the University of Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway College and the Open University. The campus mainly offers business, computing and, since the merger with Bell College, nursing courses. Established in 1999 to provide a hub for higher education in the south-west of Scotland, the Crichton Campus has helped the regeneration of the Dumfries and Galloway economy.
=== London ===
The London Campus is currently located in the East India Dock area of London Docklands. It was launched in March 2016 and provides UWS degree and postgraduate programmes to the international student population in London.
== Organisation ==
The University of the West of Scotland is organised into four schools:
School of Business and Creative Industries
School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Education and Social Sciences
School of Health and Life Sciences
The university offers over 100-degree courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and has a rapidly growing number of doctoral students. It also carries out research and consultancy work for industry, and is ranked second in Scotland for the number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with businesses. The university attained Skillset Media Academy status in August 2010. Many courses at the University of the West of Scotland have an emphasis on vocational skills and offer students the option of spending a year working in industry at home or abroad.
The university has also worked with NHS Ayrshire and Arran resulting in a partnership in 2012 in the renaming of Ayr Hospital to University Hospital Ayr and Crosshouse Hospital to University Hospital Crosshouse, a hospital which is based in nearby Kilmarnock. Its partnership with the Gaiety Theatre, Ayr has established Scotland's first 'Learning Theatre'.
=== Rankings and reputation ===
University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has been named the top young higher education institution in Scotland in the prestigious THE World University Rankings 2020 league table. The university retains its place with in the 101–150 …
