- Aston University has been placed as second for social mobility for four years running
- Rankings based on several factors including access to education, continuation and undergraduate outcomes
- The English Social Mobility Index is published each year by the Higher Education Policy Institute.
For the fourth year running Aston University has been ranked as the second-best university in England for social mobility.
The English Social Mobility Index is published each year by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) which measures the social mobility of graduates.
The rankings are based on several factors including access to education, continuation and the outcomes of undergraduate students the outcomes of undergraduate degree programmes. The index, which was established in 2021, also highlights that overall, all universities make a substantial contribution to social mobility.
Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University, said:
“It is extremely rewarding to see Aston University ranked second in the English Social Mobility Index for the fourth year in a row, resulting from all the hard work and dedication of our staff and students. Inclusion is at the heart of Aston University’s 2030 strategy, and we take great pride in Aston being an institution that delivers strong graduate outcomes that transforms lives, regardless of our students’ starting points. We focus on individual learning journeys, personalised end-to-end support and preparation for life and work, ensuring all our students, irrespective of their background, can access and achieve successful careers.”
In September Aston University was named the University of the Year for Student Success in the 2025 Daily Mail University Guide due to its impressive results in graduate outcomes, including high earnings, highly skilled jobs and proportion of students achieving first class and upper second class degrees. The University holds the prestigious ‘triple’ TEF Gold award for its excellent teaching and was runner up for graduate employment in The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2024. Meanwhile the University offers a range of assessments to meet student needs and more than 70% of its students take up a work placement as part of their studies.
The index is compiled for HEPI by London South Bank University (LSBU) and their Vice-Chancellor Professor David Phoenix said:
“The 2024 English Higher Education Social Mobility Index highlights once again that universities up and down the country are breaking down barriers to opportunity.
“The new Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, has been clear that she expects higher education providers to play a stronger role in expanding and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students. I hope, therefore, that the Index provides a useful tool for universities across the sector. Institutions making a strong impact on social mobility can use it to evidence their contribution while those universities that wish to increase their support for disadvantaged students can use it help identify good practice and to work out the most appropriate way of doing so in accordance with their institutional mission.”
The rankings include undergraduate degree programmes except apprenticeships.
- Notes for editors
Notes to Editors
2024 Social Mobility Index Methodology
The English Higher Education Social Mobility Index (SMI) ranks English universities registered with the Office for Students (excluding specialist institutions) by their contribution to social mobility, based on the social distance travelled by their graduates.
It combines measures of a) access, b) continuation and c) graduate outcomes for undergraduate students. All modes of study are included, although apprenticeship students are necessarily excluded due to a shortage of comparable data.
The following measures are included and reported separately for each year, mode and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles 1 and 2:
Access
Access is measured by the proportion of new entrants from Index of Multiple Deprivation Quintiles 1 and 2 at each provider.
Continuation
Continuation is measured by the Office for Students’ Continuation indicator, which records the percentage of first-year students who complete their course or remain in UK higher education for 12 months (full-time students) or 24 months (part-time students) after starting their course.
Note: Because the Office for Students’ Access and Participation dataset splits all data by mode (FT and PT), the data inputs are pulled into the model by mode and then pro-rated by the FT/PT headcount split.
Graduate Outcomes
Graduate Outcomes are measured by two components which are given equal weight and combined:
• Graduate Outcomes as measured by the percentage of graduates with ‘Positive Outcomes’ in the Office for Students’ Proceed definition. The Proceed Definition counts highly skilled employment, any further study and other activities (except ‘Doing something else’) as positive outcomes; and medium / low skilled employment and unemployment as negative outcomes.
• Median salaries as measured in the Graduate Outcomes survey, adjusted to account for the purchasing power parity of the destination region of each Provider’s graduates.
Years of Input
Variable Mode of Study Y1 Y2
Access % FT + PT 2021-22 2022-23
Access population FT + PT 2021-22 2022-23
Continuation % FT 2020-21 2021-22
PT 2019-20 2020-21
Graduate Outcomes
(tailored JISC dataset) FT + PT 2020-21 2021-22
Note: Data from Year 1 and Year 2 is averaged
Weightings of the measures
Weightings IMD Q1 IMD Q2 Weighting Index components
Access 1 0.5 2 3
Continuation 1 0.5 1 1.5
Graduate Outcomes 1 0.5 1 1.5
6The double weighting of IMD1 over IMD2 recognises the greater impact on upward social mobility achieved by successfully delivering outcomes to students from IMD1 postcodes.
Access, in turn, is weighted the highest at x2 because social mobility depends on those learners from disadvantaged backgrounds successfully matriculating to university to begin with.
The two outcomes stages (Continuation and Graduate Outcomes) are weighted at x1 each.Salary Weighting
Salaries have been adjusted using median wages by region data from the ONS to mitigate against the distorting impact of variation in earnings by region – accounting for the salary premium enjoyed by graduates in regions such as London.
Using median weekly pay by region of residence for full-time employees (taken from the ONS Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings) and then averaging this into six graduate destination regional groupings provided by JISC in the GO dataset, the index applies a reduction to those salaries for the regions where the median wage is above the salaries of the region with the lowest median wage.
Median full-time employee Weekly Salary by region of residence, April 2024 (JISC Groupings)
East of England, Scotland £752.97
London £853.00
North East, Wales, Northern Ireland £672.80
North West, Yorkshire and the Humber £687.19
South East £779.00
West Midlands, South West, East Midlands £692.02For methodological queries, please email socialmobilityindex@lsbu.ac.uk
About Aston University
For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.
Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming The Guardian University of the Year in 2020.
Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Nicola Jones, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7825 342091 or email: n.jones6@aston.ac.uk