Keele University
Encyclopedia
Keele University is a campus university
near Newcastle-under-Lyme
in Staffordshire
, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study
, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours
degree in Britain. The university occupies a 620 acres (250.9 ha) rural campus close to the village of Keele
and houses a science park
and a conference centre, making it the largest single-site campus university in the UK. The university's School of Medicine
and School of Nursing and Midwifery also operate their clinical courses from a separate campus at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire
in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent
.
There are about 5,600 full-time students at Keele, 1,300 part-time students and about 4,000 on professional and short courses. The university intends to increase numbers to 10,000 full-time students.
, then Professor of Philosophy and Master of Balliol College, Oxford
. Lindsay was a strong advocate of working-class adult education, who had first suggested a "people's university" in an address to the North Staffordshire Workers' Educational Association
in 1925.
On 13 March 1946, Lindsay wrote to Sir Walter Moberly
, chair of the University Grants Committee
(UGC), suggesting the establishment of a college “on new lines”. Established practice was for new colleges to be launched without degree-awarding powers, instead taking external degree
s of the University of London
. Crucially, Lindsay wanted to “get rid of the London external degree”, instead forming a college with the authority from the start to set its own syllabus, perhaps acting under the sponsorship of an established university. Lindsay wrote also to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, tentatively requesting just such sponsorship.
An exploratory committee was established by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, chaired by Lindsay and supported by Alderman Thomas Horwood, Vicar of Etruria
and leader of the Labour
group on the City Council. Having secured public funding from the UGC in January 1948, the Committee acquired Keele Hall
, a stately home on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, from its owner, Ralph Sneyd. The Hall, ancestral residence of the Sneyd family, had previously been requisitioned by the War Office
for military use during World War II, and was supplied with the bulk of the Sneyd estate and a number of prefabricated structures erected by the Army, for the sum of £31,000.
was promoted to university status in 1962, receiving a new Royal charter
in January of that year, and adopting the name The University of Keele. This remains the official name, although Keele University is now the everyday usage. It is one of the first so-called "Plate glass universities
" in the country.
opened in 2007.
to the Keele University campus. In August 1995, Keele University merged with North Staffordshire College of Nursing and Midwifery, forming the new School of Nursing and Midwifery.
In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy over the decision by university authorities to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of mathematical printed books including some which had belonged to – and had been heavily annotated by – Isaac Newton
, in order to fund major improvements to the university library. Senior university officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although legally permissible, the sale was unpopular among the academic community and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.
department closed in December 2004, although retaining its physics degree despite the subject facing similar pressures.
In 2009, the university was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize
s for Higher and Further Education, for "pioneering work with the NHS in early intervention and primary care in the treatment of chronic pain and arthritis, linking research to delivery to patients through GP networks and user groups."
Keele's goal is to become the "ultimate 21st-century campus university". The campus is largely rural with 19th century architecture. It is close to Newcastle-under-Lyme
and Hanley
(which is the main centre of the City of Stoke-on-Trent). By rail, Birmingham
, Manchester
, and Liverpool
are about an hour and London
about 90 minutes by rail and three to four hours by road.
Apart from increasing numbers of academic and residential buildings, other facilities include an astronomical observatory
, art gallery, arboretum
, chapel, Islamic centre, shops, cafés and places to eat and drink. Keele Golf Course and practice range are close by. The campus also has science, business enterprise parks and conference centres. It is also home to the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU)
.
The university has planning permission for a building programme on a 80 acres (32.4 ha) part of the campus
for a mixture of academic and residential buildings to accommodate increased student numbers.
just outside the main entrance. These halls provide accommodation for approximately 70% of all full-time students.
Barnes Hall has no M block (it has A to L and N to X) because the building became unsafe due to subsidence and was demolished. The large open area adjacent to L block helped an urban legend
develop that M block sank into the ground due to an abandoned mine tunnel. Another building anomaly is the seventh floor of O Block in Horwood. Although the top storey has windows and walls, the roof was never added.
Students in their first or final year are guaranteed accommodation, provided they apply in time.
Keele University Students' Union
organises social activities throughout the year. There are student socials most nights, with the busiest being "Wednesday Night Project" and a fortnightly "Flirt!
" night) and "Get Funked" on a Friday. The union has several bars - The Lounge, Sam's Bar, Barista and K2 - and restaurants - Harveys Coffee Shop and The Kiln. The Golfer's Arms adjacent to the campus, but this was sold to the local council at the end of 2005.
The students' union magazine, Concourse, is issued about once a month. In the early 1990s the union RAG
committee was instrumental in the formation of the "National Association of RAGs". This wider scope of activity lead to good natured rivalry with other RAG committees, especially Warwick
and Cardiff
.
. The same team also made runner up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
(1979) in the 2002 special University Challenge: Reunited.
In the early 1980s Keele attracted the attention of the national press and television news when some students founded a 'cuddling society' and a 'mass cuddle' was filmed in the car park outside the students' union.
The post-modern sculpture situated outside Keele's Library was stolen by a visiting sports team, only to be later retrieved and securely fitted. In 2005 the same statue was damaged in protest against the university's policy of fining its undergraduate students.
In 2007, Keele University students were responsible for getting Keele featured as a location on the UK 'Here and Now' version of the traditional board game Monopoly
. People in the UK had an opportunity to vote for which places should make the board, and Keele was the highest "wild-card" location which made it on. It even finished higher on the board than London
, and takes the place of "Fleet Street" in the game. Later that year, Keele students won a competition hosted by O2 via Facebook
called "The battle for the UK's favourite university", scoring over 172,000 points by uploading photos, videos and making wall posts on the group. The prize for winning the competition was a party at their students' union, hosted by O2.
(Keele University Broadcasting Enterprises), broadcast over the internet. It is currently the most internationally acclaimed student radio station, with awards for Best Online Only Radio Station in both the New York Festivals and the European Radio Awards.
The best show on air is The Game Show at 10pm on Saturday which attracts the most listeners and is known to the gaming community.
