Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. The university, which originally opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, was the first non-denominationalteacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male students in 1959. In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council and became Edge Hill University on 18 May 2006.
The University has three faculties: Arts and Sciences, Education, and Health and Social Care; these teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
History
Edge Hill College opened on 24 January 1885 on Durning Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool, by a group of seven Liverpool businessmen and philanthropists. It was named after the district in which it was sited, and was the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England. By 1892, Edge Hill was one of only two colleges in England combining teacher training and degree course study. As student numbers increased, Edge Hill quickly outgrew its surroundings. The institution was handed over to the Lancashire Education Committee, with the foundation stone for the present Ormskirk campus laid on 26 October 1931 by J.T. Travis-Clegg, Chairman of Lancashire County Council. The main buildings comprised a main education block, four halls of residence (named Stanley, Clough, Lady Margaret and John Dalton), an Assembly Hall, a library, craft room, gymnasium, lecture theatres, classrooms and a music room.[3]
Between 1939 and 1946, during World War II, the college was evacuated to Bingley in Yorkshire,[4] and the Ormskirk site was requisitioned for use by the military.[3]
The Durning Road premises were destroyed in a bombing raid on 17 November 1940, during the Liverpool Blitz, which killed 166 people.[5]
Edge Hill became a mixed college, admitting its first male students in October 1959, when it had about 500 students in total.[3] In 1963 the university recorded having 660 students and 59 members of staff.[3]
The institution has since expanded, with further developments at Ormskirk and the absorption of the former Sefton School of Health Studies.
In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council.[6] On 18 May 2006 the institution became Edge Hill University and in August 2008 the university was granted the power to award research degrees.[7]
Campus
Edge Hill University is based on a 160-acre (650,000 m2) campus in Ormskirk, the administrative centre of West Lancashire. It is midway between Liverpool and the county town of Preston.
The University used to operate from the Woodlands campus based in Chorley, central Lancashire, where it offered continuing professional development programmes and part-time study. However, in recent years operations have been centralised back to the main University campus.
Learning Innovation Centre
Most of the University's subjects and departments are based in specialist buildings developed since the 1990s: Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Business School, BioSciences, GeoSciences, Creative Edge (Media and Social Sciences), Performing Arts, the Wilson Centre (Sport and Physical Activity) and Psychology. The Tech Hub was opened in 2016 by entrepreneur Sir Robin Saxby.
The university also operates a campus in Manchester City centre in the St. James Buildings, Manchester mainly for medical science courses.[8]
The Student Hub
The Hub
This building opened in 2011 as a central student area, containing retail and catering outlets and IT facilities, as well as providing new accommodation for the Edge Hill Students' Union. It was formally opened by Sophie, Countess of Wessex on 15 October 2012.[9]
Sports Centre
The current indoor and outdoor sports complex was opened in 2015 by Olympic heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson.[10]
Arts Centre
The Arts Centre houses the University’s Performing Arts Department and the Rose and Studio Theatres.[11] The Arts Centre was officially opened by British screenwriter and writer of the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremonyFrank Cottrell Boyce who is an Honorary Doctor of Literature at the University.[12] The Arts Centre includes a 234-seat professional theatre (The Rose Theatre) and a 140-seat Studio Theatre.
Catalyst
Catalyst serves as the Students' library on the Ormskirk campus, as well as the student services and information centre. The original library, which opened in the 1990s, was replaced with a new purpose-built multi-storey building, located on the old running track, adjacent to the Wilson Centre, and equidistant between the Student Hub and Creative Edge Buildings, as part of a £36 million development.[13] The £26 million building houses a study space that is 8,000 square metres, which is 50% larger than the old Library building.[14] The development began in December 2016, when the old racing track was dug up. Catalyst opened on 9 July 2018.
