Facilities & Overview
The University was Founded in 1900, Birmingham represented a new model for higher education. This was England’s first civic university, where students from all religions and backgrounds were accepted on an equal basis.
In 1900, great institutions of higher learning in the UK existed in Cambridge, Oxford, London, Durham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast. While compulsory education had been introduced in 1880 for children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old, the majority of the population entered work by the age of 14.
Joseph Chamberlain, the great London born politician, was well aware of these limiting factors when he proposed the establishment of the University of Birmingham, to complete his vision for the city. Chamberlain sought to provide ‘a great school of universal instruction’, so that ‘the most important work of original research should be continuously carried on under most favourable circumstances.’ It was his ambition that ‘the individual trades of the new University [would] forever associate their name and their industry with this new institution.
For over 100 years, innovative academic research at the University has influenced society and made an impact on people’s lives.Birmingham is where pacemakers and plastic heart valves were developed, where the first artificial vitamin (Vitamin C) was synthesised, and where the cavity magnetron was developed, leading to applications such as radar and the microwave oven. We are continually developing new initiatives to enrich our teaching and learning.