Breadth of study was guaranteed by the "pioneering" four-year dual-honours degree programmes initially offered by Keele. The university's curriculum required every student to study two "principal" subjects to honours level, as well as further "subsidiary" subjects, with an additional requirement that students should study at least one subject from each of the subject groupings of Arts, Sciences and Social Sciences. The cross-disciplinary requirement was reinforced by the Foundation Year, an innovation which meant that for the first year of the four-year programmes, all students would study a common course of interdisciplinary
"foundation studies". In the words of the first UCNS Prospectus, the programme offered:
Standard three-year degrees were introduced in 1973 and the numbers of students following the Foundation Year course have steadily dwindled since. The Foundation Year has never quite been formally discontinued, however, and remains an option for prospective students who qualify for entry into Higher Education
, but lack subject-specific qualifications for specific degree programmes. By contrast, the Dual Honours system at Keele remains distinctive and popular, with almost 90 per cent of current undergraduates reading dual honours. Able to combine any two available subjects, students have a choice of over 500 degree courses in all. The university also offers a study abroad semester to most of its students.
As an experimental community, Keele was initially founded as a "wholly residential" institution. Of the initial intake of 159 students in October 1950, 149 were resident on campus, and it was required of the first professors appointed that they should also be in residence. With the expansion of the university, total residency has long since been abandoned, but the proportion of students and staff resident on campus remains above average at 70% of full-time students and a significant proportion of staff currently live on campus.
The university also had a reputation for political activism, especially left-wing
radicalism, having been dubbed, in its early years, a "School for Socialists" and "The Kremlin on the Hill". This left-wing radicalism largely faded over time, and symbolically ended in January 2008, when Keele became the last university in Britain to close its 'industrial relations' department.
Keele has a graduation rate of over 90%, with over 60% achieving 1sts or 2:1s. 90% of undergraduates are state-educated (a figure exceeded by only two traditional universities in England), and over 25% of students are from working-class backgrounds. In recent years Keele has attempted to boost this number by reaching out to local schools and hosting a summer school at the university. In February 2011, a Sutton Trust report revealed that 3·4% of Keele had had free school meal
s, whilst 7·9% had attended independent schools. This compares the national figures for England of 14% eligible for free school meals, and 7% independently educated.
Notes (i) '=' means equal with one or more other institutions (ii) 32/122 means 32nd out of 122 institutions evaluated (iii) 301-350 means in the band between 301st and 350th rank
(QAA) conducted an audit of Keele's teaching in May 2004 and reported "broad confidence" in the uversity's teaching quality. There are three faculties:
All Keele’s courses are modular, with the academic year divided into two 15-week semesters, with breaks at Christmas and Easter. There are approximately 14 students to every member of staff.
In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise
, the research of one department (Law) was rated 5* and that of a further six departments (English, Mathematics (Applied), History, American Studies, the School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment (since 2003: the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy) ("SPIRE") and the Centre for Science and Technology in Medicine ("CSTM")) was rated 5. An interdepartmental submission to the Social Policy and Administration panel was also rated 5. In the 2008 exercise 45 per cent of the work submitted was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.
Research in psychology, biology, Russian, music, business and management studies and community-based clinical subjects was also highly rated in the RAE 2001.
Research activities are co-ordinated by a Graduate School and organised in five Research Institutes:
Since 2005, an Office of Research and Enterprise has managed Keele's "enterprise activities".
The cochlear implant
was developed in the Department of Communication and Neuroscience at Keele. Other medical research includes detecting Parkinson's disease
early, and using Stem cell
research to aid the healing process. Other notable medical research includes attempts to explain the evolution of the human brain, looking into links between cannabis
and mental illness (cited in the debate on 2009 reclassification debate), as well as tumour
and cancer
research.
Sociological research includes middle class
behaviour especially findings that suggested that the 'law abiding majority' theory was a myth, and that middle class persons were more likely to commit crimes than commonly believed. Other research has been undertaken into the effectiveness of social work, including care for the elderly. Educational research has shown how music can help a child develop in school, and how health and safety had affected British children. Other research has shown how e-mail
s have made communication more complex.
The university has also undertaken sports-related research projects, and has worked with the Premier League to develop technology for detecting offside players. Keele academics have also conducted research into how women perceived sport.
In August 2009, university astronomers, led by David Anderson, discovered the first planet that orbits in the opposite direction to the spin of its star. The planet was named WASP-17b
.
In 2010 Richard Stephens, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston won the Ig Nobel prize
for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain.
In 2010 a medical centre in Newport, Shropshire
was completed, for students to learn in real medical situations and research medical sciences.
to lacrosse
and dodgeball
. Sports teams and issues raised are managed by the Athletic Union. The leisure centre is one of the largest dry leisure complexes in Staffordshire. The centre has two national standard sports halls, a single court gymnasium, a fitness centre, dance studio and climbing wall. Outside there is an all weather floodlit AstroTurf
pitch, tennis courts and extensive playing fields. It is also the first university centre in the UK to offer a full "Kinesis" gym facility.
Keele University Sports Centre hosts the matches of Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club
, providing around 110 tiered seats with the perfect view of some of the best matches in English Volleyball
. The university's sports centre has also hosted to the "Last 8s" competition of the Volleyball England
under 16 and under 18 cups in recent years, as well as the senior cup semi-finals.
Principals and Vice-Chancellors
Presidents and Chancellors
National Teaching Fellows
Academics
Arts, Media, Entertainment, Sports
Politics
Public service
Campus university
A campus university is a British term for a university situated on one site, with student accommodation, teaching and research facilities, and leisure activities all together...
near Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours
Joint Honours
Joint Honours is a specific type of degree offered generally at the Honours Bachelor's degree level by certain universities in Ireland, the UK, Canada, Malta, and Australia...
degree in Britain. The university occupies a 620 acres (250.9 ha) rural campus close to the village of Keele
Keele
Keele is a village and civil parish in northern Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale...
and houses a science park
Science park
A research park, science park, or science and technology park is an area with a collection of buildings dedicated to scientific research on a business footing. There are many approximate synonyms for "science park", including research park, technology park, technopolis and biomedical park...
and a conference centre, making it the largest single-site campus university in the UK. The university's School of Medicine
Keele University Medical School
Keele University School of Medicine based at Keele University in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, England, was established in 2002. The first two years of the school's MBChB course are taught on Keele University campus...
and School of Nursing and Midwifery also operate their clinical courses from a separate campus at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire
University Hospital of North Staffordshire
The University Hospital of North Staffordshire is a major teaching & research hospital in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, England, near the border with Newcastle-under-Lyme...
in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
.
