page_title: Plymouth
section_title: Education
hierarchical_section_title: Plymouth / Education
caption_attribution_description: The Roland Levinsky Building, Plymouth University. Completed in 2007, the Building houses the University's Arts and Architecture Faculties.
context_page_description: Plymouth is a port city situated on the south coast of Devon, England, approximately 37 miles south-west of Exeter and 190 miles west-south-west of London. Enclosing the city are the mouths of the river Plym and river Tamar, which are naturally incorporated into Plymouth Sound to form a boundary with Cornwall.
  Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century, now called Plymouth. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony, the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War, the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646.
  Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas, and exporting local minerals. The neighbouring town of Devonport became strategically important to the Royal Navy for its shipyards and dockyards.
context_section_description: The University of Plymouth enrolls 23,155 total students as of 2018/2019 (38th largest in the UK out of 169). It also employs 2,900 staff with an annual income of around £160 million. It was founded in 1992 from Polytechnic South West (formerly Plymouth Polytechnic) following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. It has a wide range of courses including those in marine focused business, marine engineering, marine biology and Earth, ocean and environmental sciences, surf science, shipping and logistics. The university formed a joint venture with the fellow Devonian University of Exeter in 2000, establishing the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. The college is ranked 8th out of 30 universities in the UK in 2011 for medicine. Its dental school was established in 2006, which also provides free dental care in an attempt to improve access to dental care in the South West.
  The University of St Mark & St John (known as "Marjon" or "Marjons") specialises in teacher training, and offers training across the country and abroad.
  The city is also home to two large colleges. The City College Plymouth provides courses from the most basic to Foundation degrees for approximately 26,000 students. Plymouth College of Art offers a selection of courses including media. It was started 153 years ago and is now one of only four independent colleges of art and design in the UK.
  Plymouth also has 71 state primary phase schools, 13 state secondary schools, eight special schools and three selective state grammar schools, Devonport High School for Girls, Devonport High School for Boys and Plymouth High School for Girls. There is also an independent school Plymouth College.
  The city was also home to the Royal Naval Engineering College; opened in 1880 in Keyham, it trained engineering students for five years before they completed the remaining two years of the course at Greenwich. The college closed in 1910, but in 1940 a new college opened at Manadon. This was renamed Dockyard Technical College in 1959 before finally closing in 1994; training was transferred to the University of Southampton.
  Plymouth is home to the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA; founded 1884) which conducts research in all areas of the marine sciences. The Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML; founded 1988) was formed in part from components of the MBA. Together with the National Marine Aquarium, the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences, Plymouth University's Marine Institute and the Diving Diseases Research Centre, these marine-related organisations form the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership. The Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which focuses on global issues of climate change and sustainability. It monitors the effects of ocean acidity on corals and shellfish and reports the results to the UK government. It also cultivates algae that could be used to make biofuels or in the treatment of wastewater by using technology such as photo-bioreactors. It works alongside the Boots Group to investigate the use of algae in skincare protects, taking advantage of the chemicals they contain that adapt to protect themselves from the sun.
  A scheme is in operation over summer 2018 to provide meals during the summer holidays for children with parents on a low income, the parents cannot afford to provide their children with healthy meals.
  UPSU also known as the University of Plymouth Student Union is based underground near the library. Every student at the University of Plymouth is a member of UPSU. The Union employs students across the University, from bar staff to events technicians. Every year the students at the University have an opportunity to vote which sabbatical officers represent them. In 2019 over 4000 students voted in the UPSU elections.
caption: The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth
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