University of Greenwich

By ALASTAIR MCCALL, DAILY MAIL UNIVERSITY GUIDE EDITOR Published: 13:07, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 13:07, 12 August 2026 Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. The University of Greenwich is the driving force behind one of the most interesting developments in British higher education in decades. From August 1 it became part of the London and South East (LASE) University Group. Unsurprisingly, it will be keeping its original name above the front door. So will the financially troubled University of Kent, the other university involved in the new group with which Greenwich shares its Medway campus. But in merging some functions of both institutions, savings will be made which should protect - and even increase - spending on the important student-facing stuff: courses, facilities, support and the like. Greenwich has been one of the higher education success stories of the past two decades, with a socially and racially diverse student population reflecting its location. It has increased its student intake by 80% since 2016 and dodged the downturn in applications that has hit so many other universities. Undoubtedly, a campus that is centred around the Sir Christopher Wren-designed Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich plays a part in the attraction, not least to international students who make up more than one third of undergraduates. But so do its courses, which are strongly vocational and lead to well-defined career paths (notwithstanding this year's significant dip in the proportion of graduates landing high-skilled jobs). In keeping with this, two new degrees are being introduced for September 2027, a BSc in children's nursing and a BEng in robotics. Business, computing and healthcare are three of the biggest areas and it aced the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, securing a gold rating. Beyond Greenwich, the university has two other sites in Avery Hill, also in south east London, where most health and social care students are, and Chatham, home of the Medway campus and schools of pharmacy, science and engineering. Your browser does not support iframes. More than £2.3m of bursary and scholarship support is available to Greenwich students in the coming academic year. Much of it is means-tested, with eligibility determined by coming from a home with a residual household income of under £25,000. All students who meet this criteria are automatically paid a Greenwich Bursary of £700 in their first year only, paid as a credit to students' Aspire accounts, which can be spent on textbooks, stationery and learning resources. Further help with day-to-day costs comes in the form of the Commuter Bursary, which is worth up to £1,000 per academic year. A digital access bursary provides up to £300 towards the cost of equipment to support online learning. An accommodation bursary takes 10% off the price of annual university room costs up to a maximum payment of £700 for first-years, lowering the price of already cheap rooms. A small room with shared facilities in Seymour Court on the Avery Hill campus costs £5,692 for the 2026-27 academic year on a 39-week contract. With an accommodation bursary that would drop to £5,123, or around £570 per month. The most expensive rooms, extra-large studios in Daniel Defoe Hall on the Greenwich campus, cost £15,556 for a 39-week tenancy. More than £460,000 was paid out in hardship support in 2024-25 to students in extreme need and a food vouchers scheme is there for those facing an unexpected crisis. The Great Skills Scholarship is worth £2,000 in the first year only to students who have participated in a minimum of four university outreach activities and who attend one of the 300 partner schools or colleges in London, Kent and the wider South East. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Admissions, teaching and student support More than half the undergraduate intake are first-generation students, and more than two thirds are drawn from minority ethnic backgrounds - statistics that speak to Greenwich's success in diversifying its intake. Contextual offers set at 16 UCAS points (equivalent to two A-level grades) below standard entry requirements play their part in this. These offers are made to applicants from homes in postcodes among the 20% from which fewest progress to university, as well as care leavers. The university works hard to shift the dial when it comes to aspirations by partnering with 300 schools and colleges. A scholarship worth £2,000 is open to recruits who attended any of these schools (see Paying the bills, above) and the university's bursary programme more generally is closely aligned with efforts to support students from under-represented backgrounds. All students have access to academic skills support throughout their university career in the form of one-to-one tutorials and workshops covering essay writing, preparing for seminars, conducting research, data analysis and referencing. The Student Wellbeing Service offers a range of support covering mental health, counselling, psychological wellbeing, disability and dyslexia, with appointments available both in person and online. The university subscribes to Spectrum.Life, which provides 24/7 mental health and wellbeing support and can offer advice on stress, anxiety, low mood, financial worries and relationship problems. The university is currently developing a mandatory induction session for staff to explore how to support students presenting with mental health concerns. Already mandatory for students on joining the university is a Healthy Sex and Relationships course, supplemented by workshops to help them understand consent and what it looks and sounds like in practice.