There are about 5,600 full-time students at Keele, 1,300 part-time students and about 4,000 on professional and short courses. The university intends to increase numbers to 10,000 full-time students.
1940s
Keele University was established in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, at the initiative of A D LindsayAlexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker
Alexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker CBE known as Sandie Lindsay, was a British academic and peer.-Early life:...
, then Professor of Philosophy and Master of Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. Lindsay was a strong advocate of working-class adult education, who had first suggested a "people's university" in an address to the North Staffordshire Workers' Educational Association
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers’ Educational Association seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations has consultative status to UNESCO...
in 1925.
On 13 March 1946, Lindsay wrote to Sir Walter Moberly
Walter Hamilton Moberly
Sir Walter Hamilton Moberly, GBE, KCB, Kt, DSO was a British academic.-Life:The son of Rev. Robert Campbell Moberly and the grandson of George Moberly, he was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford...
, chair of the University Grants Committee
University Grants Committee (UK)
The University Grants Committee was an advisory committee of the British government, which advised on the distribution of grant funding amongst the British universities. It was in existence from 1919 until 1989...
(UGC), suggesting the establishment of a college “on new lines”. Established practice was for new colleges to be launched without degree-awarding powers, instead taking external degree
External degree
An external degree is a degree offered by a university to students who have not been required to be physically present within the geographic territory of the institution. These undergraduates may be called external students and may study at classes unconnected with the university, or independently,...
s of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. Crucially, Lindsay wanted to “get rid of the London external degree”, instead forming a college with the authority from the start to set its own syllabus, perhaps acting under the sponsorship of an established university. Lindsay wrote also to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, tentatively requesting just such sponsorship.
An exploratory committee was established by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, chaired by Lindsay and supported by Alderman Thomas Horwood, Vicar of Etruria
Etruria, Staffordshire
Etruria is a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.-Home of Wedgwood:Etruria was the fourth and penultimate site for the Wedgwood pottery business. Josiah Wedgwood, who was previously based in Burslem, opened his new works in 1769. It was named after the Italian district of Etruria,...
and leader of the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
group on the City Council. Having secured public funding from the UGC in January 1948, the Committee acquired Keele Hall
Keele Hall
Keele Hall is a 19th century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.-History:...
, a stately home on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, from its owner, Ralph Sneyd. The Hall, ancestral residence of the Sneyd family, had previously been requisitioned by the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
for military use during World War II, and was supplied with the bulk of the Sneyd estate and a number of prefabricated structures erected by the Army, for the sum of £31,000.
1950s
The first graduate was Margaret Boulds in 1954, graduating in Philosophy and English. Growing steadily, the University CollegeUniversity college
The term "university college" is used in a number of countries to denote college institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university...
was promoted to university status in 1962, receiving a new Royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in January of that year, and adopting the name The University of Keele. This remains the official name, although Keele University is now the everyday usage. It is one of the first so-called "Plate glass universities
Plate glass university
The term plate glass university has come into use by some to refer to one of the several universities founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s in the era of the Robbins Report on higher education. In some cases these were older schools with new Royal Charters, now making them universities...
" in the country.
School of Medicine
In 1968, the Royal Commission on Medical Education (1965–68) issued the "Todd Report", which considered the possibility of a medical school being established at Keele. It was thought that North Staffordshire would be a good site, having a large local population and several large hospitals. It was considered that a minimum intake of 150 students a year would be necessary to make a medical school at economically and educationally viable. However, the university was at that time too small to support a medical school of this size. However, in 1978, Keele Department of Postgraduate Medicine opened. This conducted medical research and postgraduate medical education, but did not teach undergraduate medical students. In 2002, some students from Manchester Medical School began being taught at Keele. Finally Keele's own medical schoolKeele University Medical School
Keele University School of Medicine based at Keele University in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, England, was established in 2002. The first two years of the school's MBChB course are taught on Keele University campus...
opened in 2007.
1990s
In 1994, the Oswestry and North Staffordshire School of Physiotherapy (ONSSP), which had been a separate institution based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire, merged with Keele University, becoming Keele's Department of Physiotherapy Studies, and relocating from OswestryOswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
to the Keele University campus. In August 1995, Keele University merged with North Staffordshire College of Nursing and Midwifery, forming the new School of Nursing and Midwifery.
In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy over the decision by university authorities to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of mathematical printed books including some which had belonged to – and had been heavily annotated by – Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, in order to fund major improvements to the university library. Senior university officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although legally permissible, the sale was unpopular among the academic community and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.
2000s
Due to declining popularity and funding, the GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
department closed in December 2004, although retaining its physics degree despite the subject facing similar pressures.
In 2009, the university was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize
Queen's Anniversary Prize
The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education is a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to Universities and Colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom...
s for Higher and Further Education, for "pioneering work with the NHS in early intervention and primary care in the treatment of chronic pain and arthritis, linking research to delivery to patients through GP networks and user groups."
Campus
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
and Hanley
Hanley
Hanley, in Staffordshire, England, is one of the six major towns that joined together to form the city of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910. Hanley was the only one of the six towns to be a county borough before the merger; its status was transferred to the enlarged borough...
(which is the main centre of the City of Stoke-on-Trent). By rail, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
are about an hour and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
about 90 minutes by rail and three to four hours by road.
Apart from increasing numbers of academic and residential buildings, other facilities include an astronomical observatory
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, art gallery, arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
, chapel, Islamic centre, shops, cafés and places to eat and drink. Keele Golf Course and practice range are close by. The campus also has science, business enterprise parks and conference centres. It is also home to the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU)
ESEU
The Earth Science Education Unit is based at Keele University. ESEU develops and provides continuous professional development workshops and resources for teachers and trainee teachers in Earth science Education across the UK .-History:...
.
The university has planning permission for a building programme on a 80 acres (32.4 ha) part of the campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
for a mixture of academic and residential buildings to accommodate increased student numbers.
Halls of residence
There are five halls of residence on the main campus: Barnes, Lindsay, Holly Cross, The Oaks and Horwood. Hawthorns Hall is located off site in Keele VillageKeele
Keele is a village and civil parish in northern Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale...
just outside the main entrance. These halls provide accommodation for approximately 70% of all full-time students.
