Northumbria University, Newcastle, has enjoyed an outstanding year of achievement and Royal approval following a string of globally-recognised awards for its Business and Law Schools.
Based in North-East England, Northumbria is one of the largest universities in the UK. As a research-rich, business focused and professional university with a reputation for academic quality, it is committed to giving its 25,000 UK and 8,000 international students and outstanding learning experience.
Helping to enhance this reputation, Newcastle Business School has recently been accreditated from The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). It is also the first institution in Europe to achieve the rare double AACSB accreditation in business and accounting.
The AACSB is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. It is considered by many to be the leading international accreditation for business education, and hallmark of excellence. Achieving the accreditation is a process of rigorous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment and can take years to complete. Over this time, the School develops and implements a plan to meet AACSB’s Accreditation Standards, which demand a high-quality teaching environment, innovative programming, and active engagement with industry.
Along with international accreditation over the past year, Northumbria has also been awarded the highly prestigious Queens Anniversary Prize in Higher and Further Education, for the outstanding community work of its Student Law Office, which is part of Northumbria Law School. The prize is the highest form of national recognition a university can achieve and it is designed to award outstanding excellence with positive impact.
Receiving the award reflects Northumbria Law School’s unrivalled commitment to its clinic-based Student Law Office, which in partnership with leading charities and law firms aims to improve access to justice – often for the most disadvantaged. Each year around 200 final-year students receive hands-on experience, undertaking supervised work on real cases in areas including employment, family, crime, housing, civil litigation and business advice.
The success of the Student Law Office has been unprecedented - since 2008 it has managed over 3,000 enquiries, represented more than 1,000 clients and secured nearly £1 million in compensation on their behalf.
Kevin Kerrigan, Executive Dean for Business and Law at Northumbria, said: “Securing a double accreditation from AACSB is incredibly rare and extremely challenging, and puts us right up there with the world’s best. Over the past 10 years we have been making fundamental improvements across our programmes, quality assurance processes, student recruitment, partnership development and staff qualifications – and we are delighted that all the hard work has now paid off. Adding this achievement to The Queen’s Anniversary Prize, awarded to us at the end of 2013, is quite exceptional and has capped an unforgettable 12 months.
“These are great achievements for Newcastle Business School and Northumbria Law School, and indeed for the university as a whole, and we are all enormously proud of the prestige they bring. Global success with accreditations such as AACSB can also offer a wealth of new international study exchange and collaborative research opportunities for our students and staff. We can honestly say that being part of Northumbria can open doors and enhance career prospects. In today’s competitive markets that certainly has a woe factor.”
To learn more about Northumbria University visit http://www.northumbria.ac.uk.
