Birmingham City University is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843,[4] it was designated as a polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in 1992.
The university has three main campuses serving four faculties, and offers courses in art and design, business, the built environment, computing, education, engineering, English, healthcare, law, the performing arts, social sciences, and technology. A £125 million extension to its campus in the city centre of Birmingham, part of the Eastside development of a new technology and learning quarter, is opening in two stages, with the first phase having opened in 2013.
It is the second largest of five universities in the city, the other four being the University of Birmingham (which is the largest), Aston University, University College Birmingham and Newman University. Roughly half of the university’s full-time students are from the West Midlands, and a large percentage of these are from ethnic minorities. The university runs access and foundation programmes through an international network of associated universities and further education colleges, and has the highest intake of foreign students in the Birmingham area.
Rankings and Reputation
| National rankings | |
|---|---|
| Complete (2022)[70] | 82 |
| Guardian (2022)[71] | 67 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2022)[72] | 83 |
| Global rankings | |
| QS (2022)[73] | 801-1000 |
| THE (2022)[74] | 501-600 |
| British Government assessment | |
| Teaching Excellence Framework[75] | Silver |
The university has a number of courses accredited by Creative Skillset, the government’s skills sector council for audio, visual and creative industries. With regard to post-production, the university also has Avid Mentor status,[77] and is the Midlands’ accredited training centre for Apple‘s Final Cut editing software.
For health and social care, Birmingham City University was awarded national recognition as a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The university has an on-site virtual operating suite for health students, the first at a university in England. In the Smithers-Robinson League Table, for initial teacher training, Birmingham City University and three other institutions are consistently ranked top ten. Ofsted inspection scores for teacher education courses are frequently among the best.