Barnes Hall has no M block (it has A to L and N to X) because the building became unsafe due to subsidence and was demolished. The large open area adjacent to L block helped an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
develop that M block sank into the ground due to an abandoned mine tunnel. Another building anomaly is the seventh floor of O Block in Horwood. Although the top storey has windows and walls, the roof was never added.
Students in their first or final year are guaranteed accommodation, provided they apply in time.
Students' union
Keele University Students' Union
Keele University Students' Union is the students' union of Keele University, England.-Overview:The main Students' Union building at the University of Keele was designed by architects Stillman & Eastwick-Field , with some guidance from the University's architect, J.A...
organises social activities throughout the year. There are student socials most nights, with the busiest being "Wednesday Night Project" and a fortnightly "Flirt!
Flirt!
flirt! is the name of a nightclub brand that was started at the University of Surrey Students' Union and later sold to, and developed by the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom services for the purpose of providing a recognisable night for University students across the United Kingdom...
" night) and "Get Funked" on a Friday. The union has several bars - The Lounge, Sam's Bar, Barista and K2 - and restaurants - Harveys Coffee Shop and The Kiln. The Golfer's Arms adjacent to the campus, but this was sold to the local council at the end of 2005.
The students' union magazine, Concourse, is issued about once a month. In the early 1990s the union RAG
RAG (student society)
University Rag societies are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in South Africa and the Netherlands have a Rag...
committee was instrumental in the formation of the "National Association of RAGs". This wider scope of activity lead to good natured rivalry with other RAG committees, especially Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
and Cardiff
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
.
Student activity
The Keele university team won the 1968 series of University ChallengeUniversity Challenge
University Challenge is a British quiz programme that has aired since 1962. The format is based on the American show College Bowl, which ran on NBC radio from 1953 to 1957, and on NBC television from 1959 to 1970....
. The same team also made runner up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England.The college was founded in 1596 and named after its foundress, Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex. It was from its inception an avowedly Puritan foundation: some good and godlie moniment for the mainteynance...
(1979) in the 2002 special University Challenge: Reunited.
In the early 1980s Keele attracted the attention of the national press and television news when some students founded a 'cuddling society' and a 'mass cuddle' was filmed in the car park outside the students' union.
The post-modern sculpture situated outside Keele's Library was stolen by a visiting sports team, only to be later retrieved and securely fitted. In 2005 the same statue was damaged in protest against the university's policy of fining its undergraduate students.
In 2007, Keele University students were responsible for getting Keele featured as a location on the UK 'Here and Now' version of the traditional board game Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
. People in the UK had an opportunity to vote for which places should make the board, and Keele was the highest "wild-card" location which made it on. It even finished higher on the board than London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and takes the place of "Fleet Street" in the game. Later that year, Keele students won a competition hosted by O2 via Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
called "The battle for the UK's favourite university", scoring over 172,000 points by uploading photos, videos and making wall posts on the group. The prize for winning the competition was a party at their students' union, hosted by O2.
KUBE Radio
There is also a very popular student radio station called KUBE RadioKube Radio
This article is about a student radio station in England. For the radio station in Seattle, Washington, see KUBE .Keele University Broadcasting Enterprise is a student run radio station at Keele University in Staffordshire, England and has now been running for fifteen years...
(Keele University Broadcasting Enterprises), broadcast over the internet. It is currently the most internationally acclaimed student radio station, with awards for Best Online Only Radio Station in both the New York Festivals and the European Radio Awards.
The best show on air is The Game Show at 10pm on Saturday which attracts the most listeners and is known to the gaming community.
Reputation and academic organisation
The university's distinctive profile reflects the aims of its founders: breadth of study and community atmosphere.Breadth of study was guaranteed by the "pioneering" four-year dual-honours degree programmes initially offered by Keele. The university's curriculum required every student to study two "principal" subjects to honours level, as well as further "subsidiary" subjects, with an additional requirement that students should study at least one subject from each of the subject groupings of Arts, Sciences and Social Sciences. The cross-disciplinary requirement was reinforced by the Foundation Year, an innovation which meant that for the first year of the four-year programmes, all students would study a common course of interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
"foundation studies". In the words of the first UCNS Prospectus, the programme offered:
Standard three-year degrees were introduced in 1973 and the numbers of students following the Foundation Year course have steadily dwindled since. The Foundation Year has never quite been formally discontinued, however, and remains an option for prospective students who qualify for entry into Higher Education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, but lack subject-specific qualifications for specific degree programmes. By contrast, the Dual Honours system at Keele remains distinctive and popular, with almost 90 per cent of current undergraduates reading dual honours. Able to combine any two available subjects, students have a choice of over 500 degree courses in all. The university also offers a study abroad semester to most of its students.
As an experimental community, Keele was initially founded as a "wholly residential" institution. Of the initial intake of 159 students in October 1950, 149 were resident on campus, and it was required of the first professors appointed that they should also be in residence. With the expansion of the university, total residency has long since been abandoned, but the proportion of students and staff resident on campus remains above average at 70% of full-time students and a significant proportion of staff currently live on campus.
The university also had a reputation for political activism, especially left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
radicalism, having been dubbed, in its early years, a "School for Socialists" and "The Kremlin on the Hill". This left-wing radicalism largely faded over time, and symbolically ended in January 2008, when Keele became the last university in Britain to close its 'industrial relations' department.
Keele has a graduation rate of over 90%, with over 60% achieving 1sts or 2:1s. 90% of undergraduates are state-educated (a figure exceeded by only two traditional universities in England), and over 25% of students are from working-class backgrounds. In recent years Keele has attempted to boost this number by reaching out to local schools and hosting a summer school at the university. In February 2011, a Sutton Trust report revealed that 3·4% of Keele had had free school meal
Free school meal
A Free School Meal, provided to a child or young person during a school break, is paid for by Government. For a child to qualify for a Free School Meal, their parent or carer must be receiving particular qualifying benefits as stated by Government...
s, whilst 7·9% had attended independent schools. This compares the national figures for England of 14% eligible for free school meals, and 7% independently educated.
