Background
The University of Bath is based on a self-contained campus outside the city centre. There are regular buses between the railway and bus stations and campus, it takes around 20 minutes to cycle up from town (but only 10 minutes to cycle down!) and around 30 minutes to walk.
The Library is the heart of the University and is open 24 hours a day, every day, and lies in the centre of the campus. We also have the Sports Training Village, the Edge arts centre and a wide variety of accommodation blocks, shops and cafes. The hub of Student Support is in 4 West on the Parade, where you can access Money Advice, the Disability Service, Counselling and Mental Health advice and the Wellbeing Service. We can be accessed via email at studentsupport@bath.ac.uk or by phoning 01225 383838.
The city centre is home to the Virgil Building, an outreach centre where students can access study spaces, the Careers Service, the Skills Centre, Student Support appointments and the Student Union jobs centre, among other services. Bath city centre is a bustling tourist destination with many museums, art galleries and independent cafes and restaurants as well as many big chain stores. There are several festivals- music, comedy, literature, film- and indoor and outdoor markets.
Our University has around 18,600 students from over 130 countries, and we employ over 3,500 staff. This means that campus can be very busy at times, although there are some peaceful spaces such as the Quiet Garden behind 8 West and the woodland walk around the northern boundary of campus.
How could this affect me?
The campus is bigger than you might be used to at school or college and getting lost is common for new students and when timetables change. Becoming familiar with key buildings and locations may help you to prepare. Some students will be paired with a Campus Buddy, who will help them learn to navigate campus. If you would like to know more about the Campus Buddy scheme, please contact the Disability Service.
The Library is the heart of campus and the heart of the Parade. Buildings are odd numbers on the Library side of the Parade, and even numbers on the opposite side. The numbers get bigger as they move further away from the Library to the East and the West. The Parade is level 2.
Room numbers look something like this: 3W 4.7.
3W is the building (3 West), 4.7 means the room is on level 4, room number 7.