With over 25,000 students, Birmingham City University is one of the larger UK universities; a third of our students study part-time and over 2,000 are international students. We offer more than 350 undergraduate and postgraduate courses across six faculties – Birmingham City Business School; Birmingham Institute of Art and Design; Education, Law and Social Sciences; Health; Performance Media and English; and Technology, Engineering and the Environment.
Outstanding support for students
Our commitment to supporting our student community was recognised with a national honour when we won the 'Outstanding Support for Students' category at the 2010 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards. Our pioneering approach was described as an “outstanding” model of partnership between staff and students
World-leading research excellence
Results from a prestigious national audit - the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 - have led to Birmingham City University being placed in a ‘supergroup' of modern universities spearheading research excellence, while maintaining a strong commitment to teaching and professional practice. Find out more about our RAE results.
Working in partnership with our students
Our Student Academic Partnership (SAP) scheme gives our postgraduate students the opportunity to work with academic staff to evaluate, improve and re-design courses to strengthen learning and teaching development.
Above the benchmark for postgraduate experience
The National Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey consistently places us above the post-92 university benchmark for postgraduate student experience. In the most recent survey:
- 80.2 per cent of our students said the quality of teaching and learning they received exceeded their expectations.
- 83.2 per cent said the overall experience of their course met or exceeded their expectations.
- 84.9 per cent said their careers and professional development have been enhanced by their course.
- 86.3 per cent said their skills and personal development have been enhanced by their course.
Professional accreditations
What better recommendation of our knowledge and expertise than the wealth of professional recognition we receive? Find out more about our many professionally accredited courses.
Up-to-date, industry-led courses
Our strong links with industry, leading companies and professional bodies ensure our courses are current, relevant, dynamic and innovative. With many courses offering work placement opportunities, valuable professional experience gives you outstanding career prospects. We are committed to helping businesses develop and grow – from the smallest SMEs to leading brands such as Morgan, Rolls-Royce, CISCO, Microsoft and Sony.
More key facts and figures
- We were ranked 29th in the UK by the 2012 Sunday Times University Guide for our success in placing students in graduate employment.
- More than 5,000 SME businesses have been helped by us over the past 10 years.
- Art and Design is ranked in the top 10 in the UK for research – the best outside London.
- Birmingham School of Media was ranked 5th in the country by the Guardian University Guide 2011 for providing the best courses that combine teaching theory and practice.
- Drama was ranked 12th and Land and Property Studies ranked 4th in Times Good University Guide 2011
- Overall satisfaction with the quality of our courses is 73 per cent in the 2010 National Student Survey (NSS); Sociology achieved 94 per cent; Drama and Nursing both scored 90 per cent; Mechanical, Production and Manufacturing Engineering 85 per cent; Marketing 83 per cent.
- We're ranked 4th in England for our secondary teacher training (Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) survey 2010).
- We're 10th in the UK for our research into art and design (Research Assessment Exercise 2008).
- We're 3rd in the UK for music research among UK conservatoires (Research Assessment Exercise 2008).
- We were granted Platinum status by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for 2011-2012. This is the fourth consecutive year we've received this prestigious level of accreditation.
- Birmingham Conservatoire is ranked third in its sector for research – the best outside London.
- We were awarded Grade 1 Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ for our primary and secondary teacher training - one of 10 universities in the UK.
- 98 per cent of our full-time postgraduate teacher training students graduating in 2009 found jobs.
- We're the 5th most “upwardly mobile” university in the UK, as voted by the Times Higher Education magazine in 2010.
- We were in 12th position in the Times Good University Guide 2010 for our spending on services and facilities.