The 51ÊÓƵ is a thriving university for the 21st century, with one of the best records in the country of sustained graduate employment and a reputation for quality, equality and compassion. 

The University was awarded the largest allocation of additional health-related student places in the UK in 2020, putting it in a strong position to add to its substantial and proven experience over the past two decades in training high-quality, effective and compassionate health professionals in nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and paramedicine.

A third of the University’s students are currently studying courses allied to health. This year, it celebrates 25 years of delivering nursing and midwifery education and is now considered to be one of the best training centres in the country for these professions.

Students on university Nursing degree using stethoscope

In 2014, Worcester became the first university in the UK to introduce a postgraduate MSc Physician Associate (PA) course: a two-year intensive clinical programme to train clinical practitioners in the medical model to work alongside doctors, meeting the needs of a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

The first cohort of PA students graduated in 2016 with a 100 per cent employment rate. This innovative programme provided local Trusts with a much needed resource, successfully reducing pressure on services and improving patient flow, while creating opportunities for a more diverse body of students.

“I think we have the opportunity here, with the 51ÊÓƵ as it is, with its large strengths in health professional education, to do something a little different with our medical school: very much more integrated with the NHS and the people who currently work in the NHS.”

Professor John Cookson
Professor of Medical Education and Development Dean of the Three Counties Medical School

A reputation for quality

  • The University has been ranked in the top 5 in the UK for Quality Education in all years of the Times Higher Education’s University Impact Rankings.
  • Three times finalist for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education annual awards, including in 2020.
  • Shortlisted for University of the Year in the 2019, 2020 and 2024 UK Social Mobility Awards.
  • Shortlisted six times, including in 2020, as Nurse Education Provider of the Year in the Student Nursing Times Awards.
  • Winner of the Guardian University Award for Internationalisation in 2019, and shortlisted for the Widening Access and Outreach Awards in 2019 and 2020.
  • Ranked among the top 20 universities in the UK for Student Experience in the Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 (published in September 2021).
  • Awarded First Class Honours in the People and Planet Green League 2023/24.
2 students stood smiling and facing each other on Worcester bridge, with Worcester Cathedral in the background

Worcester is the number one English higher education institute (excluding specialist institutions) for sustained employment, with or without further study, three and five years after graduation (LEO 2022). Ranked among the top 10 universities in the country which best reflect society in a 2018 report from the Higher Education Policy Institute. Winner of the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community award (2019), winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion award (2020), and shortlisted for Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year (2020) in the Times Higher Education Awards.

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