’s main priorities. It was the first university to participate in the Green Impact Awards, and has won awards for its energy efficiency, transport planning and environmentally pioneering teaching.
The university lays claim to 12 Nobel Laureates. They include Dorothy Hodgkin, a former Chancellor of the University, who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; the playwright Harold Pinter, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature; and Angus Deaton, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics. Bristol always reflects the best, whether that is pushing the boundaries of research to help make the world a better place or coming up with bright ideas in education and teaching.
Alumni of Bristol include the actor and comedian Simon Pegg, broadcast journalists Alistair Stewart and Sue Lawley, and the author and Children’s Laureate (2011-2013) Julia Donaldson MBE.
Of course, it helps to be in the heart of a beautiful, pioneering city which has always thought a little differently. The university and the City share, and are shaped by, a spirit that is fiercely independent. This is a place where people come to see things from new perspectives and find an edge that's all their own.
The university is a partner with IDP Education. IDP is a world leader in international student placement services and a proud co-owner of IELTS. It operates a large network of over 80 student offices in more than 30 countries, offering institutions an efficient and cost-effective way to reach potential students in multiple student source markets. IDP also partners with 600 leading institutions in five popular English-speaking countries.
For free information and study abroad application assistance, visit IDP Education offices at all ACE campuses.
