It is the lead university of 13 involved in the national Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education (Speed) project, a scheme which even enabled three brothers, studying music at Wolverhampton, to release their debut album. Ties with business are strong and the university is involved with several projects delivering economic development and regeneration. A £7m e-innovation centre opened on its Telford campus last year to support new and established companies.

Academic facilities are being beefed up too. A £12m Education and Teaching building at the Walsall campus houses the School of Education and the Institute for Learning Enhancement and can accommodate more than 1,100 students. Walsall has also been named as an official training base for the 2012 Olympics in basketball, judo and tae kwon do, and there are partnerships with football, rugby and cricket clubs.

Wolverhampton is making a concerted push to recruit more overseas students. A West and Central Africa Regional Office recently opened in Nigeria, as did a central European office in Torun, Poland, in a bid to increase its international reach.

The focus is on employability, reflected in new degrees launched this month which include environmental health, policing, entrepreneurship and international marketing.

Article from the Sunday Times University Guide, Sept. 2008

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