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Welcome to the School of Physics & Astronomy

We run one of the most popular undergraduate physics programmes in the country. Our teaching has been rated 'excellent' and in the recent Research Excellence Framework  (REF2014), in which the research quality of all UK higher education institutions has been assessed, we have been placed joint 3rd of all the Physics departments in the country. We pride ourselves on being a centre that is internationally recognised for the quality of our teaching and research and hope that you will enjoy learning a little more about us through this site.

We publish an annual newsletter, particularly aimed at prospective students, which highlights some of the exciting activities undertaken by our current undergraduates.

Physics Foundation Programme - Have you decided you would like to study physics but don't think you have the right qualifications? Check out our Foundation Programme.

Research Excellence Framework 2014

The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, assesses all subjects in all universities across the UK, based on submissions describing their research and the wider societal impact that it has had. We are delighted to announce that the latest such assessment, REF2014, placed the School of Physics and Astronomy in 3rd place of all the physics departments in the country. It is also notable that we provided the only physics submissions that were placed in the top 5 in both REF2014 and the previous implementation of this process in 2008, making us the consistently best physics department in the entire country!

In addition to being delighted that our research and the associated societal impact has been recognized in this way, we take pride in the close link that we make between the research and the teaching that we undertake at all levels, from outreach activities in schools to the advanced research projects that our undergraduates carry out as part of their courses. Indeed, one of the “impact case studies” that we included as a key part of our submission for REF2014 described the work we have undertaken explaining physics research on the Sixty Symbols YouTube channel.

Excellent performance in NSS (National Student Survey): We are delighted that our graduating students rated us at 95% for ‘overall satisfaction’ with their physics degree course. This is reflected in our high position (5th) in the recently published Times national league table for Physics.