Robert Gordon University

Overview

Situated on a beautiful campus in Aberdeen, northeast Scotland, Robert Gordon is an industry-led university that can be traced back to the 1800s, when it was opened as Robert Gordon’s College. Nowadays it’s home to 16,000 students and was recently ranked within the top 100 UK universities in the Complete University Guide’s 2024 league table standings.

Garthdee Campus is the uni’s main site and sits in a spacious parkland, alongside the River Dee. Having had £120 million worth of investment over recent years, the campus boasts top-of-the-range facilities for both study and social life.

The RGU:Union is at the heart of campus life and offers over 40 student societies and 30 sports clubs to join. You’ll also find food and drink outlets on-site and will be able to take advantage of a student counselling service, which includes mindfulness workshops and a student-led confidential nightline.

The city centre is easily accessible from campus as there’s a regular bus service which runs every 15 minutes. Aberdeen is a creative, varied and youthful city with plenty of cultural activities to enjoy. It’s Scotland’s third most populous city and is home to over 25,000 students and an exciting nightlife and music scene.

Students love it for its vibrant and safe feel, as well as its affordable cost of living. There’s also great access to the Aberdeenshire outdoors and you’ll be able to enjoy activities like surfing, skiing and paddleboarding nearby.

Aberdeen is well-connected to other major UK cities by train and it also has its own airport. 

Robert Gordon offers over 70 undergraduate courses across a wide range of subjects. Some of the subjects the uni specialises in include accounting and finance, health and sport sciences, art and design, law, and business and management.

It was recently voted by the Complete University Guide in the top five for student satisfaction for accounting and finance courses.

Robert Gordon employs an applied learning, industry-focussed approach that aims to prepare students for the professional world and its degree programmes reflect this.

There are several routes and levels of courses on offer at Robert Gordon. You’ll find full-time and part-time study options, as well as on-campus and online learning opportunities.

Full-time undergraduate degrees at Robert Gordon vary in length, usually between two and four years. Some courses also include placement years, study abroad options or an integrated master’s year which will increase the course length.

Most degrees include optional modules, as well as core modules, meaning you can study the degree topics you’re most interested in.  

Each course at Robert Gordon has specific entry requirements you’ll need to meet to get offered a place at the uni. The entry requirements can include a mix of qualifications, exam grades and subjects. Qualifications the uni accepts include A-levels, Scottish and Advanced Highers and SVQs/NVQs.

Some courses will ask for a certain grade in a specific subject, e.g., to study computer science, you’ll likely need to have studied maths. Also, for some courses you’ll need to attend an interview or supply a portfolio of work. Contextual offers will take into account an applicant’s personal circumstances, such as whether they’re a carer or care leaver.

You can find each course’s entry requirements online on the uni’s course search pages, but we’ve also given you an idea of the kind of grades you’ll need for certain subjects here.

To study an accounting, business or finance course, for example, you’ll be asked for A-levels of BBC–CCC or Scottish Highers of ABBB–BBCC (or equivalent qualification), and to get onto a computing & IT degree, you’ll be asked for A-levels like BCC or Scottish Highers similar to BBBC (or equivalent qualification).

It should be noted that entry requirements can change so you should always confirm these with the university before applying. 

Robert Gordon has a range of safe, secure and affordable accommodation on offer for its students. You’ll find self-catered residences at four sites across the city with a variety of room and accommodation types.

At the Crathie Student Village, there are 96 en suite bedrooms in communal flats, sitting halfway between the city and campus, while at Garthdee Towers you’ll find 49 bedrooms in communal flats that are located on the riverside campus. The Ramsay Development is home to 28 en suite bedrooms within flats in a quiet residential area, and in the Woolmanhill Flats, there are over 700 bedrooms in communal flats in the heart of Aberdeen. There you’ll find both en suite and standard rooms.

Rent prices vary and range from around £98 to £166 per week and lease lengths are for either 37 or 49 weeks a year. All accommodations are self-catered and rent fees include WiFi costs, utility bills, personal contents insurance and a weekly communal area cleaning service.  

Robert Gordon’s Employability team is committed to helping students throughout their careers. As a student and graduate of the uni, you’ll be able to get help, advice and opportunities in career-related matters, which can improve your job prospects and employability.

You’ll be able to speak with Careers Consultants to get confidential and personal advice about things like your career path, finding work opportunities, perfecting your CV and job applications, and doing well in job interviews.

As a student, you’ll get access to the RGU eHub which has various practical tools and resources you can use to improve your job prospects. For example, you can find resources that help build your employability skills, as well as the RGU eHub Jobs tool that lets you search for part-time jobs, internships and graduate job vacancies.  

As well as this, many of Robert Gordon’s courses offer work experience and placement opportunities which give students the chance to get real-life work experience either locally, nationally or internationally. These placement opportunities can be both compulsory and optional. Courses are created with industry in mind, to make sure you’ll learn skills and knowledge that are wanted by current and future employers. 

Robert Gordon has several scholarships and financial awards that some undergraduate students are eligible for. This additional funding can help pay for the cost of living and study and doesn’t need to be repaid.

Awards can provide discounts on things like courses, degrees and accommodation costs, while Access Scholarships are made available to help individuals from under-represented groups access university.

For example, the Ardmuir Access Scholarship provides 15 students with up to four years of free accommodation. The scholarship’s eligibility criteria includes either being a UK student who comes from a postcode area that is considered deprived or coming from a family with a total annual income of less than £34,000.

You can find out about all of the additional funding that’s available to Robert Gordon students online on the uni’s funding pages. Here you’ll be able to see the necessary eligibility criteria.