Ranking
| 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian University Guide | 54 | 44 | ||
| Times Good University Guide | 45 | 40/109 | ||
| Sunday Times University Guide | =32/122 | 40 | ||
| THE (Times Higher World) | 301-350 |
Notes (i) '=' means equal with one or more other institutions (ii) 32/122 means 32nd out of 122 institutions evaluated (iii) 301-350 means in the band between 301st and 350th rank
Teaching
The Quality Assurance AgencyQuality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
Established in 1997, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education works to ensure that higher education qualifications in the United Kingdom are of a sound standard. It protects the public interest by checking how universities and colleges maintain their academic standards and quality...
(QAA) conducted an audit of Keele's teaching in May 2004 and reported "broad confidence" in the uversity's teaching quality. There are three faculties:
- The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences contains the Schools of
- Public Policy and Professional Practice (Education, Social Work, Gerontology, Health Policy, Public Policy, Clinical Management and Leadership)
- Economic & Management Studies (Economics, Health Planning and Management, Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Management)
- Humanities (American studies, English, History, Languages, Culture and Creative Arts)
- Law (Professional Ethics, Law)
- Politics, International Relations & Philosophy
- Sociology and Criminology
- The Faculty of Natural Sciences contains the Schools of
- Computing & Mathematics
- Life Sciences
- Earth Sciences & Geography
- Physical & Geographical Sciences
- Psychology
- The Faculty of Health contains the Schools of
- Health & RehabilitationSchool of Health and Rehabilitation (Keele University)Keele University School of Health and Rehabilitation is a teaching department of Keele University, Staffordshire, England. All programmes offered by the school are taught in the MacKay Building on the Keele University campus near Newcastle under Lyme. The School also uses facilities at the Keele...
(PhysiotherapyPhysical therapyPhysical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
) - MedicineKeele University Medical SchoolKeele University School of Medicine based at Keele University in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, England, was established in 2002. The first two years of the school's MBChB course are taught on Keele University campus...
- Pharmacy
- Nursing & Midwifery
- Health & Rehabilitation
All Keele’s courses are modular, with the academic year divided into two 15-week semesters, with breaks at Christmas and Easter. There are approximately 14 students to every member of staff.
Research
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise is an exercise undertaken approximately every 5 years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British higher education institutions...
, the research of one department (Law) was rated 5* and that of a further six departments (English, Mathematics (Applied), History, American Studies, the School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment (since 2003: the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy) ("SPIRE") and the Centre for Science and Technology in Medicine ("CSTM")) was rated 5. An interdepartmental submission to the Social Policy and Administration panel was also rated 5. In the 2008 exercise 45 per cent of the work submitted was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.
Research in psychology, biology, Russian, music, business and management studies and community-based clinical subjects was also highly rated in the RAE 2001.
Research activities are co-ordinated by a Graduate School and organised in five Research Institutes:
- Humanities
- Social Sciences
- Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM)
- Science and Technology in Medicine
- Primary Care and Health Sciences
Since 2005, an Office of Research and Enterprise has managed Keele's "enterprise activities".
The cochlear implant
Cochlear implant
A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing...
was developed in the Department of Communication and Neuroscience at Keele. Other medical research includes detecting Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
early, and using Stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
research to aid the healing process. Other notable medical research includes attempts to explain the evolution of the human brain, looking into links between cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
and mental illness (cited in the debate on 2009 reclassification debate), as well as tumour
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
research.
Sociological research includes middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
behaviour especially findings that suggested that the 'law abiding majority' theory was a myth, and that middle class persons were more likely to commit crimes than commonly believed. Other research has been undertaken into the effectiveness of social work, including care for the elderly. Educational research has shown how music can help a child develop in school, and how health and safety had affected British children. Other research has shown how e-mail
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
s have made communication more complex.
The university has also undertaken sports-related research projects, and has worked with the Premier League to develop technology for detecting offside players. Keele academics have also conducted research into how women perceived sport.
In August 2009, university astronomers, led by David Anderson, discovered the first planet that orbits in the opposite direction to the spin of its star. The planet was named WASP-17b
WASP-17b
WASP-17b is an exoplanet in the constellation Scorpius that is orbiting the star WASP-17. Its discovery was announced on 11 August 2009. It is the first planet discovered to have a retrograde orbit, meaning it orbits in a direction counter to the rotation of its host star. This discovery changed...
.
In 2010 Richard Stephens, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston won the Ig Nobel prize
Ig Nobel Prize
The Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to "first make people laugh, and then make them think"...
for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain.
In 2010 a medical centre in Newport, Shropshire
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...
was completed, for students to learn in real medical situations and research medical sciences.
Sport
Keele has a tradition of participation in many different sports, ranging from rugbyRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
to lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and dodgeball
Dodgeball
Dodgeball is any of a variety of games in which players try to hit other players on the opposing team with balls while avoiding being hit themselves. This article is about a well-known form of team sport with modified rules that is often played in physical education classes and has been featured...
. Sports teams and issues raised are managed by the Athletic Union. The leisure centre is one of the largest dry leisure complexes in Staffordshire. The centre has two national standard sports halls, a single court gymnasium, a fitness centre, dance studio and climbing wall. Outside there is an all weather floodlit AstroTurf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
pitch, tennis courts and extensive playing fields. It is also the first university centre in the UK to offer a full "Kinesis" gym facility.
Keele University Sports Centre hosts the matches of Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club
Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club
Newcastle Volleyball Club is an English volleyball club based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, affiliated to Volleyball England, with teams competing at national level for women, men, girls and boys...
, providing around 110 tiered seats with the perfect view of some of the best matches in English Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
. The university's sports centre has also hosted to the "Last 8s" competition of the Volleyball England
Volleyball England
Volleyball England, is the trading name for the English Volleyball Association Limited or EVA, and is the controlling body for volleyball in England. It picks the national team, runs the National Volleyball League, National Knock-Out Cup and Student Cup and organises the training and assessment of...
under 16 and under 18 cups in recent years, as well as the senior cup semi-finals.
List of university officers
- Lord Lindsay of BirkerAlexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of BirkerAlexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker CBE known as Sandie Lindsay, was a British academic and peer.-Early life:...
(1949–52) - Sir John Lennard-JonesJohn Lennard-JonesSir John Edward Lennard-Jones KBE, FRS was a mathematician who was a professor of theoretical physics at Bristol University, and then of theoretical science at Cambridge University...
