Lancaster is the safest university city in the UK, according to a survey by the Complete University Guide in 2009
The University campus
Founded in 1964 Lancaster has risen to become one of Britain's top ten universities. The University has about 10,000 students, 2,400 of whom are postgraduates, and most study on the Bailrigg campus. This is a beautiful parkland site which has low-rise buildings designed on a human scale.
The campus is almost a small town in its own right with shops, banks, restaurants, bars, sports, cultural, religious, social and residential facilities – even a Pre-School Centre – as well as the academic buildings. Lancaster students enjoy a splendid green-field site with wonderful views of mountains and sea, yet the campus is just 5 minutes' drive from the M6 motorway and close to the main West Coast railway which connects London and Scotland. It provides a happy mixture of bustle and calm, with opportunity for reflection and relaxation.
View a slideshow of the University's beautiful parkland campus
Lancaster University Management School is located towards the south end of the University campus, close to Lancaster House Hotel and Conference Centre. The School is built around two pleasant landscaped quadrangles and has its own lecture theatres and seminar rooms. In February 2005 the School opened the new Lancaster Leadership Centre – an impressive state-of-the-art building with lecture theatres, groupwork areas, offices and social facilities.
Accommodation
More than 3,800 students live at Bailrigg in the University's own accommodation, which includes special rooms for graduate students in the Graduate College. The Graduate College provides high-quality rooms with en-suite facilities and a social environment which is attuned to the needs of mature graduate students.
The University Library
The University Library is at the centre of the campus, in Alexandra Square – just a few minutes' walk from the Management School and the Graduate College. It houses over 900,000 items plus CD-ROM and other database systems. The Management School has its own subject librarian who is able to give expert advice to students. Read more.
The Ruskin Library
The Ruskin Library houses a unique collection of the works of John Ruskin, the great Victorian critic, writer on political economy and philanthropist, whose works influenced amongst others Mahatma Gandhi.
The library also mounts regular temporary exhibitions of art by John Ruskin and his contemporaries. Read more.
Peter Scott Gallery
Attached to Lancaster University's Great Hall is one of north-west England's leading galleries, displaying rolling exhibitions of contemporary art. The Peter Scott Gallery also has a permanent collection which includes works by significant European artists such as Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Victor Vasarely and Max Ernst, and British artists Barbara Hepworth, Sir Terry Frost and Andy Goldsworthy.
The University’s stunning collection of Royal Lancastrian Pottery is on permanent display in the gallery’s John Chambers Ceramics Room. Read more.
Shopping
The campus has its own supermarket, bakery, bookshop, post office, banks, travel agent, laundrettes and many restaurants, cafés and bars – most of the things you might need if you're living on campus. Yet Lancaster city centre is just a 15-minute bus ride away.
The Sports Centre
In August 2011 Lancaster University opened its new £20m Sports Centre. Facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool with eight lanes, a climbing wall, health and fitness suites, sauna and steam rooms, a sports hall with eight badminton courts, four squash courts and outdoor changing facilities for field games. There is also a state-of-the-art, 100-station gym. Read more.
The Pre-School Centre
A valuable resource to students with young children, the Pre-School Centre has recently moved to a large and spacious new purpose-built building with places for up to 112. The Centre consists of three areas: two crèches which can accommodate babies between the ages of three months to two years, two nurseries for toddlers of two to three years, and the Pre-School rooms for three to five year olds. Read more.
