Getting to know the tuition, courses offered and the admission rate is the first step every student should undertake before seeking admission into a university. In this light, we have brought you to study at the University of Birmingham: Admission, Tuition, Courses, Scholarships, and its Ranking.
The University of Birmingham is a public research university; it’s situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The university received its royal charter in the year 1900 as a successor to Queen’s College. It was established in the year 1825 as the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery and Mason Science College, which was established in the year 1875 by Sir Josiah Mason, making it the first English civic or ‘red brick’ university to obtain its own royal charter.
It is a founding member of both the Russell Group of British research universities and the international network of research universities, Universitas 21.
Table of contents
- University of Birmingham Ranking
- University of Birmingham History
- Recent history
- Courses offered by University of Birmingham For both Undergraduate and Postgraduate
- University of Birmingham Alumni
- University of Birmingham Accommodation Housing
- University of Birmingham Admissions
- University of Birmingham Scholarships
- We Also Recommend
University of Birmingham Ranking
The University of Birmingham was ranked 14th in the UK and 79th in the world according to the latest QS World University Rankings. In the year 2013, in the year 2014, the University was named ‘University of the Year’ in the Times Higher Education awards.
The year 2017 Global Employability University Ranking places the university at 142nd globally and 10th in the United Kingdom. It also ranked 5th in the United Kingdom for Graduate Prospects in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide for the year 2018.
The population of the students are as follows; undergraduate students 22,440 (twenty-two thousand, four hundred and forty) and postgraduate students 12,395 (twelve thousand, three hundred and thirty-nine), which is the fourth largest in the United Kingdom out of 167.
The annual income of the institution for 2016 – 2017 was £635.6 million of which £124.0 million was from research grants and contracts, with an outflow of £597.3 million.
The University of Birmingham is home to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, housing works by Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet; the Shakespeare Institute; the Cadbury Research Library. Home to the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern document; the Lapworth Museum of Geology: and the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, which is a famous landmark visible from several parts of the city.
Academics and alumni of the university include Stanley Baldwin and former British Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain, eleven Nobel laureates and the British composer Sir Edward Elgar.
University of Birmingham History
Queen’s College
Though the earliest beginnings of the university were formerly traced back to the Queen’s College which is associated to William Sands Cox in his endeavor in creating a medical school alongside strictly Christian lines, unlike the London medical schools.
Further research has now revealed the roots of the Birmingham Medical School in the medical education seminars of Mr. John Tomlinson, the 1st surgeon to the Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary, and later to the General Hospital.
These classes were the first ever held outside London or south of the Scottish border in the winter of the year 1767, 1768.
The 1st clinical teaching was undertaken by medical and surgical apprentices at the General Hospital, which was opened in the year 1779. The medical school which grew out of the Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary was founded in year 1828 but Cox began teaching in the month of December 1825.
Queen Victoria granted her patronage to the Clinical Hospital in Birmingham and allowed it to be fashioned ‘The Queen’s Hospital’. It was the first (1st) provincial teaching hospital in the city of England. The medical college was being recognized as “Queen’s College” in the year 1843.
Ceiling of the Aston Webb building
Sir Josiah Mason, the Birmingham industrialist and philanthropist, who made his wealth in making key rings, pen nibs, pens and electroplating, drew up the Foundation Deed for Mason Science College in the year 1870.
The college was founded in the year 1875. It was this institution that would in due course form the nucleus of the University of Birmingham. The Departments of Chemistry, Botany and Physiology were transferred to Mason Science College, soon followed by the Departments of Physics and Comparative Anatomy in the year 1882.
The relocating of the Medical School to Mason Science College gave considerable impulsion to the growing importance of that college and in 1896 a move to incorporate it as a university college was made.
As a result of the Mason University College Act year 1897, it became incorporated as Mason University College on 1st January 1898, with Joseph Chamberlain becoming the President of its Court of Governors.
Royal Charter
It was mostly due to Chamberlain’s passion that the university was granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria on 24th March 1900. The Calthorpe family offered twenty-five acres (i.e 10 hectares) of land on the Bournbrook area of their estate in July.
The Court of Governors received the Birmingham University Act year 1900, which put the royal charter into effect on 31st May. Birmingham was therefore arguably the first so-called red brick university, although numerous other universities claim this title.
The relocation of Mason University College to the new University of Birmingham, with Chamberlain as its 1st chancellor and Sir Oliver Lodge as the 1st principal, was complete.
All that remained of Josiah Mason’s legacy was his Mermaid in the menacing chief of the university shield and of his college, the double-headed lion in the dexter. The University of Birmingham became the first civic and campus university in the city of England.