(1953–54) - Sir George BarnesGeorge Barnes (BBC)Sir George Reginald Barnes was a British broadcasting executive, who was a station Controller of both BBC Radio and later BBC Television in the 1940s and 1950s...
(1956–60) - Dr Harold McCarter TaylorHarold McCarter TaylorHarold McCarter Taylor CBE TD was a New Zealand-born British mathematician, theoretical physicist and academic administrator, but is best known as a historian of architecture and the author, with his first wife Joan Taylor, née Sills, of the three volumes of Anglo-Saxon Architecture, published...
(1961–67) - Professor W. A. Campbell Stewart (1967–79)
- Dr D. Harrison (1979–84)
- Professor Sir Brian FenderBrian FenderSir Brian Fender is an English academic executive. He was Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England from 1995-2001...
(1985–95) - Professor Dame Janet FinchJanet FinchDame Janet Valerie Finch DBE, DL, AcSS is a British sociologist and academic administrator. She was Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Social Relations at Keele University, and has held a number of other public appointments in the UK...
(1995–2010) - Professor Nick FoskettNick FoskettNicholas H. "Nick" Foskett is Vice-Chancellor at Keele University in Staffordshire . He was formerly a Professor of Education at the University of Southampton and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences.-Biography:...
(2010-)
Presidents and Chancellors
Chancellor of Keele University
The Chancellor of Keele University is the ceremonial head of Keele University. The position was originally the President of the University College of North Staffordshire, changing to the Chancellor when the institution became a full university in 1962....
- The Earl of Harrowby (1949–55)
- HRH Princess MargaretPrincess Margaret, Countess of SnowdonPrincess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
(1956–86) - Claus MoserClaus Moser, Baron MoserClaus Adolf Moser, Baron Moser, KCB, CBE is a British statistician who has made major contributions in both academia and the Civil Service...
(Lord Moser from 2001) (1986–2002) - Professor Sir David WeatherallDavid WeatherallSir David John Weatherall is a British physician and researcher in molecular genetics, haematology, pathology and clinical medicine....
(2002-2012) - Jonathon PorrittJonathon PorrittJonathon Espie Porritt, CBE, is an English environmentalist and writer. Porritt appears frequently in the media, writing in magazines, newspapers and books, and appearing on radio and television regularly.-Early life and family background:...
(9 February 2012-)
Notable academics
- Professor Patrick Bailey - Dean of Natural Sciences, NTF at Manchester
- Dr Stephen Bostock - previously Head of the Learning Development Unit
- Dr Jonathan Parker - Senior Lecturer in Politics
- Peter Knight - Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography
- Professor Val Wass - Head of the Medical School, NTF at Manchester
Notable alumni
- Tony BarrandTony BarrandDr. Anthony Grant Barrand is an academic and musician residing in Brattleboro, Vermont. He is Professor of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, where his courses include "Stalking the Wild Mind: The Psychology and Folklore of Extra-Sensory Perception and Psychic...
- Anthropologist and folk musician - Stan BeckensallStan BeckensallStan Beckensall is an international rock art expert. He was the first male graduate of Keele University. He was a Station Education Officer in the Royal Air Force, on National Service. He became head of English at Ifield Grammar School, Crawley New Town, Sussex. He was head of English in a large...
- Prehistoric rock art expert - Sandra DawsonSandra DawsonDame Sandra June Noble Dawson DBE, was Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University and is KPMG Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Business School. She was also Director of the Judge Business School from 1995 to 2006...
- Organisational theorist - Jonathan DollimoreJonathan DollimoreJonathan Dollimore is a British sociologist and social theorist in the fields of Renaissance literature , gender studies, queer theory , art, censorship, history of ideas, death studies, decadence, and cultural theory...
- Sociologist; cultural and literary theorist - Richard EnglishRichard EnglishRichard English is a historian from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast in 1963. His father, Donald English was a prominent Methodist preacher. He studied as an undergraduate at Keble College, Oxford, and subsequently at Keele University, where he was awarded a PhD in History...
- Political historian - Charles Ian Hamilton - Naval historian
- Sam NolutshunguSam NolutshunguSamuel Clement Nolutshungu was one of the foremost South African scholars, and an internationally acclaimed expert on South African politics....
- Political scientist - Antti Sakari SaarioAntti Sakari SaarioAntti Saario is a contemporary electroacoustic composer and academic.- Career :Born in Lahti, Finland, Antti Sakari Saario graduated in Mathematics and Electronic music at Keele University in 1997....
- Composer and lecturer - Malcolm ShawMalcolm ShawMalcolm Nathan Shaw QC is a British legal academic, author, editor and lawyer.-Early life:Shaw studied at the University of Liverpool , the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Keele University .-Career:...
- Law scholar - Beverley SkeggsBeverley SkeggsBeverley Skeggs was born in Middlesbrough and studied at University of York , Keele University . She has worked at Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education , Worcester College of Higher Education , University of York...
- Sociologist - Joan StringerJoan StringerDame Joan Kathleen Stringer, DBE, FRSE, FRSA is a British political scientist and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.-Education:...
- Political scientist
Arts, Media, Entertainment, Sports
- John AbramJohn AbramJohn Abram is an Anglo-Canadian composer best known for his work with electroacoustic music.Born in England, Abram became interested in music when he was six; he began composing in his teenage years...
- Composer - Philip AveryPhilip AveryPhilip Avery is a national BBC Weather forecaster, appearing regularly on BBC News, BBC World News, BBC Red Button, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Radio 4, where he is a regular forecaster on the Today programme...
- Weather forecaster - Yvette BakerYvette BakerYvette Baker is Britain's most successful orienteer. At the 1999 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness she won the short distance event.- Biography :...
- Champion orienteer - Francis BeckettFrancis BeckettFrancis Beckett is an English author, journalist, biographer, and contemporary historian. He has written biographies of Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He has also written on education for the New Statesman, The Guardian and The Independent...
- Writer, known for his biographies of Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007... - Jo BeverleyJo BeverleyJo Beverley, née Mary Josephine Dunn is a prolific British-Canadian writer of popular historical romance novels....
- Author (romantic novelist) - Carol BirchCarol BirchCarol Birch is a British novelist and attended Keele University. The author of eleven novels, she won the 1988 David Higham Award for the Best First Novel of the Year for Life in the Palace, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize with The Fog Line in 1991, and she was long-listed for the 2003 ManBooker...
