Staffordshire University

Various faculty movements and further building work resulted in North Staffordshire Polytechnic being formed in 1970 with the merger of Stoke-on-Trent College of Art, North Staffordshire College of Technology (both based in Stoke-on-Trent), and Staffordshire College of Technology in Stafford. In 1977, the polytechnic absorbed a teacher training facility in Madeley, Staffordshire.

The polytechnic developed traditional strengths of the component institutions, e.g. ceramics (Stoke-on-Trent), computing (Stafford) and sports education (Madeley). The mining department closed as result of the decline of coal miningin the 1980s. New subjects were developed. North Staffordshire Polytechnic was amongst only a handful of third-level institutions in the UK to offer International Relations as a dedicated degree. The 1992 UK government Research Assessment Exercise placed the International Relations Department as the highest-rated in the institution.

In 1988, the institution changed its name to Staffordshire Polytechnic. In 1992, it became Staffordshire University, one of the new universities.

The university is noted for its science departments; in 2002 Psychology was among the top ten in the country, while Molecular Biochemistry and Biosciences were rated as 'excellent' by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The Science Faculty together with most of the university also does consistently well in the National Student Survey and measures of graduate level employment after graduation.

The School of Computing was originally situated at Blackheath Lane on the edge of Stafford in GEC's former Nelson Research Laboratory. It offered one of the first BSc courses in computing in the United Kingdom and its first major computer was a second hand DEUCE. The School of Computing has now moved to a purpose-built building on the Beaconside campus and the newly refurbished Brindley Building in Stoke. The Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences (FCES) is a Cisco Networking Academy.

The university was the first institution to introduce a single honours degree in Film, Television and Radio Studies in 1990. A new Media Centre was opened by Greg Dyke in 2005, comprising radio studios, television news desk and broadcast journalist suite. Courses in print, broadcast and sports journalism are nationally accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists and the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.

The Forensic Science degrees (Forensic Science, Forensic Science and Criminology and Forensic Science and Psychology) were accredited by the Forensic Science Society (FSC) in 2007, one of four universities whose courses have been acknowledged for teaching services and high academic quality. The Forensic theme is continued with a specialist Forensic Biology degree and on the Stafford Campus the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Technology was one of the first university faculties in the UK to offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the new field of Forensic Computing.

Students' Union

Staffordshire University Students' Union aims to represent students at the university. Constitutionally it is governed by the student body via referendums, who annually elect a student council which is responsible for the organisation of the Union. The day-to-day operation of the union is handled by four Sabbatical Officers and four student trustees, who are held to account by the Council. All officer positions, bar the four sabbatical officers, work on a part-time basis.

Sports

Since 2007, Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus) and Keele University have engaged in an annual varsity match. In 2013 Staffordshire University (Stafford Campus) and Wolverhampton University have engaged in an annual varsity match.