University of Bradford tops list for social mobility for third year

The University of Bradford has been named the leading university in England for improving students' social mobility for the third year running.

The English Higher Education Social Mobility Index measures the change in a person's socio-economic situation as a result of attending a university.

Rather than focusing on graduate salaries, the league table looks at how their life chances have improved.

Aston University comes in second place and City, University of London, third.

Prof David Phoenix, who compiled the index, said it shows your background does not have to determine your future.

The index, now in its third year, has previously only published the top 20 institutions but this year has released its results in full.

Prof Phoenix, who is Vice-Chancellor of London South Bank University, said the index measures certain groups' access to each university, the rate at which students continue after the first 12 months, and the outcomes for graduates.

It takes into account full-time and part-time students but does not include apprenticeships, as there is a shortage of comparable data.

"Universities of all types, up and down the country, are countering expectation by consistently delivering improved economic prosperity for some of our most disadvantaged students," Prof Phoenix said.

Bradford has topped the table since the start of the index, and Aston has consistently come second.

The University of Bradford said its success comes from a focus on career-focused learning and inclusion.

It has an ethos of achieving "more than a degree", and does this by working alongside more than 3,000 employers to offer students real world career development education.

Prof Shirley Congdon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford, said the institution's core ambition was to make a difference for its students, the city and the people of Bradford.

"At Bradford, the principle of equality of opportunity is at the heart of who we are, what we do, how and why we do it," she said,

"We are fiercely committed to widening access to higher education through our approach to recruitment and admissions."

Marni Comrie, 19, is an undergraduate at Bradford studying integrated chemical engineering and one of the first people in his family to go to university.

"Five generations ago we were travellers in Ireland so it's a massive thing - and a proud achievement for a lot of my family members," he said.

"Bradford are very understanding that people aren't from very educated backgrounds but that doesn't mean they don't have the social skills or the common sense to be able to adapt and live here perfectly.

"It's very open and very supportive to first generation uni students."

Theo Cook-Pattison is a physiotherapy student at Bradford, and only the second person in his family, after his brother, to go to university.

"My mum and dad didn't do really well at school," he said.

"The course is great and we're able to go into areas where physios work for placements. It's a very demanding, hands-on course but it's worth it.

"The second year I've joined lots of sports and societies, and the social life is booming at Bradford uni. I'd recommend it, they help you a lot and it's brilliant."

The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), which publishes the index, said the three top performing institutions are all former Colleges of Advanced Technology, which became universities almost 60 years ago.

The next three in the list - King's College London, the The London School Of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Queen Mary University of London - are all members of the elite Russell Group.

These are followed by three post-1992 universities and former polytechnics, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton and Huddersfield.

Another Russell Group University, University College London (UCL), comes in 10th place.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said league tables could be controversial but it was important to look at ones which use different metrics.

He said: "The fact that some relatively new and less prestigious institutions beat Oxbridge reminds us of the different contributions made by different institutions.

"Above all, the index confirms our higher education sector has strength in breadth."