The University’s Royal Charter is the oldest in Wales and England after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2011 HRH the Prince of Wales became its Royal Patron.

The UWTSD Group includes Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion as part of a dual sector group structure comprising further education colleges and the university. The UWTSD Group has over 25,000 learners across 17 campuses in rural and city locations. Together we deliver clear, tangible benefits for learners, employers, industry and communities by offering a vocational approach from entry level to post-doctoral research. The Group will be further strengthened with the merger of University of Wales into UWTSD in due course.

The University’s main campuses are situated in various locations in and around Swansea’s city centre as well as in the rural towns of Lampeter and Carmarthen in South West Wales. The Wales International Academy of Voice, under the Directorship of Dennis O’Neill with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as its patron, is located in Cardiff and in addition the University has a Business School in London for international students.

UWTSD has a clear and exciting strategic plan which places emphasis upon applied learning, strong academic disciplines and a clear commitment to innovation, enterprise and knowledge transfer. This connected university is driving through structural and strategic change which is closely associated with industry, business and enterprise. The University has a clear national profile – delivering for Wales and celebrating its distinctiveness on a UK and international stage.

The learner experience is at the heart of our mission. We have placed sustainability at the core of our planning. Developed through our award winning Institute of Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness (INSPIRE), we have embedded sustainable development through our learning, teaching, curricula, campus, community and culture. Our aim is to inspire individuals and develop reflective graduates and practitioners who can make a difference in society. Through work-based learning, research of international excellence and knowledge transfer networks, we aim to play a pivotal role in thepromotion of social justice, economic renewal and the development of social and cultural capital.

The University has a long history of delivering taught postgraduate degree programmes on a distance learning basis.

Distance learning offers prospective students greater freedom to pursue a course of study that is better tailored to their particular lifestyle and circumstances.

It offers a flexible learning option to people who cannot be residential. They may be a busy parent bringing up young children or a career professional unable to take time off but eager to undertake professional development or to someone perhaps with mobility problems but keen on the intellectual challenge of studying.

With the application of technology such as the Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle), various e-learning packages, the growing collections of e:resources, the use of audio, video and other interactive materials to support your study, distance learning at TSD can offer students a rich and rewarding study experience.

You will at all points in your programme from introductory modules through to your dissertation be offered close tutor support and guidance through group seminars (via online sessions), phone and email contact.

All students are allocated a personal tutor, usually the programme coordinator and will have access to a range of student services that cover induction and training sessions, IT help and support, study skills and various personal developmental sessions, delivered on-line or via discreet distance learning study skills ‘surgeries’.

Distance learning provision is underpinned by the expertise of our teaching staff who are research active and thus regularly publish books and peer-reviewed articles, deliver talks and lectures at conferences or are involved as editors of various academic journals. This means programmes of study are based upon the research specialisms of staff, who can offer research driven learning and teaching.