Lancaster

Book an open day

A vibrant and historic heritage city, Lancaster is home to around 15,000 students from around the world. With its fair share of pubs and clubs, Lancaster has a lively music scene, as well as a selection of high street stores and independent boutiques for you to explore. Not to mention many other interesting cultural sightseeing opportunities!

Our Lancaster campus is set in beautiful parkland just a short walk from the city centre, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds. 

On-site facilities include a sports complex with floodlit artificial turf pitch, Café Martineau, Snack Zone and The View restaurant, a chapel, well-stocked library, halls of residence and students' union. We have also recently unveiled a brand new teaching block housing a lecture theatre, classrooms and study/communal space, all ready for September 2017.

As well as extensive on campus facilities, Williamson Park is located next door, so you'll never be short of an area to relax or revise.

Find your course at Lancaster

Exceptional facilities

  • Flexible study spaces in the library

  • Sports Complex with fully equipped gym

  • Outdoor sport facilities, including astroturf pitch, tennis court and football field

  • State-of-the-art radiography lab

  • Hospital practice wards

  • Simulated Learning Ambulance (SLAM)

  • Ultrasound suite

  • Human Performance Laboratory

Accommodation

Lancaster is a vibrant university city offering all the benefits of a great student life experience within a small and welcoming community. The campus is set in beautiful parkland just a short walk from the city centre, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

We have over 447 rooms in our Lancaster residences- take a look at what we have to offer!

Lancaster accommodation

“I visited the university on an open day before I made my choice. The tutors were nothing but welcoming. The small class sizes also attracted my attention, as you really get the opportunity to achieve your maximum potential and make some close friends.”

EMMA KIRBY, BA (HONS) PRIMARY EDUCATION WITH QTS
More student stories

Getting to Lancaster

Lancaster Campus Bowerham Road, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 3JD Phone: 01524 590 800

Directions

Our Lancaster campus is on the edge of Lancaster city centre. The postcode for satnavs is LA1 3JD.

From the North:

Leaving the M6 at junction 34, take the A683 towards Lancaster/Morecambe. Turn left onto the Lune Valley interchange/A683. Continue slightly left at the next traffic lights onto Caton Road. At the second set of traffic lights turn left and follow the one-way system through the city centre up to Pointer roundabout (just past the Royal Lancaster infirmary). Here, take the first exit onto Bowerham Road. The campus entrance is located on your left. 

From the South:

Leaving the M6 at junction 33, take the A6 to Lancaster (South). At the roundabout, take the second exit onto Lancaster Road/A6. Continue towards the city centre. Turn right onto Barton Road just after the BP garage. Follow this road and continue onto Bowerham Road. Go straight across the mini roundabout and follow Bowerham Road down to the campus entrance, which is on your right hand side.

Pay and display parking

Pay and display parking is available for students, staff and visitors without a parking permit. Please see the table below for prices.

Pay-and-display parking charges
Length of timePrice
0-2 hours £1.00
2-4 hours £1.60
4-8 hours £2.40
8-10 hours £3.20

Disabled Parking

Designated parking bays for disabled persons are located in the car parks at:

Vehicle entrances

Vehicle entrances to the Bowerham Road campus are from Bowerham Road, Coulston Road, Wyresdale Road and Anderson Close only. The Golgotha Road exit is one-way and must not be used for entry to the campus.

Access to the area of College Main, College North and South, Gressingham and Sarah Witham Thompson is restricted to service vehicles, disabled parking and loading / unloading only. No general parking is permitted in these areas.

Download the Traffic Regulations and Car Parking Policy

Parking permits

Visitors (including open days, course interviews and conferences)

Open day attendees, course interview candidates, conference delegates and other visitors should be provided with parking information and permits by their hosts.

This will involve either a dedicated visitors parking area, supply of a visitors' parking permit, or use of pay-and-display. Visitors' parking permits might be provided in advance or arrangements made for their collection on arrival.

Unless a dedicated visitors' parking area has been provided, visitors' parking permits are valid in any non-allocated parking space.

Where an area is designated for visitors parking, staff and students with a parking permit or pay and display ticket must not park there.

For the avoidance of doubt, the following definitions are used in deciding eligibility:

  • ‘Bona fide’ visitors are people who have been invited to the university and are not being paid. This includes people who are paying to attend an event but who are not students. This would include open days, conference delegates and registration events.

  • Contractors and consultants are regarded as permanent employees for parking purposes. This means that they would need to use pay and display parking or purchase a twelve week or annual parking permit.

Students

Student parking permit charges
Permit typePrices
On-campus (non-residential and placement* car users only) £64.00
Williamson Park (off-campus) £32.00
Car Share £33.00
12-week permits £25.50
Zero VED permit 50% discount on any of the above prices

On-campus parking

There is limited car parking space on site. With the exception of students who use their own car to get to their placements, residential students are not permitted to park on campus during the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday except by purchasing a Pay and Display ticket. On campus parking is available for residential students outside of these hours and at weekends provided that their vehicles are removed from campus by 8.00 am each weekday morning.

