People
We’re supporting local people to access life-changing opportunities through raising aspirations, education and helping local people in our region into employment.
We support the whole student lifecycle, from sowing the seeds about university in primary schools to enhancing progression for underrepresented groups to postgraduate study. We have a strong focus on our region through our programmes, with the aim of supporting learners from the local community to progress onto higher education.
In 2020/21 we worked with over 600 school children in 27 primary schools in Coventry and Warwickshire through our Warwick Bright Stars programme.
Find out about our Pathways to the Professions programmes - supporting students interesting in a career in Law, Banking & Finance or Engineering.
Read our latest impact report.
IntoUniversity Coventry
We partner with the IntoUniversity Centre in Coventry to provide a local learning centre where young people are inspired to achieve.
In 2019/20, 84% of IntoUniversity students in Coventry progressed to Higher Education and although the partnership is not about access to Warwick, 109 IntoUniversity students from across the country have joined the University since the partnership began with seven from our Coventry IntoUniversity Centre.
Warwick Scholars
Warwick Scholars is our transformational social mobility programme to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds from the region to realise and achieve their career ambitions. In 2022, almost 450 students from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds are part of our Warwick Scholars programme. Warwick Scholars has grown into a comprehensive programme of activities, opportunities and experiences, designed to level the playing field and aid social mobility. We will continue to grow to beyond 1000 in the next few years.
“With the financial support, it’s just a huge relief knowing I won’t be saddled with lots of debt when I graduate.” Read Balaaj's Warwick Scholars story
Think Higher Coventry & Warwickshire
We are leading Think Higher Coventry & Warwickshire, the Office for Students (OfS) funded Uni Connect network in partnership with Coventry University, Warwickshire County Council and local Further Education colleges. The network aims to help streamline Higher Education outreach for local schools, as well as exploring new ways of delivering outreach to meet local needs and priorities. Through this programme, we play an important collaborative role in supporting young people in schools and colleges in Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth and North Warwickshire areas.
WMG Academies for Young Engineers
We supported the establishment of the WMG Academy Trust that operates WMG Academy Coventry and WMG Academy Solihull, with the aim of encouraging young people in our region to study science, technology, engineering. The Trust was formed between a partnership of the University of Warwick and with the support of national, regional and local businesses such as Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid, and Rolls-Royce, and is committed to providing a better way of learning for the Engineers of the future.
Study at Warwick
We were recognised as the Times Top University of the Year in 2022 for Teaching Quality and Runner up University of the Year. Choosing to study at Warwick means joining a world-leading university.
We offer a strong academic challenge through teaching and research excellence.
In the 2019-20 cohort, 26% of our overall undergraduate intake were from the West Midlands with 15% from Coventry and Warwickshire.
Partnership with University College Birmingham (UCB)
We have formed a new partnership between our university and University College Birmingham to help to meet the national and regional skills demand and to transform the lives of students from disadvantaged backgrounds through new alternative pathways to higher education.
Since January 2022, a wide range of UCB undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, as well as some higher level apprenticeships, are accredited and awarded by the University of Warwick. Accreditation is the first stage of a newly formed strategic partnership between UCB and the University of Warwick that builds on the core strengths of both universities.
We are exploring many other areas of co-operation and innovation, which are expected to benefit students and help the West Midlands’ economic recovery post-Covid 19.
Degree Apprenticeships
We provide 20 Degree Apprenticeship programmes across five academic departments for around 1000 students, one of the largest groups of degree apprenticeship courses at a Russell Group university. In 2021 we opened our new Degree Apprenticeship Centre which provides apprentices with the opportunity to study on degree programmes to develop the skills needed by advanced engineering and manufacturing companies.
“I’ve had experiences I would never have been able to in full-time education. When I look back at the person I was four years ago, I have grown so much. I’m more confident, I’ve learned so many new skills and my time management has improved dramatically.” Read Sabrina's Degree Apprenticeship story
University of Sanctuary
As a University of Sanctuary we offer financial support to people seeking asylum in the UK, to enable them to pursue Higher Education.
"As a refugee, I have never felt I am different from the other colleagues here at Warwick. I have always been supported by the department and my supervisors and that proves why, among other factors, Warwick is among the pioneering universities in the world." Sanctuary Student, Centre for Education Studies
Meet Elya, who was in her first year studying International Relations at Kyiv University, when she had to abandon her dreams. She has restarted her studies at Warwick as a Sanctuary Scholar.
Postgraduate teacher training
We have a long history of Teacher Education at the University of Warwick where generations of new teachers gain employment in schools to improve the life chances of the children they teach.
