The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol, or simply UWE) is a university located in the city of Bristol, United Kingdom. Its main campus is at Frenchay in Bristol, about five miles (8 km) north of the city centre and close to the M32 motorway.
UWE also has campuses at St Matthias and Glenside in north-east Bristol and Bower Ashton, near Ashton Court in south-west Bristol. There is also a regional centre at Gloucester Docks, Gloucestershire, and an associate faculty (Hartpury College) specialising in animal behaviour and welfare, agricultural and sports related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire.
The University of the West of England can trace its roots back to the foundation of the Merchant Venturers Navigation School, which was founded in 1595. Part of this institution, to which the Universities of Bristol and Bath also partly owe their origins, became a technical college which, after merger with other colleges, in turn became Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; the then-main campus was at Ashley Down, now a campus of the City of Bristol College. Like the other former polytechnics, this gained university status and its present name as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992.
The Bower Ashton site was formed in 1969 as the West of England College of Art which was formerly the art school of the Royal West of England Academy in Queens Road, Bristol. The St Matthias site was originally built in Victorian times and was a teacher training college. These campuses, together with campuses in Redland, Ashley Down, Unity Street and Frenchay became part of Bristol Polytechnic around 1976.
The Avon and Gloucestershire College of Health which is now the Glenside Campus and the Bath and Swindon College of Health Studies joined in January 1996. Hartpury campus joined in 1997. An £80 million student village located at the Frenchay campus, which includes a sports centre and rooms for 2000 students, opened in 2006. The university is a lead academic sponsor of Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy, a new university technical college which is due to open in September 2013.
