The University of Warwick is a British campus university located on the outskirts of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It was established in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education, and in 2000 Warwick Medical School was opened as part of an initiative to train more doctors in Britain. The University describes itself as a research led institution and in the last Research Assessment Exercise the University was the 7th highest-ranked research institution in the UK.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Warwick had a reputation as a politically radical institution. More recently, the University has been seen as a favoured institution of the British New Labour government. Warwick was one of the first UK universities to develop close links with the business community, and has been successful in the commercialisation of research. This commercial approach has resulted in its being nicknamed “Warwick University Limited” (or, more recently, “Warwick University PLC”).
Warwick is a member of the Russell Group. It also used to be a member of the 1994 Group but withdrew in July 2008.
The University’s coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear and Ragged Staff of Warwickshire and the Elephant and Castle of Coventry. The bear is not chained in the current depiction of the University’s coat of arms, although it was in earlier versions and in the letters patent issued by the College of Arms.
The University of Warwick Students’ Union is one of the biggest Students’ Unions in the UK, currently having over 260 societies and 76 sports clubs, including everything from Squash to Skydiving. It has an annual turnover of approximately £6 million, the profit from which is used to provide services to students and to employ its staff and Sabbatical officers. The Union is divided into two buildings: Union North (mainly societies and administration) and Union South (entertainment facilities). Union South contains four club venues, seven bars and a cafe over four floors, with some “full Union (building)” events such as Top Banana and Skool Dayz. Drinks prices are not considered to be particularly cheap but have recently been reduced for some events.
The Union has also recently hosted such bands as Ash, Sugababes, Amerie, The Kooks, Reel Big Fish, The Departure, The Subways, Idlewild, The Rory Mckenna variety show, Hell is for Heroes, The Automatic, The Dave Wright experience, Boy Kill Boy, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, The Streets, Feeder and Scouting for Girls.
The Union is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS), West Midlands Area NUS (WMANUS) and National Postgraduate Committee (NPC).