EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
Birmingham has a long history of welcoming students from all backgrounds and nationalities to study in a comprehensive range of disciplines.
Our students are intellectually curious, academically and personally ambitious, and keen to be challenged as well as supported. In recent years, through a combination of the quality of our academic teaching, our investments in learning spaces, support and wellbeing, and student facilities – our students have achieved increasingly impressive degree and employment outcomes. We build on these foundations as we build a distinctive, exciting, and innovative approach to our education that reflects our global ambitions.
Learning in a research-intensive, global university is transformative. Underpinned by cutting-edge knowledge, our education will be intellectually challenging, inclusive, and developmental. Our programmes will be taught by leading researchers, allowing the next generation of leaders, innovators, problem-solvers and citizens to interact with, understand, and influence the latest discoveries and ideas. These are defining features of education in a research-intensive environment at a global top 50 university.
Wider changes in society will have an impact on future employment, and this will inform our education over the next ten years. Major challenges and opportunities will arise from the Covid pandemic and other societal changes, along with a growing international focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the so-called fourth industrial revolution. We will equip students to join talented peers and alumni globally to lead and shape these agendas, reflecting the future needs of employers.
Our students come from all backgrounds. We will deliver education in-person across our world-class campuses, in transnational partnerships, and through our digital platforms. This blended approach will enable us to provide a sustainable model of education to meet the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the UK and around the world. We aim for our education to be increasingly flexible and accessible, supported by an enhanced digital approach. Our overriding ambition is to provide an outstanding education experience for all our students.
We will use the exceptional breadth of the University to offer a wide range of academic disciplines, whilst also providing interdisciplinary opportunities which prepare students to prosper as citizens and become highly employable graduates, equipped to succeed in their chosen careers and life choices.
Read our Birmingham 2030 goals
See our key priorities
Discover our case studies
Our Birmingham 2030 goals are to:
Develop a distinctive research-intensive approach to education
Provide students with a transformative education
Support a thriving, inclusive, and global student community
Nurture an environment which values outstanding and innovative teaching
Underpinning these goals are our key priorities
Our key priorities will be:
Incorporating active engagement with research across our curriculum
We will prioritise the development of research skills at all levels of study to enhance students’ learning and employability, and ensure all students are taught by leading researchers. We will provide interdisciplinary learning opportunities linked to our research objectives, and will engage students, alumni, and employers in our institutional research ambitions. We will introduce new models for teaching and assessment setting out our approach to research-intensive teaching and learning, informed by alumni, employers and global peers.
Enhancing the quality and attractiveness of our education
Grounded in research at all levels of study, we will offer a challenging and inclusive education, centred on the needs, interests, and aspirations of our students. We will blend the experience of in-person learning at our world-class campuses with high quality, digital learning, supported by our Digital Strategy. The depth of our individual academic disciplines will provide students with greater opportunities to study across disciplines, more flexible and personalised study opportunities, and meaningful engagement with global challenges. We will support this by updating our programme architecture to support innovative curriculum design, as well as upgrading our student administration systems and enhancing our approach to timetabling.
Delivering a new approach to employability
Our Employability Strategy will develop a range of new personal and career development opportunities within the curriculum, aligning teaching and assessment with the attributes that employers are looking for in our graduates. Drawing on the expertise of employers and alumni, we will support students to make connections to the world around them, and will deliver University employability modules in areas such as sustainability, inclusivity, data science, leadership, and digital skills.
Improving the experience and outcomes for our diverse student community
We will continue to attract students from all backgrounds and numerous countries to access our education. We will work with our students and staff to address gaps in access to the University, and will develop new approaches to support our whole community of home and international students, from a wide range of backgrounds, to explore and reach their potential. Working in partnership with the Guild of Students, we will prioritise academic, mental health and wellbeing support, as well as wider personal development opportunities.
Prioritising and rewarding outstanding teaching
We will seek to attract leading academics who enjoy the intellectual challenge of sharing their research expertise through teaching our students. We aim to create a stimulating environment in which exceptional teaching is valued and rewarded, supported by innovative career-long professional development through our Higher Education Futures Institute. We will engage with global peers to ensure we are both informed and visible, developing new skills in digital education, programme leadership, personal academic tutoring, and inclusive pedagogies.
Our case studies
Our case studies
Employability Strategy
Programme Framework for the Future
The Collaborative Teaching Laboratory