Bath Spa University is a university based in, and around, Bath, England. The institution was previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College. It gained full university status in August 2005. The institution can trace its roots back to the foundation of the Bath School of Art in 1852, following the impact of the Great Exhibition of 1851. In 1947 Bath Teacher Training College leased the Newton Park campus. The present institution was formed in 1975 as Bath College of Higher Education by the merger of the Bath College of Education and Newton Park College of Education. In 1992, the college was granted degree-awarding powers and in 1999 adopted the name Bath Spa University College. In March 2005 the institution was granted university status, becoming Bath Spa University in August 2005. It has since consistently ranked amongst the top 100 universities in the UK, generally placing somewhere in the 80s. The Newton Park campus, located to the west of Bath near the village of Newton St Loe, is the largest of the university's three campuses.