Halls of Residence
The original Halls of Residence were 'named Stanley, Clough, Lady Margaret and John Dalton "in honour" of the Derby Family' and "of three individuals famous in the history of Lancashire and of Education" (Anne Jemima Clough was a pioneer of higher education for women, having founded Newnham College, Cambridge)'[15]
Five Halls, opened in 1963 by Princess Margaret, are named after Lady Openshaw, Katherine Fletcher (Chairs of Governors), EM Butterworth, Margaret Bain (Principals) and Eleanor Rathbone, a noted social reformer.[16] Lancashire Hall was demolished in 1999 to make way for the Wilson Centre (Edge Hill Sport), but was originally built to house male students. Forest Court (Ash, Beech, Cedar, Elm, Holly, Larch, Maple, Oak, Rowan and Willow) added 300 bedrooms in the early 1990s.
In 2012, Chancellors Court was opened, adding Halls named after individuals associated with the institution including Chairs of the Board of Governors: Blake, Booth, Bradshaw, Fulton, Millner, Pinfold, Tomkins, and Wilson as well as Byron (Tanya Byron, the first Chancellor of the University), and Williams (politician Shirley Williams). Additional Halls added in 2013 are, in Chancellors Court: Binns (Sir Arthur Lennon Binns), Boyce (J.S.B Boyce), Lord (Sir Percy Lord), and Meadon (Sir Percival Edward Meadon); and in Founders Court: Dewhurst (M. K. Dewhurst), Fenemore (Mildred Fenemore), Feuchsel (Harriet D Feuchsel) and Holt (George Holt (merchant)).
Founders' Court
Chancellors South, an additional 246 accommodation units to complete the Chancellors Court blocks on the Eastern side of the campus, was completed in summer 2014.[17] The Halls are named after individuals associated with the institution including Laverty (Bernard Laverty, Pro-Chancellor and chair of the Edge Hill University Board of Governors since 2014, Chartered Accountant and Director of Lancashire textile company David Whitehead & Sons Limited), Jenkins (Miss JA Jenkins, Vice-Principal of Edge Hill from 1906 and Acting Principal from 1909–10), Millins (Mr PKC 'Ken' Millins was the first male Principal of Edge Hill, leading the institution between 1964 and 1979 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2010), Aitken (Sir James Aitken served on the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council from 1921 to 1948, and was chair of the Council from 1946 to 1948) and Welch (John Welch was chair of the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council between 1955 and 1958).
The University's Chancellor is Dawn Airey, appointed in 2023.[18] The founding Chancellor was Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist, journalist, author and broadcaster.[19] Byron served in the role from 2008 to 2018.
The Pro-Chancellor is Clive Edwards who also serves as chair of the Board of Governors.
The Faculty runs initial teacher training programmes for the age phases of education in the UK, together with Continuing Professional Development for the school workforce. The most recent Ofsted Initial Teacher Education inspection report[22] (2011) awarded Grade 1 in all 33 cells covering the phases of initial teacher training: Primary & Early Years, Secondary and Post-Compulsory Education and Training.
The Faculty comprises Departments of:
Early Years Education
Children, Education and Communities
Professional Learning
Secondary and Further Education
Faculty of Health and Social Care
Faculty of Health and Social Care
The Faculty delivers pre-registration training for nurses, midwives, operating department practitioners and paramedics; qualifying social work degrees; and professional development in the fields of health and social care.
The Faculty comprises Departments of:
Applied Health and Social Care
Medicine
Midwifery
Nursing
Operating Department Practice
Paramedic Practice
Social Work
Postgraduate & Professional Development Courses
CPD Modules
Graduate school
The Graduate School supports research students on MRes, MPhil and PhD programmes and their supervisors.
The coat of arms consists of a shield, a crest, a badge and a motto. The colours used are those of the suffragettes, and "reflect the commitment to the equality of women that drove the formation of the institution".[24]
The university's origins are represented by the three red roses of Lancashire in the shield and by the Liver bird in the crest, which refers to its original location in Liverpool. The coat of arms contains a sun, a quill, peacock feathers, and a lion. The University's motto – "In Scientia Opportunitas" – translates as "In knowledge there is opportunity".[25]
The Mace
Edge Hill University Mace
The Mace is the symbol of the University's authority to award degrees. Edge Hill University commissioned its mace in 2007, from silversmith Clive Burr. Inspired by the University Coat of Arms and the campus architecture, the mace took six months to produce and is crafted from sterling silver. At the head is an 18-carat yellow gold dome enamelled by Jane Short, with a hand-engraved inscription of the University motto running around the silver edge. The main body has a hand-engraved decoration running around it, the design inspired by the acanthus leaves and stone columns of the entrance to the original University building.[26]
Edge Hill University's undergraduate courses include BA/BSc and LLB degrees, health pre-registration qualifications and teacher training degrees. Postgraduate provision includes PGCEs, Masters programmes, MBA, MPhil and PhD research degrees and MRes programmes.
