Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The university's origins can be traced to 1824, with the foundation of the Leeds Mechanics Institute. Leeds Polytechnic was formed in 1970, and was part of the Leeds Local Education Authority until it became an independent Higher Education Corporation on 1 April 1989. In 1992, the institution gained university status. The current name was adopted in September 2014.[7]
"Carnegie University" redirects here. Not to be confused with Carnegie Mellon University.
Former names
The annual income of the institution for 2016–17 was £221.4 million of which £3.4 million was from grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £217.1 million.[2]
Campuses
City Campus
This comprises a number of locations on the northern side of Leeds city centre, largely between the Inner Ring Road and the University of Leeds campus. In addition to the former Polytechnic site, several other buildings have recently been acquired. These include: Old Broadcasting House, the former home of the BBC in Leeds; Electric Press, a building on Millennium Square; and Old School Board, the birthplace of school education in Leeds. The latest additions for the 2008/09-year were the Rose Bowl, the new home of the Leeds Business School, opposite the Civic Hall and designed to reflect the facade of the Civic Hall, and the Broadcasting Place complex, including Broadcasting Tower, a new set of buildings which fits in with the red stone brick buildings famous in Leeds and which provides teaching space for the Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology, the Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, and the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities, as well as student accommodation. Three buildings on the site have been disposed of since becoming a university, the Brunswick building was sold and in 2008 demolished; it is now the site of the Leeds Arena. A further tower block has been sold and is now a Premier Inn. More recently, Cloth Hall Court has also been disposed of and sold to their neighbour, The University of Leeds.[15] The remaining largely 1960s buildings of the former polytechnic were reclad in the early 2010s.
New high-rise student accommodation has been built around the City Campus and includes Opal Tower and the Sky Plaza. These are now the tallest buildings in the Northern half of the city centre.
Headingley Campus
A 100-acre (40-hectare) campus sited in Beckett Park, Headingley, the campus is connected to the city centre by Headingley railway station which is a short walk from the campus. Bus routes on Otley Road and Kirkstall Lane are also close by.
National rankings
78=
103
101
1001–1200
801–1000
Leeds Beckett University repository
In common with many institutions in the UK, and globally, the university maintains an open access repository that comprises an open access research archive and an OER repository: A store of open educational resources produced at Leeds Beckett that are freely available for reuse under a Creative Commons (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales) licence.[36]
Students' Union
Leeds Beckett Students' Union is the representative body for students and is affiliated to the National Union of Students. In 2012, it was voted the second best Students' Union in the city of Leeds and 39th nationally. In 2016 it was voted 6th best SU in the country.[49] The union on the City Campus has a Student Advice Service and a bar The Hive which contains two live music venues called The Stage and Stage 2. The Headingley campus also has its own bar called The Hive.
Athletic Union
The Athletic Union is separate to the Students' Union but maintains historically close links and holds three seats on the Student Council. Leeds Beckett regularly features well in the fixtures of university sports in the UK. Varsity fixtures between Leeds Beckett and Leeds University prove to be highly popular and competitive each year.