Our History

The University builds on a proud heritage, and started over 160 years ago as the Bath School of Art. It enjoyed a reputation as one of the leading art schools in the country, and some of Britain’s best known artists, including Walter Sickert and Howard Hodgkin, studied and taught at what was to become the Bath School of Art and Design. In the immediate post war era it was acknowledged as a leading British Art school, involved in the flowering of the English Modernist movement.  The School’s post-war residence, Corsham Court, has now become the home of those post-graduate activities appropriate for this space. This reputation for excellence endures today – graduates of the Bath School of Art and Design are sought after for their high standards of creative exploration and practice.

The two Bath-based campuses of the University began as teacher training institutions in the 1940s.  Newton Park’s Main House, built for Joseph Langton from 1762-5 set in Capability Brown gardens and leased from the Prince of Wales, is Grade 1 listed. Both colleges were highly regarded, beginning the University’s long-standing reputation for training high-quality professionals. The colleges merged in 1975 to become the Bath College of Higher Education. The School of Education is now one of the highest rated providers of teacher education in the country.

The Schools of Music and Performing Arts and of Humanities and Cultural Industries grew from the earlier teachers’ college. The Department of Music is the 10th largest in the United Kingdom. Sir Michael Tippett once taught in the department and our concert hall now bears his name. The School of Humanities and Cultural Industries has become the base of what some have called ‘the best creative writing programme in England'.

In 1992, the then Bath College was granted degree-awarding powers and in 1999 became Bath Spa University College. In the process of acquiring full university title we took the notion of a broad general university education seriously and continued teaching across a science and social science curriculum. The School of Science, Society and Management brings broader based scientific and economic skills to our students.

In March 2005 Bath Spa was granted university title, and received research degree awarding powers in 2008.