Northumbria University is based in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne, which is regularly voted the best place in the UK for students. It is the largest university in the north-east of England with more than 33,000 students from 130 countries. The university is research-rich, business-focused and ranks highly for its graduate employability. In 2015 Northumbria's business school was given the small business charter award in recognition of its work supporting start-ups, students and small businesses. The results of the latest national research audit, the Research Excellence Framework, show that Northumbria is rising through the ranks in terms of its research quality. It ranked especially highly in allied health, history, English, general engineering, art and design, and communication, cultural and media. Accommodation Northumbria's student accommodation was voted Top 3 in the UK in the National Student Housing Survey 2014. Prices range from approx. £91.00 to £171.00 per week, including utilities, contents insurance and wi-fi. Facilities Extensive developments worth more than £160m in recent years mean Northumbria can now boast one of the most attractive inner-city campuses in the UK, with environmentally friendly buildings and tree-lined walkways. A recent £7m expansion to the 24/7 university library has seen an additional 100 IT spaces, more social learning and informal space, a zone fitted with smartboards and a dedicated language zone. The student union building has also been refurbished and now features three award-winning bars and club venues as well as a performing arts and live music centre. The university has plenty of specialist learning environment. Its partnership with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art has seen the creation of new studio and teaching space for fine art students in the Baltic 39 building. For sport science students, the flagship Sport Central features a range of state-of-the-art labs including a biomechanics laboratory, a gait laboratory, a performance analysis suite, a nutrition laboratory and a physiology laboratory. The design area holds 3D prototyping workshops, the latest in computer-numerically controlled machinery, CAD suites and sophisticated equipment for textiles and printing. The Business School also has its own trading room with Bloomberg Terminals that are used by top traders throughout the world. It's all part of the professional learning that has helped the Business School to become the first in Europe to gain double accreditation in both business and accounting by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Transport Northumbria University is less than two hours by train from Edinburgh, two hours 40 minutes from London, and less than an hour by air from Northern Ireland. Many major airlines, including British Airways, Emirates, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Eastern Airways and Brussels Airlines, provide global links to Newcastle via Paris, Dubai, Amsterdam and London.