University of Wolverhampton has most first generation students of any UK university
The University of Wolverhampton has the highest proportion of students who are the first in their family to go to university, according to a university league table.
Released on Sunday, the Daily Mail's University Rankings and League Table 2024 show that 70.8 per cent of Wolverhampton's cohort are first generation students, ranking them as the best in the UK for teaching students whose parents did not attend university.
In comparison, 62.9 per cent of Staffordshire University's students are first generation, while the proportion is 56.3 per cent for Birmingham City University.
Meanwhile, only a third (34.3 per cent) of the University of Birmingham's students are first generation.
Wolverhampton's high levels of first generation students, combined with the fact that 85 per cent of its cohort hail from the West Midlands, shows a dramatic increase in young people from the region pursuing Higher Education compared to previous generations, which is seen as an indicator of social mobility.
Furthermore, 98 per cent of Wolverhampton's students come from non-selective state secondary schools, with only one per cent coming from grammar schools and a mere one per cent are privately educated.
The Daily Mail also claims that 43 per cent of students at Wolverhampton are mature, while almost 60 per cent of students are ethnic minority.
However, research shows that first generation students are more likely to drop out and may need extra support to flourish at university. While 85 per cent of Wolverhampton's students completed their first year, the 15 per cent who dropped out mean Wolverhampton was ranked 113th for first year completion in the UK.
Addressing the indicators used in their league table, the Daily Mail said: "The Mail’s league table – the first new university ranking of British universities in 15 years – focuses on the issues of acute concern to today’s students and their families.
"The ranking is the only one to assess the fairness of university admissions policies, measured by the proportion of first generation students – those whose parents did not go to university - admitted to each institution."
In terms of the overall ranking of universities by The Daily Mail, which is based on 12 key indicators, the University of Wolverhampton was ranked 69th.
However, the institution came in 26th for teaching excellence and 39th for student support out of 130 UK universities.
Professor John Raftery, Interim Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: "This is excellent news and is testament to the dedication of our students and staff.
"Background is no barrier at Wolverhampton; life should not come down to luck.
"We know how to help our students reach their full potential, to write their own story, and to work actively towards living a good and generous life.
"Our staff work tirelessly to guide our students towards their chosen path, so this formal recognition of that commitment is great to see."
The Daily Mail describes the University of Wolverhampton as follows: "Wolverhampton has a substantial regional footprint and an outstanding record for delivering higher education to students from backgrounds traditionally under-represented on Britain's university campuses.
"A period of heavy investment has given students cutting-edge facilities in landmark buildings across all sites with further investment such as the Active Wellbeing, Rehabilitation and Performance Centre on the Walsall campus due to start in the coming months.
"One of the larger providers of degree apprenticeships, there are 950 apprentices enrolled at the university across 19 course variations.
"There are several offerings in health and social care, including nursing and midwifery, as well as teaching, quantity surveying, environmental health and biomedical science.
"Although applications and enrolments are down from their peak in the middle of the last decade, the university remains hugely popular with local students, drawing 85 per cent of its UK intake from the West Midlands."
Addressing the university's admissions and teaching, the Daily Mail added: "Wolverhampton is one of the leading drivers of social mobility in the higher education sector.
"Few can match its record across key areas of recruitment including the proportions of students who are the first in their immediate family to go to university, who come from ethnic minorities or who live in postcodes which send the fewest into higher education.
"The university makes contextual offers of up to 16 UCAS tariff points (or two A-level grades) below the standard offer and these are made across all courses.
"The university will consider making a contextual offer to candidates with lower grades or predicted grades who come from postcodes among the 40 per cent sending fewest to university or suffering the highest levels of deprivation, or who attended a school in the bottom 40 per cent for GCSE or A-level results. There are alternative eligibility criteria."
To see the Daily Mail's university rankings in full, click here.
