University College Birmingham ranked as one of the UK’s worst unis for graduate prospects

Only 49 per cent of student go onto to further education or graduate jobs

1 day ago

University College Birmingham has been ranked as one of the UK’s worst higher education institutions for graduate prospects.

This comes as Education Secretary Bridget Philipson proposed a league table that would publicly “name and shame” universities with high vice-chancellor pay if their student outcomes are poor.

According to The Times, the 20 lowest-performing universities—measured by the proportion of students progressing to graduate jobs or further study—paid their vice-chancellors an average salary of £280,000 last year, with one receiving £361,000.

University College Birmingham was one of those on the list, ranking second worst for graduate outcomes. According to the data, only 49 per cent of students go on to graduate jobs or further education. This is whilst the vice-chancellor Professor Michael Harkin receives £310,000 as a salary.

Fellow Birmingham university, Newman, also featured on the list with 64 per cent of students going onto graduate jobs or further education. This is compared to at least 73 per cent of students in Russell Group universities.

However, critics warn that oversimplified metrics may do more harm than good.

Professor David Maguire of the University of East Anglia questioned this approach, citing a weak correlation between outcomes and factors like vice-chancellor salaries. He also warned against reducing complex issues to soundbites, saying: “There’s a pretty tenuous correlation between vice-chancellor pay and the outcomes students obtain.

“These depend on many things, not least the quality of the students coming and the subjects they study and their interest in obtaining jobs.

“Is that really the way we want to run the sector, with crude metrics? It’s reducing and simplifying complexities to a single soundbite and trying to bully people in an argument doesn’t seem a satisfactory way of doing it.”