In 1828, the University of Wales Lampeter received its Royal Charter. On 18 November 2010, Trinity University College Carmarthen merged with the University of Wales Lampeter to create the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).
On 1 August 2013, Swansea Metropolitan University joined the family and became part of UWTSD. 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 also includes Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion as part of a dual sector group structure comprising further education colleges and the university. Nowadays, the UWTSD Group has over 25,000 learners across 17 campuses in rural and city locations.
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 in Cardiff and there is also a Campus in London and a Learning Centre in Birmingham.
The campus was originally founded in 1822 as St David’s College to provide a liberal education to members of the clergy. Over the years it developed a range of subjects and, as the University of Wales Lampeter, enjoyed a reputation for undergraduate and postgraduate provision in English, Archaeology, Chinese, Classics, History, Theology, as well as introducing new areas such as Philosophy, Anthropology, Ancient Civilisations and Creative Writing.
Now, as UWTSD, the academic community continues to thrive, and the portfolio offered attracts an international cohort of students each year.
More information about the Lampeter Campus
The original 1848 building lies at the heart of the Carmarthen campus. It was initially known as South Wales and Monmouthshire Training College and was established to train teachers for church schools in England and Wales. It later became known as Trinity College and subsequently Trinity University College before joining forces with the University of Wales Lampeter to create UWTSD.
More information about the Carmarthen Campus
For most of the twentieth century, there were three separate educational institutions serving the city of Swansea: the Swansea College of Art (established in 1853); the Swansea College of Education (established in 1872) and Swansea Technical College (established in 1895).
In 1976, the three institutions came together to form the West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, which eventually became Swansea Institute of Higher Education.
In 2008, the Privy Council gave permission for the institution to be renamed Swansea Metropolitan University then several years later, the institution merged with the Lampeter and Carmarthen campuses to create the new UWTSD.
More information about the Swansea Campuses
The London campus opened in March 2012, with its first teaching location in Islington. Since then it has grown from strengh to strengh and moved premises to its current main teaching location in Oval (close to the famous Oval cricket ground). In February 2019, it opened its second teaching location in central London (Holborn), but has now returned to Salisbury House in Oval. Students are able to enjoy studying within one of the most famous capitals in the world.
More information about the London Campus
Following the success of the London campus, the Sparkhill Centre opened in March 2018 and the Quay Place Centre in January 2020 to join the London campus family. Sparkhill and Quay Place have developed into thriving campuses where Home and EU students are able to learn new skills for the workplace, develop their existing skills, build confidence and meet others with similar goals.
It is a friendly and lively environment where we aim to assist our students in developing their potential to the full.
More information about the Birmingham Campus
The Wales International Academy of Voice (WIAV), based in the vibrant city of Cardiff, provides a world-class conservatoire of voice within one of the UK’s leading centres of higher education and an opportunity to lead in a field in which Wales is historically preeminent and globally admired.
In 2015 Canolfan Berfformio Cymru (CBC) was established offering performance study through the medium of Welsh. CBC now also offers English-medium programmes.
More information about the Cardiff Learning Centres