The University Charter of the year 1900 also included a provision for a commerce faculty, as was appropriate for a university itself that was founded by industrialists and based in a city with a gigantic business wealth. In effect she created the first Business School in England.
Consequently, the faculty, the first of its kind in Britain, was established by Sir William Ashley in year 1901, who from the year 1902 until 1923, he served as first Professor of Commerce and Dean of the Faculty.
From year 1905 to 1908, Edward Elgar held the position of Peyton Professor of Music at the university. He was later succeeded by his friend Granville Bantock.
The University of Birmingham’s own heritage archives are handy for research through the university’s Cadbury Research Library which is available to all interested researchers.
The Great Hall in the Aston Webb Building was converted into the 1st Southern General Hospital during World War I, with 520 (Five hundred and twenty) beds and treated 125,000 (one hundred and twenty-five thousand) injured servicemen.
Recent history
In the year 1999 talks commenced on the possibility of Aston University incorporating itself into the University of Birmingham as the University of Birmingham, Aston Campus.
This would have resulted in the University of Birmingham escalating to become one of the largest universities in the United Kingdom, with a student body of 30,000 (Thirty thousand).
Talks were halted in year 2001 after Aston University determined the timing to be inopportune.
While Aston University management was in favor of the integration, and reception among staff was generally positive, the Aston student union voted two-to-one against the integration.
In spite of this setback, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham said the door remained open to resume talks when Aston University is ready.
The large hall, where the final round of the first-ever prime ministerial debate was held.
The final round of the initial ever televised leaders’ debates, hosted by the BBC, was held at the university during the year 2010 British general election campaign, which was held on the 29th of April 2010. It also acted as a training camp for the Jamaican track and field team prior to the year 2012 London Olympics.
On the 9th August 2010, the university announced that for the first time it would not enter the UCAS clearing process for 2010 admission, which goes with under-subscribed courses to students who did not meet their firm or insurance choices, due to all places being taken.
Basically, a result of the Financial crisis of year 2007 – 2010, University of Birmingham joined fellow Russell Group universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Bristol in not offering any clearing places.
A new library was unveiled for the year 2016/2017 academic year, and a new sports center opened in the month of May 2017. The earlier main Library and the old Munrow Sports Centre have both since been demolished, with the demolition of the old library being completed in the month of November 2017.
Controversies
Statues of the University of Birmingham (Beethoven, Michelangelo, Virgil, Shakespeare, Newton, Faraday, Watt, Plato, and Darwin)
The discipline of cultural studies was established at the university and between year 1964 and 2002, the campus was home to the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, a leading research centre whose members’ work came to be recognized as the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies.
Even though being established by one of the key figures in the field, Richard Hoggart and being later directed by the renowned theorist Stuart Hall, the department was controversially clogged down.
The University of Birmingham and the Guild of Students also clarified the capacity of the injunction in an email sent to all the students on 11th January 2012, stating “The injunction applies only to those individuals who occupied the lodge”.
The university said that it sought this injunction as a protection safety measure based on a previous occupation. Three separate human rights groups, together with Amnesty International, condemned the move as restrictive on human rights.
Courses offered by University of Birmingham For both Undergraduate and Postgraduate
| Course Name | Level |
| International Business MSc Course (Dubai Campus) Full-time and part-time | Postgraduate |
| Mechanical Engineering BEng Course (Dubai Campus) | Undergraduate |
| Business Management BSc Course (Dubai Campus) | Undergraduate |
| Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Introductory Practitioners Course (IPC) | Postgraduate |
| Computer Science BSc Course (Dubai Campus) | Undergraduate |
| Computer Science MSc Course (Dubai Campus) | Postgraduate |
| Economics BSc Course (Dubai Campus) | Undergraduate |
| Medicine and Surgery MBChB Graduate Entry Course | Undergraduate |
| Rural Roads for Development course | Postgraduate |
| HDM4 course in Road Management | Continuing Professional Development |
| iRAP course in Road Safety | Continuing Professional Development |
| Compassion Focused Therapy Postgraduate Diploma | Postgraduate |
| English Language and Applied Linguistics PhD/MA by Research | Postgraduate |
| History MA by distance learning | Postgraduate |
| Language, Culture and Communication MA | Postgraduate |
| Mathematics and Music BA | Undergraduate |
| Modern Languages (University of Birmingham with The Open University pathway) BA | Undergraduate |
| Modern Languages BA | Undergraduate |
| Shakespeare and Creativity MA | Postgraduate |
| Shakespeare and Education MA (on campus or by distance learning) | Postgraduate |
| Shakespeare and Theatre MA/Diploma/Distance learning | Postgraduate |
| Shakespeare Studies MA | Postgraduate |
| Shakespeare Studies PhD/MA by Research (On-Campus or by Distance Learning) | Postgraduate |
