Westminster promises a good social life and its international business courses offer the chance to study

Westminster promises a good social life and its international business courses offer the chance to study as far afield as China.Many of the new universities have wonderful and unusual settings. Former students were responsible for a Madonna remix a few years ago.”There’s a real buzz and a sense of vibrancy here,” says Andy Golding, chair of the design, digital, media and photography department. “Our media studies students are knowledgeable in history, sociology and about professional matters; that makes them good practitioners and thinkers.” Golding stresses the university’s close links with the media industry and says most students find jobs in their chosen fields.Westminster teaches one of the widest ranges of languages of any university in the UK, including Russian, Arabic and Chinese. Today it’s known for media and communications studies, described as “the jewel in its crown”. The university is generally seen as accessible and is keen to open up higher education to students without A-levels – taking those with GNVQ, AVCE and BTEC qualifications as well.The university is particularly geared up to respond to calls during the Clearing period. According to Teresa Kelly, head of media relations, about 75 per cent of callers are given an instant decision on whether or not they will be granted a place.London’s Westminster University has perhaps the oldest roots of the new universities, founded in 1838 to teach Victorians science and engineering.

It’s been given a “disability symbol” user status and offers a program in deaf studies. It also rates well in art and design.Middlesex’s boss, Professor Michael Driscoll, is the first vice chancellor in the country to have taken his first degree at a polytechnic. It rates well in medicine, both orthodox and alternative, and has bases at four north London hospitals. Its Roehampton Vale campus is home to a Learjet aeroplane, recently acquired for practical engineering training. New courses for this year include information technology for e-business.In north London, Middlesex University with 25,000 students is one of the largest universities in the capital. The aim of the degree is to “demystify political spin”.Kingston offers about 550 courses including a foundation degree in aircraft maintenance engineering. Kingston also boasts a masters in political communication, advocacy and campaigning, the first such course in Britain, with a course director fresh from working at 10 Downing Street.

Its fashion degree promises industry-relevant training and a preparation for the “real world” of fashion. One Kingston student has just been taken on by Ralph Lauren’s graduate training programme. Kingston has also pioneered work on peer-assisted learning, with second-year students helping first years to adapt.Twelve of its subjects have very good scores for teaching quality. A large university with 20,000 students, it has a new £6 million state-of-the-art students’ centre. Portsmouth has been rated well in applied maths, European studies and several languages and it is committed to taking students without traditional qualifications.Within London, Kingston University in the south-west is known for art and design. It has plenty of computing degrees on offer, and its recently introduced degree in criminology has proved particularly popular.The university accepts a variety of qualifications and, according to Deborah Hankins, head of marketing and communications, interviews a lot of applicants to find out what qualities they have to offer rather than just A-levels.Like Brighton, Portsmouth University is by the sea, with beaches within walking distance of the main campus. With a student population of 20,000 (the majority from state schools) it’s one of the larger universities.