A spirit of social mobility runs through Wolverhampton, the West Midlands university that has been transforming its campuses as part of its mission to transform lives. Wolverhampton has introduced new facilities in healthcare, created a Screen School for creative and digital students and upgraded pharmacy teaching spaces. A significant overhaul to the library has included a Student Life Centre. It even features “Cubbie” — a multi-sensory cubicle that helps students to regulate sensory stress, designed with autistic and neurodivergent people in mind, but helpful for anyone feeling anxious.
The university is a key provider of health sector staff including nurses, midwives, paramedics and social workers for the Black Country and has started the ball rolling to launch a Black Country medical school, with regional health partners. Its efforts make waves: research by the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank puts the university in the UK’s top ten for social mobility.
Away from the books, students gather at The Den, Deli Moon and Luna Lounge — which have revived the campus social scene with options for food and drinks and live music 15 years after the former City campus bar closed.
What is the University of Wolverhampton’s reputation?
The university began as one of the 19th-century mechanics’ institutes that provided vocational and general education to working men. Today its focus is on nursing and midwifery (14.3 per cent), business and management (12.7 per cent), and health and social care.
More than half of Wolverhampton’s submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) was judged as world-leading or internationally excellent (109th).
The most recent Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023) rated Wolverhampton bronze — overall and for both underpinning aspects of student experience and student outcomes (down from silver in the previous assessment). Despite the rating, TEF assessors did pay credit to Wolverhampton, saying it “fosters a supportive learning environment”.
Our latest National Student Survey analysis shows Wolverhampton is doing better than bronze for student satisfaction; it is up ten places to 44= for students’ evaluation of teaching quality. It has also made ground on feedback regarding the wider undergraduate experience, edging up six places to 80=. The university has in turn edged a couple of places up our main academic ranking to 121st.
Poor continuation rates — often a by-product of a diverse intake — are among the sticking points: only 84.5 per cent of students are projected to carry on from the first to the second year of their degree.
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
Wolverhampton expects to accept its first cohort of medical students in 2026 or 2027.
What are the University of Wolverhampton’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?
Degree courses demand 120-96 Ucas tariff points (equivalent to BBB-CCC at A-level). A contextual admissions policy applies to most courses and 31 per cent of students were recruited through clearing in 2024.
What are the graduate prospects?
Wolverhampton’s courses are developed in consultation with industry practitioners and the university is also keen to enter its students into national and international competitions. Wolverhampton is 82= for graduate prospects, based on our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey, which shows that 73.4 per cent of leavers were in highly skilled jobs or had returned to further study 15 months after finishing their degree.
What is the University of Wolverhampton’s campus like?
Headquarters are at City campus in Wolverhampton, where the Screen School helps creative and digital students to develop their ideas and there are improved provision for pharmacy students. The university has invested in new facilities for healthcare, nursing and paramedic students based at Walsall and City campuses. In Telford the new Centre for Health and Social Care trains key workers.
The Walsall campus is the base for high-quality sports facilities including a new Active Wellbeing, Rehabilitation and Performance Centre, funded by the Office for Students. The recently opened £120 million site in Springfield regenerated an old brewery into Europe’s largest specialist construction and built environment campus, hosting the £45 million School of Architecture and Built Environment.
Technology available for student use includes drones, 3D laser scanners, ground-penetrating radar, VR tools and even a robotic dog called Spot, which has been designed to be a remote inspection tool to reduce safety risks on construction sites. The Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills and National Brownfield Institute are also at Springfield. The university has also branched out to Hereford with the Midlands Centre for Cyber Security.
When can I visit?
wlv.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about the University of Wolverhampton’s student life and wellbeing support
Birmingham’s legendary nightlife is a train or tram ride away — and Wolverhampton has its own bars and nightclubs too. The Walsall campus has extensive sports facilities including grass and 3G pitches, outdoor courts for tennis and netball, a gym and strength facility and a 200m running track. The campus hosts the British Judo Centre of Excellence, which has an Olympic standard-training Dojo and performance gym.
A mental health and wellbeing team offers group work and one-to-one sessions, and promises to respond to student registration within 48 hours; and there is a 24-hour WLV Student Life Connect service.
What do the students say?
“The university has given me opportunities as a mature student I didn’t think were possible. As a mum, it has helped me regain my identity and I would highly recommend anyone to take the leap and chase your dreams.”
Kim Maloney, international hospitality management student and students’ union events co-ordinator (2023-24)
What about student accommodation at the University of Wolverhampton?
Wolverhampton’s halls are among the UK’s most pocket-friendly, with rooms starting at £96 a week. Allocations of the 1,081 rooms are made on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is space for about 85 per cent of first-years who request it.
How diverse and inclusive is the University of Wolverhampton?
In 11th place of our social inclusion index overall (down from sixth last year), continuing outreach work by the university aims to raise aspirations and attainment among young people in the region, from primary school age up to mature students. The Aspire2Uni programme for schoolchildren from Year 7 onwards offers mentoring and outreach activities.
Seven in ten students are the first in their family to go to university (the third-highest proportion in England and Wales), around four in ten students are aged over-21 when they enrol and six in ten are from ethnic minorities. Wolverhampton’s retention of students from deprived areas is the ninth best.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of Wolverhampton
The university provided 834 awards worth a total of almost £500,000 in 2024-25. All new home students also receive an access bursary (£200 in the first year, £100 the next) to help pay for resources such as mobile data and books. Any student can seek free testing for dyslexia, and the university covers the cost of assistive technology for disabled students. There are bursaries for estranged and care-experienced students or those in hardship, and £1,000 scholarships for women in engineering.
