Studying in a close-knit Welsh seaside town makes Aberystwyth University one of the best places to study in the UK, students say.
“If you go, you know everyone in Aber,” said Amy Tomkin, a third-year politics student.
After opening in October 1872 with just 25 students, the first university of Wales is celebrating its 150th anniversary on Sunday with more than 8,000 enrolled.
It was able to open after 70,000 people donated money for its construction.
“Ordinary people – from the quarry workers of North Wales to the miners of South Wales to the farmhands and farmers of Mid Wales,” said Elgan Philip Davies, historian and former student at Aberystwyth.
“Everyone contributed,” he said, explaining how the “pennies of the poor” started the university in a place that has been attracting students ever since.
- Foreign students are struggling to find work in Wales
- Students in Wales speak of isolation after graduation
The university regularly performs well in student satisfaction rankings.
In the 2022 National Student Survey, Aberystwyth was ranked the top university in Wales and second in the UK for student satisfaction by the universities listed in the Times Good University Guide 2023.
Amy said: “It’s a really nice, close-knit community. Everyone is really welcoming…if you make the effort, they’re really happy that you do.
“I really enjoyed living here, so much so that I stayed and worked over the summer.”
She added that she is also learning Welsh.
Nathaniel, a third-year international politics student, said: “It’s by far the best city to get into college.
“Being in a very nice little community university by the sea, with staff that you can just drop in and chat with, you make so many friends, meet so many people – and because they’re all so close, I don’t think so , you get something like that everywhere in a big city university.
“They are very proud of the story.”
The campaign to found a university in Wales was started in the 1850s by a London-based Welshman, Hugh Owen. The university library is named after him.
By 1867 enough had been raised to buy an unfinished hotel on Aberystwyth’s seafront for £10,000. It became the Old College and the first home of the new university.
With donations coming in from the rich and the less fortunate, Mr Phillip Davies said Aberystwyth has become known as the ‘People’s University’.
Its establishment also paved the way for the creation of the Confederate University of Wales in 1893, after similar institutions had opened in Cardiff in 1883 and Bangor in 1884.
This year’s anniversary celebrations include the release of a new book that tells the story of the university through 150 objects.
Ceiniogau’r Werin – The People’s Pennies – is an illustrated volume of short essays on a wide range of historical artifacts, including the handwritten register of the first students of 1872, early X-ray machines, cheese-making equipment and works of art.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Elizabeth Treasure said: “Much has happened since we opened our doors in 1872, but we remain true to our founding principles of providing inclusive education and innovative research that responds to the needs of Wales and the wider world.”
Alex, a third-year theatre, drama, film and television student, said: “It’s a special place… unique… like the capital of Mid Wales.
“Location is probably the biggest selling point with so many scenic locations to film and produce.
“I just think it’s absolutely wonderful. It’s not just about the campus and it’s not just about the university, it’s about the community.”
Perhaps most famously, King Charles III. Spent a semester at Aberystwyth in 1969 studying Welsh before his inauguration as Prince of Wales.
His time in Aberystwyth was featured in a recent series by The Crown.
Former First Minister Carwyn Jones graduated from Aberystwyth University with a law degree in 1988 and Elin Jones, Llywydd of the Senedd, studied rural economics there.
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