University College Birmingham Reviews 

I came to Birmingham in 2019 to study Sports at University College Birmingham and I really love it. From all the three years, I felt really supportive from my teachers. The university provides great facilities, brilliant staff team and help international and UK students in their journey. In my last year, I also started working in university that have a partnership with Unitemps company, that helped me a lot gaining experience and help with my finance. I really recommend University College Birmingham, you will not be regret.

I could have given UCB 4 stars because most of the staff are good, and some are genuinely excellent, friendly, and supportive.

Unfortunately, my experience was badly affected by one member of teaching staff and the way my complaint was handled by the current Head of Department. I won’t name them here because I doubt this review would be published otherwise.

One newer teaching assistant repeatedly compared me to other students, which I found inappropriate and unprofessional. When I raised the issue, I felt that my concerns were dismissed rather than properly addressed. After speaking with the Head of Department, I got the impression that the focus was on defending the staff member and ending the discussion instead of finding a fair resolution. Eventually, I dropped the matter because I felt under pressure to do so.

What disappoints me most is that situations like this can have a real impact on a student’s confidence, wellbeing, and mental health. Universities should provide a supportive environment where students feel respected and heard when they raise concerns. In my case, that did not happen.

Most staff members deserve credit for their hard work and support, but these two individuals completely ruined my experience. Because of that, I cannot recommend this university to prospective students, especially those who may already be struggling with confidence or mental health challenges and expect their concerns to be taken seriously.

Not entirely sure why they have blocked me on social media. I worked there for two years in the past. And I was falsely accused for many things which were not true at all. They have ITSU staff such as Bach who can't read or write. He isn't able to write a grammatically correct coherent sentence; yet he works at a university. Go figure. They also hire their family and friends in jobs and get paid high salaries which do not reflect their actual job duties. I was also racially abused and picked on. Bullied throughout my time there and called into meetings which were pointless. Stuart Petrie was one of the worst human beings I have come across. Their HR staff, Amy Foley witnessed this in the meeting and did nothing. They used to shout and swear and speak to me in a belittle matter. I took them to court and no one attended. The corrupt judge covered up for them too. I later went to court and the civil servants refused to give me their names. This place only cares about making money 💰

Negative Aspects
Low Graduate Prospects: A recent report identified UCB as the second-worst UK university for graduate outcomes, with many students not progressing into graduate-level work or further education.
Misleading League Tables: The university itself states that its unique dual role as a further and higher education provider can lead to unfair representation in traditional university league tables, as many students enter via vocational routes not reflected in UCAS points.

University College Birmingham (UCB) faces significant criticism for its poor graduate prospects, ranking as the second-worst in the UK for graduate jobs and further study, with only 49% of students progressing to those outcomes. This data, from a June 2025 Times report, contrasts sharply with The Tab's report on the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS) results

We regret our decision to enrol our son here. Our son had a form 8 valid until Sept 2025 after a psychometric test was completed by his previous school. We were told at enrolment that this would be taken into consideration and was photocopied at the time. When GCSE resits for November 2024 were being organised, we received a generic email informing students and parents that access arrangements would only be met for EHCP students, as they did not have time to assess other students. We were told to choose November resits without access arrangements or summer resits with access arrangements after their assessments- no real choice as any student with access needs and without an EHCP were excluded from resisting November resits under fair conditions! Anyway, we complained, received one email initially to reinforce what the generic email said and remove any responsibly from themselves by stating “not in their remit!” We had a face to face appt with the SEN lead who stated access arrangements for exams were not in her remit either! So whose remit was it in! We received a brief letter after the November resits that stated they had asked teachers in the first week of college to assess if students had any access needs and had found my son did not need any support! (contradictory to the initial pre exam generic letter that informed parents they did not have time to assess students for access needs ). The first 2 weeks of term the maths teacher didn’t even turn up for the classes - which we also complained about and were told they had some teething issues which would be resolved the following week. So based on all of that there were no assessments and they simply couldn’t be bothered! We were told my son could access the student support by booking 1 hour a week with them - he was offered times that were during his lessons and we were then told it’s unfortunate that their isn’t someone with an EHCP in his class so that they could support him too!! Communication has been very poor! Nobody takes responsibility and we just feel so disappointed for our son and any other young person in the same situation!! Avoid this place at all costs!!

worst uni ever

I recently completed my academic journey at University College Birmingham (UCB) and feel compelled to share my experience regarding the support provided by the Business Department for students with additional needs.

Firstly, I must commend the Disability Services and Well-being team at UCB for their exceptional support throughout my time at the university. Their dedication and assistance have been invaluable, and I am grateful for their unwavering commitment to students' well-being.

However, I regret to say that my experience with the Business Department's support for disabled students has been disappointing and frustrating. Despite having a comprehensive support plan in place, I consistently encountered difficulties with temporary staff who appeared unaware of their responsibilities to accommodate disabled students. This lack of implementation of the support plan significantly impacted my academic experience and added unnecessary stress to my studies.