Resident students who have to use their own cars to get to placements will be advised of their eligibility. They must apply and pay for a parking permit. This arrangement applies at the main Bowerham Road campus only: there is insufficient space at Mill Hall to allow any student parking there.

Residential Coordinators and Senior Residential Co-ordinators are required to apply for a permit but this is provided free of charge by the University.

Apply for a student parking permit

Mill Hall

Parking is not available to students at any time (including those using their cars to get to placements).

Williamson Park

Parking for staff and students is also available in the Williamson Park Car Park accessed off Wyresdale Road. Permits for this car park need to be purchased and displayed. They are available at a lower fee than general University permits and therefore cannot be used in any other University car park. Williamson Park is not operated by the University nor the University’s parking operator and local rules should be observed.

Apply for a Williamson Park parking permit

On-street parking

Students are asked not to park on neighbouring residential streets.

Changes to/reissue of permits

For any change to an existing permit, including re-issue in the event of loss or damage, an administration fee of £5 is payable.

Staff

LocationPermit typePrices
All campuses Salary Band 1 – Up to £10,500 £50.50
All campuses Salary Band 2 – £10,500 - £15,000 £107.40
All campuses Salary Band 3 - £15,000 - £25,000 £132.40
All campuses Salary Band 4 - £25,000 - £35,000 £154.20
All campuses Salary Band 5 - £35,000 - £42,000 £197.90
All campuses Salary Band 6 – Over £42,000 £232.10
All campuses Car Share £41.00
All campuses 12-week permits £43.70
All campuses Zero VED permit 50% discount on any of the above permit prices
Williamson Park   £54.60

Apply for a staff parking permit

Mill Hall

Parking is available to University of Cumbria vehicles only between the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday. Outside these hours parking is available to holders of staff permits.

Williamson Park

Parking for staff and students is also available in the Williamson Park Car Park accessed off Wyresdale Road. Permits for this car park need to be purchased and displayed. They are available at a lower fee than general University permits and therefore cannot be used in any other University car park. Williamson Park is not operated by the University nor the University’s parking operator and local rules should be observed.

On-street parking

Staff and students are asked not to park on neighbouring residential streets.

Contact information

The issue of permits, management of University car parks and issue of Parking Charge Notices is currently managed by Excel Parking Services Ltd. Excel have a dedicated email address for University of Cumbria enquiries: uoc@excelparking.co.uk. Alternatively, you can use their general enquiry phone number: 0114 261 7111.

Any correspondence relating to the issue of a PCN must be directed to Excel Parking Services Ltd. This is not dealt with by the University. If you are dissatisfied with the issuing of a PCN you can appeal to Excel Parking Services Ltd. If you are not satisfied with the response from Excel Parking Services Ltd, you can appeal to the national Independent Appeals Service. Details of this will be provided with the PCN.

If you believe that there is a problem with a University Car Park (eg, the Pay and Display machine isn’t working), please report this to the site reception.

If you have any other queries about this policy please contact FM Administration in the first instance. They can be contacted at: 01524 590831 / email: centraladminfm@cumbria.ac.uk 

Bicycle Parking

Bicycle parking is available on campus - please see the Lancaster campus map for details.

Anyone using the bicycle parking must ensure that they lock their bicycle securely to the racks. The university does not accept liability for any property that is lost, stolen or damaged on campus.

Bike rental for staff and students

We’ve got bikes available for rent to our staff and students. 

They go for only £50 (inc VAT) for any period as long as you hand them back by the end of June.

All the bikes come with a lock (minimum ‘Sold Secure Bronze’) and a set of front and back lights. We don’t supply helmets but recommend that you do use one.

Please make sure that you insure and look after the bike while you’ve got it: we expect to get it back in a good condition (when you receive your bike it will be either new or will have been serviced). 

To request a bike, talk to the your Accommodation Officer - we have a range of frame sizes so hopefully we’ll have a bike to fit you.

Our bikes are all Trek FX7.0, fitted with mudguards.

Rent a bike

Join the University of Cumbria Strava club

Do you bike, run or walk to work or study at the University of Cumbria?

Then join the University of Cumbria Strava Club!

Strava is a social media site that allows cyclists and other outdoorsy people to use GPS data to share routes and compare their performance. 

If you’ve got a GPS device or a smartphone you can log your activities and upload them to the site. You’ll then be able to find out what other students and staff have been up to – helping you to pick up new route ideas and meet new people with similar interests. The site will also help you meet other people who ride the same commutes as you on a regular basis.

Visit the club page at www.strava.com/clubs/cumbriauni

Security advice

Please note: We strongly advise that Strava members use the site’s ‘Privacy Zone’ function to keep their home address hidden. 

For more information visit the Strava security information page. 

Bus travel

Our Lancaster campus is well-served by public transport, with buses stopping frequently at the stops near the campus entrance. 

As a University of Cumbria student, you can get discounted season tickets for Stagecoach bus travel in Lancaster (the ‘Unirider’ ticket).

Get a UniRider ticket

Find bus times

Train travel

The Lancaster train station is a 20-30 minute walk from campus and a five-minute walk away from the bus station.

