Bangor University guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Bangor received six commendations in its recent Quality Enhancement Review - the official quality-assurance mechanism for universities in Wales. Inspectors praised the university's student partnerships, student support, staff development and the extent to which the Welsh language is embedded into the university's culture. Less than half of its undergraduate intake in September 2024 came from Wales, with strong recruitment also seen from North-West England and the West Midlands. However, the overall number of UK recruits was significantly down, despite applications being at their second-highest level since 2017. Those numbers will have been boosted by Bangor being named our Welsh University of the Year in 2023, followed by the opening of the North Wales Medical School last year. The new degree, with its accent on community medicine - students spend a year of their programme in a GP practice - should help address NHS staff shortages in the region. Bangor's academic profile is tied to its coastal and mountain environment, with courses in forestry, adventure sport science, ocean science and marine conservation offered alongside more traditional subjects. The university even has its own marine research vessel called the Prince Madog, as well as botanical gardens and a museum.
Paying the bills
Bangor seeks to attract both brains and brawn. It is one of very few universities nationally to offer applicants the option of sitting an entrance examination in one of 28 subjects. The 40 students who achieve the best results earn a Merit scholarship worth up to £3,000 over the course of their degree. Sports scholarships of the same value are open to students who would be expected to achieve a podium place in a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) inter-university competition, or who are of European, Commonwealth or world-class standard. The Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol scholarships pay £1,000 per year to students taking two-thirds of their degree in Welsh (240 credits overall), or £500 a year for those studying in Welsh for one-third (120 credits) of their course. Bangor bursaries are paid automatically to all UK students not living in Wales from homes with less than £40,000 of annual income - £500 annually where income is between £25,001 and £40,000, and £1,000 annually where it is £25,000 or below. Care leavers and those estranged from their parents are eligible for Start Up bursaries of £1,000, and unpaid carers qualify for the same sum. There are more than 2,600 places available in the Ffriddoedd and St Mary's student villages, with budget rooms among the cheapest in the UK. Prices range from £4,158 to £10,290 for 42-week contracts.
What's new?
Hot on the heels of the opening of the North Wales Medical School in September 2024, Bangor announced the biggest charitable gift in its history - £10.5m - from the Albert Gubay Foundation to build a new business school, which will be named in honour of the late Welsh entrepreneur and philanthropist. The development, set to be built on the site of the former Friars Junior School, adjoins the existing university estate and will provide business students with the latest facilities. This philanthropic boost was welcome news given that Bangor saw a 6.7% fall in the number of UK entrants last September. Faced with the need to save £15m, the university sought 200 redundancies among academic and support staff earlier this year. Building on the success of the new medical school, Bangor is launching the first pharmacy school in North Wales this September. Some of the programme will be delivered in Welsh as well as English, so that students have the ability to interact with Welsh-speaking patients when on placements. Several new degrees have been introduced for the 2025-26 academic year, including creative writing, creative arts, music and film, media, film and journalism, and modern languages and media.
Admissions, teaching and student support
Contextual offers - usually one A-level grade (or eight Ucas tariff points) below the standard terms - are made on all undergraduate programmes to students from under-represented backgrounds. Applicants from postcodes in the quintiles with the lowest university admission rates, including Communities First areas in Wales, are among those eligible for contextual offers. The university also considers the range of data now supplied to universities by Ucas, covering everything from whether they receive free school meals to if they have a parent serving in the Armed Forces. Bangor described itself to us as 'a close-knit university community with a joined-up approach to supporting our students' - and there is plenty of evidence to support this. Students can access counselling or specialist mental health help to cope with a longer-term diagnosis, and there is complementary support in the form of mindfulness training, emotional resilience workshops, art psychotherapy, specialised support groups and mentoring. University staff work with the students' union to develop peer-led support for student wellbeing, too. Bangor takes its responsibility to foster a safe environment seriously. It provides mandatory bystander intervention training, usually during the first term for new students. This encourages all forms of social tolerance and inclusion as well as covering sexual consent.