- Writer - Wayne ClarkeWayne Clarke (broadcaster)Wayne Clarke is an award-winning radio presenter and producer.He is the current holder of the Andrew Cross Award as "Religious Broadcaster of the Year ", one of the premier awards for the religious media in the United Kingdom...
- Radio presenter - David Edwards - Second person to win top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty...
- Tony Elliott - Founder and owner of Time Out
- Jack EmeryJack EmeryJack Emery is a British director, writer and producer for stage, TV and radio. He was educated at Keele University. He began his career producing and acting at Keele, most notably in his first one-man show taken from the novels and plays of Samuel Beckett, called "A Remnant", which played in the...
- Television and radio producer - Janet FitchJanet FitchJanet Fitch is most famously known as the author of the Oprah's Book Club novel White Oleander, which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College, located in Portland, Oregon....
- Author of White OleanderWhite OleanderWhite Oleander is a 1999 novel by American author Janet Fitch. It is a coming-of-age story about a child who is separated from her mother and placed in a series of foster homes. The book was a selection by Oprah's Book Club in May 1999 and became a 2002 film.-Plot summary:Astrid Magnussen is a...
, Paint It Black, and Marina Makarova - Jem FinerJem FinerJem Finer is an English musician, artist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Pogues.-Life and career:...
- Member and songwriter of The PoguesThe PoguesThe Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before... - Zulfikar GhoseZulfikar GhoseZulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism....
- Novelist - Andrew Glover - Composer
- Jon HaylettJon HaylettJon Haylett is a novelist born in Dar-es-Salaam .He moved to Mombasa, Kenya in 1950 but was educated in England from the age of nine...
- Novelist - Robert Henderson - Writer
- Brian HopkinsBrian HopkinsBrian J. Hopkins is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Hopkins played for Keele University before joining Port Vale as an amateur in August 1957. He made his debut in a 6–1 home win over Aldershot on 21 December 1957 and got his second game in a 1–0 defeat at Coventry City on Christmas...
- Professional footballer - Steve Jackson - Co-founder of Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
and Fighting FantasyFighting FantasyFighting Fantasy is a series of single-player fantasy roleplay gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volumes in the series were published by Puffin in 1982, with the rights to the franchise eventually being purchased by Wizard Books in 2002... - Liz KesslerLiz KesslerLiz Kessler is a British author of children's books, most notably a series about a half-mermaid called Emily Windsnap.- Biography :Liz Kessler lives in St Ives, Cornwall...
- Writer - Greg LambertGreg LambertGreg Lambert is a professional wrestling manager, journalist, promoter and ring announcer.-Early years:From 1990-1994, Lambert studied English and History at Keele University...
- Professional wrestling executive - Marina LewyckaMarina LewyckaMarina Lewycka is a British novelist of Ukrainian origin, currently living in Sheffield, England.-Biography:Marina Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England where she now lives...
- Author - Andy McDermottAndy McDermottAndy McDermott is a British thriller author, and former journalist, magazine editor and film critic.-Characters:To date, McDermott's books have all featured the same two lead characters: Dr Nina Wilde, a young American archaeologist, the later founder of Atlantis, El Dorado and many more...
- Author - Peter Moore - Businessman - President of EA SportsEA SportsEA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
- Marina OliverMarina OliverMarina Oliver , is a British writer of romance novels since 1974, she also wrote under the pseudonyms of Sally James, Donna Hunt, Bridget Thorn, Vesta Hathaway, Livvy West and Laura Hart...
- Novelist - Keith OvendenKeith OvendenKeith Ovenden is an English novelist and biographer.Ovenden was born and raised in London; he was educated at Wanstead County High School. He went on to study for degrees at the University of Keele , University of Michigan and the University of Oxford.He started his career lecturing at the...
- Writer - Adrian PangAdrian PangAdrian Pang is a Singaporean Chinese actor who trained at the ARTTS International in Bubwith, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Born in Malacca, Malaysia, he was educated at Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore, and in the United Kingdom. Although he studied law at Keele University, he has not...
- Singaporean actor - David PownallDavid PownallDavid Pownall FRSL is a British playwright and author of novels and short stories. Some of his plays have been adapted as films, for instance, Music to Murder By , and others were written as radio plays.-Life and career:...
- Writer - Ken RattenburyKen RattenburyKen Rattenbury was an English jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer and author born in Spilsby, Lincolnshire to Sidney, a postman, and Maude , a homemaker. He would go on to serve in the British Army from 1940-1946 as a private first class...
- Jazz musician - Sue RobbieSue RobbieSue Robbie grew up in the north-west of England and was educated at Keele University, where she read English and Psychology...
- Television presenter - Davide RossiDavide RossiDavide Francesco Rossi , is a violinist, string arranger, composer and a record producer, perhaps best known for being the violinist, guitar and keytar-player for the British electronic music group Goldfrapp, and for his large contribution of electric violin parts and for all the string...
- Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning musician - Greg SammonsGreg Sammons (broadcaster)Greg Sammons presents traffic and travel for talkSPORT, a national DAB/AM radio station. He also does the travel for a number of stations in the Midlands including BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, BBC Radio Derby, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio Stoke and BBC WM....
- Radio presenter and talkSPORTTalkSPORTTalksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
travel reporter - Peter WhelanPeter WhelanPeter Whelan is a British playwright.Whelan was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, England. His works includes seven plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the first of which was Captain Swing, in 1979...
- Playwright - Mark WorrallMark WorrallMark Worrall is a British author born in London in 1961 who is mainly associated with football literature, and more specifically Chelsea Football Club....
- Author
Politics
- Phillida BunklePhillida BunklePhillida Bunkle is a former New Zealand politician. She was born in Sussex, England.She was educated at Keele University, England, receiving a BA with First Class Honours; Smith College, Massachusetts, USA, receiving a MA; and St Anne's College, Oxford...
