CARDIFF Metropolitan University, headline sponsor of the South Wales Argus Schools & Education Awards 2021/22, will hold an Open Day for prospective students and their families at its two campuses on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Visitors will be able to tour the campuses and speak to academics about courses on offer.

Places must be booked in advance at www.cardiffmet.ac.uk.

If you’re a school leaver next year, or the parent of one, mark January 26 in your calendar now. Why? It’s the entry deadline for all UCAS Undergraduate course applications for the 2022-2023 academic year.

January is also when Cardiff Metropolitan University is holding its next Open Day – and what better chance to find out why it has recently been awarded the coveted title of UK and Ireland University of the Year at the 2021 at the Times Higher Education Awards.

The Times Higher Education Awards are highly regarded as a mark of the very best in the higher education sector in the UK and Ireland. Cardiff Met’s speedy and positive response to Covid-19, research and innovation performance, the creation of the impressive Cardiff School of Technologies as well as the development of 40 new degree programmes, were all praised by the judges

The award also recognises how overall student satisfaction at Cardiff Met has improved from three per cent below average in the 2015/16 National Student Survey (NSS) to two per cent above average in 2019/20. With students benefitting from the Cardiff Met EDGE, with a focus on Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial skills and experiences, the University also entered the NSS’s top 40 universities in 2019/20.

We’re also officially the greenest university in Wales (and fifth most sustainable in the UK), topping the People & Planet independent league table of UK universities ranked by environmental and ethical performance.

So, where better to study? Our five Schools – Education & Social Policy, Sport & Health Sciences, Management, Technologies, and Art & Design – offer prospective undergraduates a wide range of course options

Courses that have proved most popular for undergraduate applications from Newport and the Gwent Valleys over the past three years include BA Business & Management Studies, BA Primary Education QTS, BSc Sport & Exercise Science and BSc Psychology and BSc Sport Conditioning.

However, Cardiff Met offers a huge breadth of study options, from dental technology to environmental health, youth & community work to speech & language therapy, law to housing studies, robotics engineering to interior design.

Statistics regularly show that graduates earn significantly more than those without higher education qualifications.

As a Cardiff Met graduate, your options will be wider, and you will find it easier to get into employment and to stay in employment.

In fact, the University has a long-established record for student employability with 96.5 per cent of graduates securing employment or entering further study within 15 months of graduation (Graduate Outcomes 2020).

So-called ‘soft skills’ are also vitally important in today’s employment market. As a values-driven institution, a degree from Cardiff Met also offers the opportunity to develop transferable skills such as communication, presentation and problem-solving, while enhancing your ability to work as part of a team.

Cardiff Met’s responsibility doesn’t end when a student graduates either, with support as you embark on life after university. On top of initial career guidance for recent graduates, Cardiff Met aims to keep former students connected throughout their careers, even providing opportunities to inspire current students by speaking at events or offering work experience opportunities.

For more information about Cardiff Met’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and to book a place at the Open Day please visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk.