Academic Enrichment Programme

The Academic Enrichment Programme is an immersive five day residential that gives students an insight into the full university experience, including taster lectures from a range of academic subjects, living in accommodation and new social experiences.

This programme is only available to students who live inside the Greater West Midlands region and are currently in Year 12. The next programme begins with a week long residential at the University from Monday 26 – Friday 30 August 2019.

Each student will experience first-hand what life studying and living at a research-led university is like by staying for five days and four nights in the University halls of residence and attending academic sessions in an area of their interest. During the evenings, students will be able to take part in social activities and will also have the opportunity to take a tour of Birmingham. Throughout the residential, there will be a team of current undergraduate student ambassadors on hand to support within a relevant academic stream to support and advice. 

There are 4 broad streams that students can choose from; this must be related to their current studies or relevant to the degree programme they wish to study. The academic streams will include some of the following areas, but these are all subject to availability of academic staff:

• Humanities and Social Sciences – covering Geography, English, History, Law, Politics, Social Policy, Public Policy, Social Work, Sociology, Theology, Psychology
• Business – Accounting, Economics, Business, International Studies
• Physical Sciences – Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Maths, Chemistry
• Biological and Health Sciences – Physiotherapy, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Biology, Biomedical Material Science

In addition to academic lectures and seminars there are contributions from external organisations.

To apply for the Academic Enrichment Programme, please apply here.

Students who successfully complete the Academic Enrichment Programme and apply to the University of Birmingham will receive special consideration from admissions tutors. If their application is successful, they will receive two offers from the University of Birmingham, the standard offer and an alternative offer. The alternative offer is typically a reduction of up to two A level grades (e.g. BBB rather than AAB). For Medicine, the alternative offer is a reduction of up to three A level grades (e.g. ABB instead of A*AA).

As well as the alternative offer, students will also be eligible for the Pathways to Birmingham Bursary worth £1,000 and an Pathways to Birmingham Scholarship worth £1,500 per year of study.