We believe that every child in every classroom deserves a great teacher every day.
We're committed to developing teachers for our region and beyond, who are just, curious, and creative and who contribute positively to every child’s educational outcome (including Special Educational Needs and Disability and English as an Additional Language pupils), and to tackling social deprivation.
In 2019/20, we added over 350 teachers to the schools workforce, with 81% in local schools in our region.
Postgraduate medical training
At Warwick Medical School, we seek to solve some of the world's most pressing health problems by training the best talent, developing research capacity and fostering regional, national and international collaborations.
In 2020, 21% of medical students trained at Warwick Medical School started their foundation years as a doctor in the local area.
Our Clinical Trials Unit, based at Warwick Medical School has a strong track record in delivering excellent research, developing and delivering large multicentre clinical trials to inform clinical practice in the NHS regionally, nationally and worldwide.
Our Cancer Research Centre is a collaboration with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) as well as national and international colleagues to provide opportunities to have real impact on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Centre for Lifelong Learning
We're supporting over 1000 adults who want to return to learning by offering foundation, part-time and 2+2 degrees, an innovative Gateway to HE, degree apprenticeship programmes and postgraduate courses.
"Being a mature student feels amazing. I love it so much. Every time I come to campus, I’m dancing!” Read Lisa's story
Executive Education
At Warwick Business School (WBS), we welcome students, faculty, staff and corporate partners who embody our Change Maker values and have a passionate drive to make a positive difference in the world of business and beyond.
Our MBA was ranked number one in the UK by the Economist in 2021. Warwick Business School is one of top two schools for sustainability.
In 2023 WBS moved up two places in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking – it's now 55th in the world, 14th in Europe and sixth in the UK, while also claiming the title of joint first in the UK for its Carbon Footprint Rank.
Apprenticeships at Warwick
The University of Warwick is one of the largest employers in the Coventry and Warwickshire area and we’d like to think that we offer one of the most enjoyable places to work too. We don’t just recruit Professors, Lecturers and Researchers. From tradespeople to office staff, we are a place where your ideas and career ambitions can be realised, in roles both expected and unexpected. We currently have nearly 100 members of staff working towards an apprenticeship.
“It feels natural to give back and provide the chances I benefited from to the next generation.” Read Zac's engineering apprenticeship journey
Explore our apprenticeship opportunities
Regional impact
In November 2019, the University pledged to donate up to £280k per year of our unspent levy via the West Midlands Combined Authority scheme, to support SMEs in the West Midlands region to access apprenticeships linked to science, technology, engineering and medicine. To date, we have supported 42 SME organisations and funded 53 apprenticeships, examples include Infrastructure Technicians, Software Developers and Installation Technicians.
Work experience - Supported Internships
We're helping people in our region get into work by offering work experience opportunities.
In our Campus and Commercial Services Group, we have been working with Hereward College in Coventry, Warwick District Council and Project SEARCH to offer the Project SEARCH Supported Internships scheme to local young people with learning disabilities.
“I’ve really enjoyed it and I can now interact with new people a lot more comfortably than before. I’m a lot more independent than when I started, definitely.” Read Mitch's Supported Internship journey
Work experience - EY Foundation employability programmes
We are partnering with the EY Foundation to deliver two employability programmes:
- Beyond your limits - an employability programme for 16–18-year-olds who are still in education and care
- Smart Futures - a ten month paid employability programme, which starts with employability training and work experience during the school holidays
Work experience - Youth Arts programmes
In Warwick Arts Centre, we run a series of Youth programmes, regular workshops, and a work experience scheme - supporting young people in the West Midlands to take their first steps as a performer, producer, or creator in a safe and sustainable environment.
“I thought it’d be cool to go back and replicate what the leaders there had done for me when I was younger.” Read Vish's stand-up story
Work experience in academic departments
A number of our academic departments offer work experience placements:
Physics Department - 3 - 6 April 2023
School of Life Sciences - 10 – 14 July 2023
Warwick Medical School - Applications close on 1 April 2023
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine - summary of work experience
Career opportunities at Warwick
We offer a huge range of job roles ranging from academic and research posts to administrative jobs and gardeners to theatre production.
We're also an accredited Living Wage Employer, demonstrating our commitment to ensure that everyone who works for us earns a Living Wage based on the cost of living.
Warwick graduate training scheme
We offer a graduate scheme at the heart of the University working in a variety of professional services roles. Graduate on our programme gain hands-on experience of working on a number of high-profile projects whilst obtaining on-the-job learning as well as a structured professional development programme and a project management qualification. Our graduate scheme involves four placements including one in a local SME or charity.
