About Abertay University

Abertay University is a modern university located in Dundee, Scotland. The university has roots stretching back to 1888 and has, throughout its history, been renowned for placing a strong emphasis on preparing students for the world of work and responding to the needs of industry by preparing work-ready graduates.

Abertay University’s excellence in research and knowledge exchange has enabled it to lead and innovate across many sectors. The university has a well-earned reputation as one of the leading tech universities in the UK and is particularly recognised for its expertise in video game education, with degrees in this field ranked number one in the whole of Europe for the last seven years. Other course offerings span a wide academic spectrum, from Business Analytics to Civil Engineering and Mental Health Nursing to Ethical Hacking.

The university’s compact city centre campus sees modern buildings like the Kydd Building, housing the Emergent Technology Centre, and the National Centre for Excellence in Computer Games blend with historic ones, such as the Edwardian Old College. Abertay is also home to the only industry-standard food science consumer research lab in Scotland. The award-winning Bernard King Library offers students modern learning and collaboration spaces alongside social areas and a cafe.

At Abertay, an inclusive and welcoming study and living environment goes hand in hand with real-world experience for students. Abertay was chosen as the 2021 Sunday Times University of the Year for Teaching Quality and featured in the UK top 10 for Student Satisfaction in the National Student Survey (NSS 2023).

Graduate outcomes

Courses at Abertay University are vocational. They are specially designed to get students work-ready for successful future careers, which is why 90% of graduates are in work or further study 6 months after graduation. Courses are created in partnership with a range of industry professionals and top employers to ensure that graduates from the university enter the world of work prepared. Recent graduates from Abertay have progressed to work in high-profile positions, including at the European Parliament, Rockstar North, and Fortitude Games. 

Work placements are a central component of many of the courses at Abertay and provide students with opportunities to learn first-hand transferable skills from a range of local and international companies. Additionally, state-of-the-art industry standard facilities across all departments at Abertay prepare students for successful careers in both industry and academia.

The university’s Careers Service remains accessible to students for three years after graduation to help them make informed career choices. Workshops and advisors ensure graduates have developed employability skills and can help them find work opportunities once they have completed their studies. Additionally, the Santander Employability Scheme is available to Abertay students for up to two years after graduation. The scheme offers graduates the opportunity to undertake a fully paid work project with an enterprise relevant to their subject specialisation.

What's New

Abertay’s InGAME Research and Development Centre catalyses industry growth in the UK’s video game sector

Established in 2018 at Abertay University, InGAME (Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise) has been at the forefront of significant growth in the UK’s video game industry. InGAME is at the heart of Dundee’s video game cluster and represents a collaboration between Abertay, the University of Dundee, the University of St Andrews, and a wealth of industry partners.

A national testbed for innovation, a recent report from BiGGAR Economics has highlighted the positive economic and social impact of the ambitious project. The report has concluded that companies collaborating with InGAME are projected to generate an estimated GBP 84.7 million gross value added in the next 10 years.

The success of InGAME has been instrumental in Abertay securing a preferred bidder status to host a new UK virtual production lab. Abertay’s new lab will specialise in innovation and research for virtual production, presenting an exciting opportunity for researchers at the university’s School of Design and Informatics.

Abertay University ranked as one of the top three Scottish universities in the 2023 National Student Survey

The most recent National Student Survey (NSS, 2023) has ranked Abertay as the top modern university in Scotland for its student satisfaction. The NSS survey ranked Abertay as one of Scotland’s top three universities overall.

Abertay scored highly in several individual programmes for student satisfaction, with its psychology programmes ranked as top in Scotland and second in the UK overall for teaching satisfaction. The university’s computer game, civil engineering, forensics, law, and mental health programmes were also ranked top in Scotland for teaching satisfaction, with the forensics programme being deemed top in the UK in the same category.