Students
According to the Higher Education Statistical Agency, in the 2019/20 academic year there were 10,025 undergraduate students and 3,535 postgraduate students.[1] The statistics may not show international students.
Record label
In 2013, Senior Lecturer and bassist in The Farm, Carl Hunter, launched a not-for-profit record label in association with the students of Edge Hill University called The Label Recordings.[31] The Label has released and promoted music by acts including The Inkhearts, Hooton Tennis Club, Oranj Son, Feral Love and Youth Hostel. The Label operates like an industry placement for students and was 'highly commended' in the 2016 Times Higher Education Awards.[31][32]
Short story prize
The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is purported to be the only UK award that recognises excellence in a single author, published short story collection.[33] The prize attracts established authors who compete alongside relative newcomers. Previous winners have been John Burnside, Kevin Barry, Colm Tóibín, Claire Keegan, Chris Beckett, Jeremy Dyson, Graham Mort, Sarah Hall and Jessie Greengrass. The prize is co-ordinated by Ailsa Cox, Reader in Creative Writing and English, and has three categories, the main literary award of £5,000, as well as a £1,000 Reader’s Prize judged by BA Creative Writing students, and a £500 award for students on the University's MA Creative Writing course.
Research
The university returned twelve units of assessment in the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 and has established three interdisciplinary research institutes through which to manage the impact and external engagement of research carried out.
Institute for Creative Enterprise
The Institute for Creative Enterprise is Edge Hill University’s interdisciplinary research forum which connects the University with the digital and creative economy and with cultural institutions.[34]
Institute for Public Policy and Professional Practice
The Institute for Public Policy and Professional Practice (I4P) is a cross-disciplinary research and knowledge exchange initiative established at Edge Hill University in 2013.
Postgraduate Medical Institute
The Postgraduate Medical Institute is a partnership between Edge Hill University and regional health professionals and providers seeking to improve the quality of health and social care in the North West through education, research, and innovation.
The Institute’s main themes are primary care, fertility, neurology and psychiatry, orthopaedics and biomechanics, and biosciences.[35]
Student life
Students' Union
Edge Hill University Students' Union (SU) is the representative body of students at the university run by four elected, sabbatical officers and student trustees who sit on the board. The Sabbatical officers are the SU President, Vice President of Activities, Vice President of Academic Representation and Vice President of Welfare.[36] All students at the university are automatically enrolled into the Students' Union which seeks to promote the interests of its members, act as a representative channel between students and the university, and to provide advice and recreational activities for its members.[37]
The Students' Union has over 70 societies which students can join including a range of sports teams, subject-related groups and social societies.[38] 'Team Edge Hill' is the SU's sport brand which encompasses all sport teams and individuals who compete for the university within the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) leagues[39] including football, rugby, cycling, netball, swimming, tennis, hockey, golf, American Football, and many more. VibeMedia is the Students' Union’s media platform which comprises Vibe Radio and Vibe TV, a radio and television channel run by student volunteers.[40]
In 2012, Edge Hill SU was shortlisted for the national NUS Small Students' Union of the Year Award.[41] In 2019, it won NUS Trans Campaign of the year.[42]
A history of the University, A Vision of Learning: Edge Hill University 1885–2010, by Mark Flinn and Fiona Montgomery, was published in 2010 (Third Millennium Publishing Ltd ISBN978-1-906507-48-0). This follows earlier historical surveys written by Fiona Montgomery.
A history of the University in Ormskirk Wide Horizons: Eighty Years in Ormskirk 1933–2013, by Mark Flinn, published in 2013 (Edge Hill University ISBN978-1-900230-55-1).