Rent a moped

If your usual home address is in Cumbria and you face difficulties getting to our university, it might be possible to loan you a moped at a heavily discounted rate. The moped could be used to get to one of our campuses or to get you to a bus stop or train station.

The moped loan scheme called Wheels 2 Work (W2W) is operated by Inspira and all arrangements would be made with their W2W Co-ordinator.

To be eligible for a loan:

  • You must be under 20 years old and your permanent address must be in Cumbria.
  • You will have difficulty accessing one of our courses because of transport problems.

If a loan is agreed:

  • The maximum hire period for accessing an education course is ten months.
  • A one-day training course is provided and must be completed before the moped is handed over.
  • The loan fee includes full outer clothing, helmet and insurance, you just need to add fuel.

Your journey would be assessed by Inspira.

For more details please phone Deborah Naylor on 01900 604674 or email Deborah.Naylor@inspira.org.uk.

Travel questions?

If you have any queries about travelling while at the University of Cumbria, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Phone: 01524 590 831
Email: centraladminfm@cumbria.ac.uk

Lancaster is a student city and thrives on welcoming young people into the community.

With its fair share of pubs and clubs, Lancaster has a lively music scene, as well as a selection of high street stores and independent boutiques for you to explore. Not to mention many other interesting cultural sightseeing opportunities!

It is in close proximity to the World-famous Lake District National Park with more than 200 mountains, 16 lakes, an abundance of rivers and rich habitats and wildlife. This idyll environment is a perfect place to spend time with family and enjoy the natural beauty of the North West

Also with good transport links to Manchester and Blackpool you’ll never be short of a fun day out!

The View!

Situated on the top floor of the Gateway building, The View! restaurant really lives up to its name, offering spectacular panoramic views across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District hills. A delicious selection of hot and cold food is served daily at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu changes daily, following a three weekly cycle.

Whether you're looking for a hearty meal or just a quick bite, The View! is an excellent choice.

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 8am-2pm
5pm-6.15pm
Breakfast 8am-11am
Lunch 12pm-1.45pm
Dinner 5pm-6.15pm

The View is also home to Bar 301, which is open 5pm - 10pm on Monday and Wednesday.

Phone: 01524 60384
Email: uoclancaster@baxterstorey.com

Café Martineau

Café Martineau is the perfect place to take time out between classes and enjoy fresh ground coffee, specialty teas, chilled beverages, hot savouries, soup, sandwiches, cakes and confectionery items.

Opening hours
Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4pm
Lunch served 12pm - 2pm

Phone: 01524 60384
uoclancaster@baxterstorey.com

Starbucks

Starbucks serves a wide range of coffees, teas, cold drinks and hot and cold snacks. There's something for everyone.

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 8.30am-4pm

Phone: 01524 60384
Email: uoclancaster@baxterstorey.com

Lancaster Sports Complex

The Lancaster Sports Complex is located on campus and has a range of excellent facilities. Best of all, as a UoC student, you'll get a great discount!

There's a multi-purpose sports hall, a floodlit artificial turf pitch, grass football pitch and an air-conditioned fitness suite with a range of cardio and weight equipment.

Opening hours
DayTerm timeOut of term time
Monday - Friday 8am - 10pm 8am - 10pm
Saturday 8am - 7pm 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 7pm 10am - 6pm

Students' Union

The University of Cumbria Students' Union (UCSU) represents the views and interests of our students.

The Students' Union organises a range of events - from Freshers' week right through to Graduation - to help you meet new friends, develop skills, celebrate success and provide opportunities to enhance your student life.

They also run a wide variety of student groups, societies and sports teams.

Find out about the Students' Union

To see and do in the area

  • Take a stroll through Williamson Park - just across the road from campus

  • Ashton Memorial - spectacular views across Lancaster

  • Take a tour of Lancaster Castle

  • Swing by Lancaster Cathedral

  • Cruise the River Lune or grab a drink at a riverside pub

  • Check out one of Lancaster's festivals, like Light Up Lancaster

What’s happening at Lancaster?

Upcoming events and open days

There's no better way to find out about a university than coming to an event or open day.

Lancaster News

Friday November 1 2019

New institute’s ambition to tackle NHS staffing crisis

A new Institute of Health set up at the University of Cumbria aims to tackle the ongoing staffing crisis in the NHS with a dual purpose of recruiting more new staff in Cumbria as well as upskilling and retaining the current workforce. In addition to growing new recruits, the newly formed institute aims to support policy and research in relation to the NHS Long Term Plan with a renewed emphasis on increased funding for continuing professional development (CPD) and upskilling of current NHS staff.

Brian Webster-Henderson Institute of Health (picture credit: Newsquest Cumbria)

Monday October 7 2019

University marks World Mental Health Day 2019

As a leading training provider of health professionals, the University of Cumbria has a major role in helping to mark World Mental Health Day across the North West. Visitors are invited to the Festival of Mental Health, a day of workshops, sessions, presentations, art and exhibitions at the university’s Lancaster campus on Thursday, 10 October. The university is also one of the major Cumbrian employers supporting ‘This is Me’, a campaign which challenges the stigma around mental health at work.

Steve McCarthy-Grunwald and Charlotte Pearce, Lord Melvyn Bragg of Wigton
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