Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET
Tel 0121 204 3000
ugenquiries@aston.ac.uk
www.aston.ac.uk
Open day: September 23

PERFORMANCE

Sunday Times ranking 37 (29)

Student satisfaction 75.3%
Head teacher ranking 23 (22)
Peer ranking 49= (63=)
Research quality 60.9%
A-level/Higher points 364
Unemployment 6.9%
Firsts and 2:1s 63.6%
Student/staff ratio 16.6:1
Dropout rate 9.1% (11.6%)
World ranking 316=

Multimedia

• The Times University Guide table

VITAL STATISTICS

Undergraduates 6,823 (331)
Postgraduates 1,612 (802)
Teaching staff 359
Applications/places 14,246/2,133; 6.7:1(-0.1%)
Clearing entry 8%
Live in 30% (100%) £68-£106
Bursaries 50%: £160-£800
Scholarships Sports/placement: £500-£1,500

SOCIAL MIX

EU/overseas 6.9%/18.5%
Mature 12%
State school 91.4%
Lowest social classes 37.2%

Low-participation areas 11.3% Aston graduates remain in demand with Britain’s leading employers. In the past year, more than 200 have visited the campus, in central Birmingham, to give advice to final-year students in a programme that also puts the university and its graduates in the shop window.

Indeed, the university told us that it had not seen any reduction in employer engagements with Aston, although it has added three members of staff to the careers service to help cope with the straitened times.

Still a relatively small institution, Aston’s success in the jobs market is twofold: graduate unemployment is consistently low, with a below average 6.9% still jobless six months after graduation, according to the latest figures. More importantly, the proportion gaining graduate-level employment is high, 81.4% at present, placing Aston among the top 15 universities in the UK on this measure.

Such practical demonstrations of its success and value to its students helped Aston to earn a shortlisting for our University of the Year title in 2008.

It also did well in the research assessment exercise (RAE), published last December. In business and management, 60% of staff entered were judged to be doing work that was world-leading (15%) or internationally excellent (45%), while in health sciences, half the staff entered achieved this standard (15%/35%).

In formal teaching assessments, teaching covering 70% of students was rated excellent. This had translated into fine results in previous national student surveys, with Aston last year ranked in the top 15 in the UK, but this year it falls back to 64= with its score dropping from 80.6% to 75.3%, leading to a fall in our overall league table.

The excellent accommodation on campus is being upgraded further in a £215m project, incorporating green features, to be completed by 2014.

Almost three-quarters of students take four-year sandwich degrees that involve a year out in business or industry. Aston is unique in paying students a £1,000 bursary (a “placement award”), rising to £1,500 if working abroad during this year. About half of students gain means-tested bursaries, payable to all from homes where income is less than £38,000.

STUDENT VIEW

Colin Shaw, students’ guild president:

First impressions A green campus with a friendly environment.
Worst feature You want to join so many societies but a lot of the meetings clash.
Facilities The new accommodation overlooks Aston’s lake. The rooms look amazing and will be complete by 2010.
Deal clincher Most courses have a sandwich placement, which improves job prospects.

Rated excellent (8)
Business and management; French; German; molecular biosciences; organismal biosciences; pharmacology and pharmacy; psychology; subjects allied to medicine (optometry).

Student satisfaction
Civil, Chemical and other Engineering 83.2; Other subjects allied to Medicine 82.2; Mathematical Sciences 79.5; Psychology 79.2; Medical Science and Pharmacy 79; Other Languages and Area studies 78.2; European Languages and Area studies 77.7; Biology and related Sciences 77.1; Electronic and Electrical Engineering 75.5; Physical Science 75.2; Business 72.9; Computer Science 72.8; Politics 70.4; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 65.9; Mechanically-based Engineering 63.9; Technology 58.8

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