Why I chose Chemical Engineering at Birmingham

When choosing a university and course, finding the right balance between location, lifestyle, and academic opportunities is essential. As a major city, Birmingham offers a unique combination of vibrant energy and peaceful green spaces with a welcoming, friendly community to make settling in a smooth and enjoyable experience. The university is ideally located just outside the city centre, providing a quieter campus environment while still being only a 10-minute journey from all the attractions, food spots and cultural highlights Birmingham has to offer. However, if you don’t feel like going into the bustling town centre, the area around the university holds almost every shop you could need. Additionally, the city’s excellent travel connections make exploring other parts of the UK easy, with direct trains to London, Manchester and many other places.

When it came to selecting my course, I initially had signed up for Chemistry and only asked to switch to Chemical Engineering on A-Level results day! Although I still believe that the course would have been incredibly interesting, I knew that I wanted a career that was less research and development focused, and so personally, Chemical Engineering opened more doors for me into other career options. I am glad I made the switch as I have found the content much more suited to my interests (maths and the application of it). I think part of my learning curve here was to not doubt myself, as much of the reason I had not applied to the course initially was due to the high grade requirements - don’t limit yourself!!

Chemical Engineering stood out as a challenging yet rewarding path, offering many career opportunities. The course here is highly regarded (ranking 5th in the UK - Complete University Guide 2025) and maintains strong connections to leading industry partners. This opens up incredible opportunities for internships and graduate employment. The course is intensive as it combines lectures, tutorials and hands-on lab sessions with a workload that encourages discipline and in-depth understanding. With around 5–6 labs per term and guidance during tutorials, the programme offers incredible support for applying our knowledge to real-world scenarios.

University of Birmingham holds an excellent reputation and maintains a hands-on practical learning focus in a welcoming community. For me, this supportive learning environment in a city full of so much life made it the perfect choice.