- New Zealand politician (Alliance Party) - Paul Clark - LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1997–2010) - Don Foster - Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1992–) - John GoldingJohn Golding (British politician)John Golding was a Labour Party politician and Trade Union leader in the United Kingdom.He was educated at Chester Grammar School, Keele University and the London School of Economics...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1969–86) and trade union leader - Eric JoyceEric JoyceEric Stuart Joyce is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Falkirk since 2005. Joyce served as a Private in the Black Watch before attending University and subsequently rejoining the army as a commissioned officer...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(2000–) - Hso Khan PhaHso Khan PhaHis Royal Highness Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe, FIASR is a consulting geologist who lives in exile in Canada. He is son of Sao Shwe Thaik, the Saopha of Yawnghwe and Sao-nang Hearn Hkam, the Mahadevi...
- Exiled Burmese prince, human-rights activist and geologist - Claire KoberClaire KoberCllr Claire Kober is a Labour Party politician in Haringey, north London, England.She was born in Canvey Island in Essex in 1978 and was educated at the University of Keele and the University of East Anglia...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Councillor in London - Alun MichaelAlun MichaelAlun Edward Michael is a British Labour Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Cardiff South and Penarth since 1987. He was formerly First Minister of Wales and leader of the Welsh Labour Party from 1999 to 2000.-Education:Michael was born at Bryngwran Anglesey, son of...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1987–) and former First Minister for WalesFirst Minister for WalesThe First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the...
(1999–2000) - Madeleine MoonMadeleine MoonMadeleine Moon is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Bridgend since 2005, succeeding Win Griffiths, who retired from politics.- Early life :...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(2005–) - Netumbo Nandi-NdaitwahNetumbo Nandi-NdaitwahNetumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO, Nandi-Ndaitwah is the Minister of Environment and Tourism since March 2010 and a long-time member of the National Assembly of Namibia....
- SWAPO Minister of Information and Broadcasting - Priti PatelPriti PatelPriti Patel is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. First elected in the 2010 general election, she is the Member of Parliament for the Witham constituency, and an officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel group....
- Conservative MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(2010–) - Clare ShortClare ShortClare Short is a British politician, and a member of the Labour Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood from 1983 to 2010; for most of this period she was a Labour Party MP, but she resigned the party whip in 2006 and served the remainder of her term as an Independent. She...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1983–2010) and Secretary of State for International DevelopmentSecretary of State for International DevelopmentIn the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...
(1997–2003) - Adelaide TamboAdelaide TamboAdelaide "Mama" Tambo was a prominent anti-apartheid activist, political exile, and regarded as a hero of the liberation struggle against apartheid in South Africa....
- South African politician and anti-apartheid activist - Ian Taylor - Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(1987–2010) - John Taylor, Baron Taylor of WarwickJohn Taylor, Baron Taylor of WarwickJohn David Beckett, Baron Taylor of Warwick is a British member of the House of Lords who became the first black Conservative peer in 1996, after unsuccessfully standing as their parliamentary candidate in Cheltenham in the 1992 general election. Taylor initially practised as a barrister and has...
- British politician, first black Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
member of the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.... - Lynda WalthoLynda WalthoLynda Ellen Waltho is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Stourbridge from 2005 to 2010 elected after sitting Labour MP Debra Shipley had stepped down due to ill-health just days before the 2005 election was called...
- LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(2005–2010)
Public service
- Kojo AnnanKojo AnnanKojo Annan is the only son of ex-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. A January 2005 article in The Sunday Times catapulted him to fame when it announced that he had confessed involvement in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme scandal; in a libel settlement eleven months later, the paper announced that it...
- Son of Kofi Annan, former General Secretary of the United Nations - Emran bin BaharEmran bin BaharEmran bin Bahar is a Bruneian diplomat and is currently the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Negara Brunei Darussalam to the Russian Federation.Bahar graduated from Keele University with a B.A...
- Bruneian diplomat - David J. CooneyDavid J. CooneyDavid J. Cooney is an Irish diplomat.Born in London, on 29 April 1954, he holds a BA in Politics and History from Keele University, and has held a number of senior diplomatic posts. From 1974 until 1979 he worked in the Department of Agriculture. Since then he has worked for the Foreign Ministry...
- Irish diplomat, former ambassador to the UK - Jonathan GledhillJonathan GledhillJonathan Michael Gledhill is the 98th Bishop of Lichfield. He was enthroned in Lichfield Cathedral on 15 November 2003....
- Bishop of Lichfield (2003–) - Michael MansfieldMichael MansfieldMichael Mansfield QC is an English barrister. A republican, vegetarian, socialist, and self-described "radical lawyer", he has participated in prominent and controversial court cases and inquests involving accused IRA bombers, the Bloody Sunday incident, and the deaths of Jean Charles de Menezes...
- Barrister, and "radical lawyer" prominent in the Lockerbie bombing and numerous other famous cases - Lord MelchettPeter Mond, 4th Baron MelchettPeter Robert Henry Mond, 4th Baron Melchett , son of the British Steel Corporation Chairman Sir Julian Mond and Sonia Melchett , was educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he read Law...
- Former Executive Director of GreenpeaceGreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands... - Richard MottramRichard MottramSir Richard Clive Mottram, GCB is chairman or board member of a number of private and public sector organisations, many with international links. He is chairman of the board of Amey PLC and of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory , and a Board member of the International Advisory Board of...
- UK government Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator, and chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee - Nick PartridgeNick PartridgeSir Nicholas Wyndham Partridge, OBE, is a leading British health care and HIV/AIDS care activist.-Activism:He has worked for the Terrence Higgins Trust in the UK since 1985 when he started in the postroom, subsequently working his way to become Chief Executive in 1991...
- AIDS awareness campaigner - Sir John VerekerJohn Vereker (governor)Sir John Michael Medlicott Vereker, KCB, KStJ, FRSA, CInstM is an independent member of the Board of XL Group plc, and of a number of its subsidiaries and Committees; and an independent Director of MWH Global...
- Governor of Bermuda, Permanent Secretary for International Development - Jo WilliamsJo WilliamsDame Josephine Williams, DBE, DL was the chief executive of Mencap until 1 November 2008. She is now a Commissioner of the Care Quality Commission....
- Chair of the Care Quality CommissionCare Quality CommissionThe Care Quality Commission is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. This includes services provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies and voluntary organisations -... - Chris WoodheadChris WoodheadSir Christopher Anthony Woodhead was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England from 1994 until 2000 and is one of the most controversial figures in debates on the direction of English education policy...
- Chief Inspector of Schools