University of Birmingham

We advance. We activate.

For more than a century, the University of Birmingham has been pursuing and sharing knowledge through outstanding teaching and world-leading research.

We are the original ‘redbrick’ University, part of the prestigious Russell Group; our thriving student population enjoys a wide range of courses, and exceptional campus and research facilities.

The 10 Nobel Laureates we count among our staff and alumni have contributed to some of science’s greatest discoveries, including in recent times the Higgs Boson and Gravitational Waves. Our research provides innovative solutions to the challenges we face in our city, our region and across the globe.

We encourage and empower people to turn ideas into reality and make important things happen.

Our History:

Our University grew out of the radical vision of our first Chancellor, Joseph Chamberlain. Founded in 1900, Birmingham represented a new model for Higher Education. We were England’s first civic university, a place where students from all backgrounds were accepted on an equal basis. More than 100 years on, our Birmingham campus has grown to 672 acres, and we also now have a campus in Dubai. Each year, we welcome more than 30,000 students from across the world. Our size has changed, but our civic commitment has not.

Our Campus:

Our beautiful, green campus is a short train ride or a 30-minute canal walk from Birmingham city centre. We have a wide range of historic and modern spaces for our students, staff and visitors to enjoy, as well as museums and galleries. We also have a vast array of facilities for hosting drinks receptions, conferences and, of course, major events and sporting fixtures such as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

International facts and figures:



As a leading international university, we welcome students and staff from around the world. They enrich our learning community by bringing a wider perspective to our work and our culture.

Their experiences contribute to the University’s efforts to ensure that all of our students graduate with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to contribute to a global society.

Birmingham is making strides to increase its position as one of the world’s leading universities. We start from a strong base, as these figures demonstrate:

• Birmingham is 90th in the QS World University Rankings, cementing our position in the top 100 universities globally and placing us as 14th amongst UK universities.
• We are consistently top 100 in the Financial Times and Economist Business School world rankings.
• We currently have 5,000 students from over 150 countries among our student community.
• Of our academic staff, 34% are overseas nationals.
• Birmingham is one of the UK’s major participants in the Erasmus programme, which encourages student exchanges between leading European institutions.
• We are a founder member of Universitas 21, a global network of 27 research-led universities across 17 countries.

Our Strategy:

Birmingham 2030 sets out our aspiration to establish Birmingham in the top 50 of the world’s leading universities. This is a highly-challenging ambition, and the Strategic Framework sets out the ways in which we will pursue this.

With world-class research and outstanding global education as our core mission, we will strive to increase the volume and quality of our research to make an even greater difference to the world around us. We will be the UK’s exemplary civic university, remaining firmly committed to our foundations in the highly diverse communities, people, and economy of the city of Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Admission requirements vary from country to country. Kindly contact our admissions counsellor for more information!