The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery) and Mason Science College (established in 1875 by Sir Josiah Mason), making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter.
It is a founding member of both the Russell Group of British research universities and the international network of research universities, Universitas 21.
The university was ranked 14th in the UK and 79th in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2019.
In 2013, Birmingham was named 'University of the Year 2014' in the Times Higher Education awards. The 2017 Global Employability University Ranking places Birmingham at 142nd worldwide and 10th in the UK.
Birmingham is also ranked 5th in the UK for Graduate Prospects in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018.
The student population includes 22,440 undergraduate and 12,395 postgraduate students, which is the fourth largest in the UK (out of 167).