Moreover, the transitions between tutors and temporary staff were particularly challenging, exacerbating feelings of isolation and distress. Additionally, the university's handling of interpersonal conflicts, such as the situation involving another student, further contributed to my sense of being unsupported and marginalized.

Furthermore, there was a noticeable lack of communication and understanding regarding my disabilities within the Business Department. Unlike other departments where I felt valued and supported, the indifference to my needs within the Business Department had a detrimental impact on my mental health and overall well-being.

In conclusion, I urge UCB to thoroughly investigate these issues and take appropriate action to ensure that future students with disabilities receive the support they need and deserve. Failure to address these concerns not only reflects poorly on the university but also perpetuates a harmful environment for disabled students.

Overall, while my experience with the Disability Services and Well-being team was positive, the support provided by the Business Department fell short of expectations, and improvements are necessary to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students.

My names shuayb, unfortunately i have nothing good to say about the access course for computing, starting off 3 weeks in the tutors had gotten a group of students and put us on a sort of trial to say who should stay or not and to plead your case, when doing so there were 3 tutors 2 who are part of the course and 1 who is not she was a senior lecturer who spoke for them when talking she made points to why im not suitable such as attendance and work in which case i went back and forth with her which wasnt my intention but it became a sort of argument. That day i recieved 1 warning an hr later im told ive had 3 warnings(absolutely baffled at this point), i finally managed to talk to the head lecturer saying atleast give me a chance to improve as its only 3 weeks in, so i sent emails to all 3 course tutors apologising for where i lack and to improve, to my suprise only one messaged back saying do the work and it'll solve everything and so i did, caught up after hrs of effort i made sure to come on time and had my work ready to submit which was practically finished the deadline a week away, he reviewed my work early saying that hes recieving emails contstantly about me, i sent it he got back to me yesterday saying all the tutors dont want me on baring in mind this was supposed to be a chance he nvr reviewed my work i asked for one and all he had to say was that its rushed, then you have a tutor called salina who saw my work which i redone to show her i can do it after seeing she mentioned doing the harvard ref and nothing to critique the work the other lecturer took covid leave. The one thing that the female lecturers salina and sabrina kept saying is "we've got many years of expeince and we can tell whos suitable for this course and whos not", which is outrageous and honestly degrading as if to be a student is irrelavent and me studying here is a waste of my time and theirs, when ever i asked for help the two female lecturers would come over and dash off after 20 seconds or so, i can hands down say i dont look the part of a typical IT student but i was passionate having spent a couple yrs as a desk analyst and going through mutliple coding bootcamps where i am qaulified for being a data engineer, they never gave a real reason or even somekind of feedback just no we dont want you and youre not worth our time, honestly they lack empathy as teachers and there teaching is we have power points read off do the work which was fine but the lack of empathy towards students is the cake on top, from what ive observed to them its just a numbers game nothing to do with teaching just to say we have great attendance and pass rates,reasoning is that's all the senior lecturer kept rambling on about when ever she had a chance or we seen her. Mr khan was decent as he did give me a reply but when the whole department is just women who arent able to teach and just want whoever they deem worthy as if some kind of squidgame, they gave blank looks to me it came across degrading quite frankly not a place for students rather a place for a ceritificate, blatant as most there students head off to other places for uni, honestly just heartbroken as I've been made to feel like I'm not able or will ever be able to get a degree or proper education, i wish i cudve worded this better but as I've given up and after this bad experience its just me getting this off my chest.

Avoid at all costs. I was bullied and picked and used as a scapegoat from day one. Made false accusations and when they could not prove anything, they made further false accusations on top. I feel like I was picked on because I was Asian and a Muslim.

The place calls it self a University, however they are not listed on any of the University league tables. There are several other negative reviews regarding this place such as the ones written on glassdoor. I would not recommend to anyone to work or study here. Place is built on rumours; nepotism is common here too. There are staff who are fully aware of what goes on here but do not say anything and engage in the corruption, perhaps, in order to promote themselves or get their family and friends in. Given the opportunity your colleagues will back stab you and you will not even know.

Unfortunately, you will find staff who are inexperienced and have little or no knowledge regarding education. Management and HR are only concerned about how to make money for themselves and invest in other means. They will claim it is invested in education and new campuses but in reality that is scratching the surface.

I was denied annual leave for religious ( observations and expected to work when others where allowed to go off. Special treatment is provided to others and you are expected to be treated and accepted as the scapegoat. There is no respect, support of fairness shown.

There was no communication from management or HR. Just hearsay. They will try to make you appear that you are in the wrong and provide you their own definition of what they want you to hear.

You will be called into several meetings and be falsely accused of things based on random accusations. Micro management is loved here.

HR will go around and ask others to write witness statements against you based on lies. Also they will get witness statements from people who weren't even there. Your words will be twisted and your side of what really happened will not be taken into account.

Also don't give them ideas as they will take them from you and claim it for themselves. They will not acknowledge that you were the one who came up with them in any way. Blame culture is present with extremely rude managers.

Polices and procedures are not followed and made up along the way. They will follow it to suit themselves. They will say one rule is for you and you only. But they do not have to follow any of them.