The campus upgrades should help to improve Hallam’s rates of student satisfaction, which having suffered among the 30 biggest declines over the pandemic have dropped further again this year. In our analysis of the latest National Student Survey, the university places outside the top 100 for teaching quality and the wider experience. The declines have contributed to Hallam dropping ten places to sit joint 82nd in our main league table this year. 

The university has developed a “new way of delivering learning” it tells us, which includes: in-person on campus; remote online; learning by doing (in labs, studios, simulated environments and workshops) and through working in placements, internships and volunteering. 

The campus developments chime with Hallam’s mission to transform students’ lives and give everyone the chance to reach their full potential. Another upturn among measures of social inclusion shows further proof that the university’s extensive outreach work is effective. Among widening participation initiatives, 38 per cent of applicants for September 2022 received a contextual offer lower than the standard entry requirements. The scheme targets applicants from low participation areas, as well as other widening participation criteria, At the time of writing the scheme was under review however, so this proportion may change. 

Hallam succeeds in recruiting almost 12 per cent — the largest proportion in England and Wales — of white working class boys (the most underrepresented group), which contributes to a nine-place rise in the overall social inclusion index, bringing Hallam into the top 15. 

All new entrants are placed with three advisers — specialising in the academic side, employability and student support — who work together to provide the best possible student outcomes. Such efforts are paying off in an improved completion rate for Hallam, which ranks among the upper half of UK universities. 

There was more good news for the university when the 2021 Research Excellence Framework published its results this year – rating 72 per cent of Hallam’s biggest and most diverse submission to date as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) and triggering an impressive 20-place rise in our research quality index. Sport; art and design; and the built environment and planning produced some its best work. 

Undergraduates are promised work experience in every year of their degree, a pledge the university makes good by teaming up with more than 1,000 organisations that offer opportunities such as workshops, consultancies, short placements and real-world projects. Many courses are accredited by professional bodies and Hallam works with employers on its course design. With the latest figures showing three-quarters of graduates employed in high-skilled jobs or further study 15 months after finishing their degrees, Hallam is in the top half of UK universities for graduate prospects. 

Hallam’s employability initiatives helped earn a silver award in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), of which the university’s vice-chancellor was chairman. He was not involved in the decision. The TEF panel complimented the institution on an exemplary commitment to the region and support for students to be retained in the area. Almost half of undergraduates come from the Yorkshire and Humber region and an even larger proportion stay and work in the area after graduation.

More than 2,000 Hallam students are enrolled on degree apprenticeships linked with about 600 employers. The institution is a leading provider of the earn-as-you-learn higher education route, offering 32 programmes in 11 study areas including policing, digital and technology, food and drink, management, and architecture and chartered planning. With the addition of seven more courses (including district nursing; dietetics; and medical ultrasound) this year and next apprentice numbers should reach 3,000. 

The first economics and finance students began courses this term, while from September 2023 Hallam will offer degrees in computing (smart technologies); computer science with artificial intelligence; and accounting and finance for sport industries. There will be no new English literature students joining from 2023 however, because the university made the controversial decision to drop the subject. Applications to Hallam have declined steeply over the past decade, by more than 40 per cent between 2011 and 2021. New student enrolments have decreased much less sharply over the same period, but after a 10 per cent year-on-year dip reached their lowest in 2021. 

Accommodation is guaranteed to first-years who apply by the August 1 deadline. There are 371 bed spaces at university-managed Charlotte Court and between 4,179 and 4,629 across Hallam’s allocated partner properties. Sports facilities at the Collegiate and City campuses include sports halls, and fitness suites while the City Athletics Stadium two miles from the City campus hosts an eight-lane track among its resources. The Sports Park at Bawtry Road (five miles away) has numerous grass and synthetic pitches as well as an indoor cricket hall.