| Accounting and Finance BSc | Undergraduate |
| Accounting and Finance BSc (Dubai Campus) | Undergraduate |
| Advanced Chemical Engineering Masters/MSc/Diploma | Postgraduate |
| Advanced Child Protection Studies MSc/PGDip/PGCert (distance learning) | Postgraduate |
| Applied Mathematics MSc | Postgraduate |
| Atmospheric Sciences and Air Pollution PhD with Integrated Study | Postgraduate |
| Autism Spectrum (Webautism) University Certificate | Postgraduate |
| Biochemistry (Genetics) BSc | Undergraduate |
| Biochemistry BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biochemistry MSci (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biochemistry with an International Year BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biochemistry with Professional Placement MSci (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biochemistry with Study in Continental Europe BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biological Sciences (Genetics) BSc | Undergraduate |
| Biological Sciences (Zoology) BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biological Sciences MSci (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biological Sciences with Professional Placement MSci (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Biological Sciences with Study in Continental Europe BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate |
| Brain Imaging and Cognitive Neuroscience MSc | Postgraduate |
| Chemistry BSc | Undergraduate |
| Civil and Railway Engineering BEng | Undergraduate |
| Civil and Railway Engineering MEng | Undergraduate |
| Civil Engineering BEng | Undergraduate |
| Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics MSc | Postgraduate |
| Computer Science Masters/MSc | Postgraduate |
University of Birmingham Alumni
This is a directory of notable alumni related to the University of Birmingham and its predecessors, Mason Science College & Queen’s College, Birmingham. Excluded from this directory are those people whose only connection with Birmingham University is that they were awarded an honorary degree.
Listed below are notable alumni of University of Birmingham viz:
Heads of States and Government
- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
- Chief Minister Joe Bossano
- Prime Minister Perry Christie
- Prime Minister Kenny Anthony
- Kenny Anthony – Prime Minister of St. Lucia, 1997–2006, 2011
- Stanley Baldwin – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1923–24, 1924–29, 1935–1937
- Joe Bossano – Chief Minister of Gibraltar, 1988–96
- Neville Chamberlain – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1937–1940
- Perry Christie – Prime Minister of the Bahamas, 2005–07, 2012
Click Here to Download complete Alumni >
University of Birmingham Accommodation Housing
The University of Birmingham provides housing mainly for first-year students, running a guarantee scheme for all those United Kingdom applicants who choose Birmingham as their first UCAS choice. 90 percent (%) of university-provided accommodation is inhabited by first-year students.
The University of Birmingham maintained gender-segregated halls until the year 1999 when Lake and Wyddrington “halls” (treated as two different halls, in spite of being physically one building) were renamed as Shackleton Hall.
Chamberlain Hall (Eden Tower), a seventeen story (17) tower block, was initially known as High Hall, for male students, and the linked Ridge Hall (later renamed to the Hampton Wing), for female students.
University of Birmingham’s house was decommissioned as an accommodation to house the expanding Business School, while Mason Hall has been demolished and rebuilt, opening in year 2008.
In the summer of year 2006, the university sold three of its most distant halls (Hunter Court, the Beeches and Queens Hospital Close) to private operators, while later in the year and during term, the university was enforced urgently to decommission both the old Chamberlain Tower (High Hall) and also Manor House in excess of fire safety inspection failures.
The University of Birmingham has rebranded its halls offerings into three (3) villages.
University of Birmingham Admissions
In the aspect of average UCAS points of entrants, University of Birmingham ranked 25th in Britain in the year 2014. According to the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, roughly 20% of Birmingham’s undergraduates come from independent schools.
The University of Birmingham gives offers of admission to 79.2% of its applicants, the 8th highest among the Russell Group. In the year 2016 – 2017 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 76:5:18 of UK/:EU non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of about 56:44.
To apply for both graduate and undergraduate application
University of Birmingham Scholarships
To reward outstanding achievement and to help ensure that fears about finance do not constrain prospective international students from considering study at the University of Birmingham, we are pleased to offer a number of prestigious international scholarships.
Please click on the links below for further information about the scholarship program that the University currently supports (highlighted in bold text) and also external sources of funding that may be available to you. These scholarships are generally open to applicants from outside of the European Union and EU applicants are advised to review our UK/EU funding pages.
Follow this Link to Apply for the scholarships >
Conclusion
This may not represent the newest position of the university and it is quite historic.
This gives a guide to what you should see in the university in terms of acceptance rate, tuition and ranking.
Did you enjoy reading study in Birmingham?
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