2025 English Social Mobility Index

The latest results for the English Social Mobility Index, which is compiled by London South Bank University (LSBU) and published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), shows the University of Bradford, Aston University and the University of Wolverhampton in the top three places.

The annual LSBU English Social Mobility Index is published each year by the Higher Education Policy Institute and measures the social mobility of graduates.

The newly published results, which cover last year (2025), show the number of socio-economically disadvantaged graduates AND the social distance they travel for each registered higher education institution in England.

The Index combines access, continuation and outcomes measures for undergraduates for all modes of study (except apprenticeships due to limitations in the available data).

The results for 2025 show:

1. Bradford (1) and Aston (2) take the top two places – both are former Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs);
2. The University of Wolverhampton (3) comes next, followed by Birmingham Newman University(4) and another former CAT, the University of Salford (5);
3. The University of Greater Manchester (6) andBirmingham City University (7) also make the top 10, as do Imperial College London (8), The University of Huddersfield (9) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (10).

Notably and in part due to the weighting of graduate salaries by region, introduced to the Index in 2024 to account for salary differences across the country, universities in the West Midlands make up four of the top 10, alongside two institutions from Yorkshire and the Humber, two from the North West and two from London.

• Further information on the methodology is provided below.
• The full ranking is in the searchable table below.
• The full results are available via the attached spreadsheet.
• A fuller explanation of the Survey is provided in the full-length report produced when the Index started in 2021, which is available here. Earlier years’ results remain available on the HEPI website with 2024 here, 2023 here, 2022 here and 2021 here.

Professor Antony Moss, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience at LSBU, who compile the Index for HEPI, said:

Despite the progress that has been made in widening access to higher education over the last fifteen years, long-standing inequalities both in access and outcomes persist for many disadvantaged learners. Institutions need to do more, both individually and collectively, to close the access and outcome gaps for these learners, and I hope that LSBU’s Social Mobility Index continues to provide a helpful tool for universities to understand the efficacy of their approaches to supporting disadvantaged students.

Nick Hillman OBE, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, who publish the Index said:

At a time when there is a lot of criticism of universities, it is important to be reminded of the critical work they do transforming lives. The Social Mobility Index is different to other rankings because it puts the focus wholly on students and their real-world outcomes. The diversity of institutions in this year’s top 10 suggests the Index measures something valuable that institutions of all types can do well at, if they choose to adopt a dedicated focus.

Professor Nick Braisby, Interim Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford said:

This recognition in the HEPI Social Mobility Index is especially meaningful because it speaks to the heart of what Bradford stands for and it also comes at a time when the value of higher education is being actively questioned – at moments like these it is important to be clear about what universities are for.

We’re proud, of course – but more than that, we’re energised to keep doing what Bradford does best: helping people transform their futures. While we are proud of this recognition, the wider point matters more: universities change lives and build capabilities for society. This Index helps to demonstrate that impact clearly.

Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University, said:

Aston’s ranking once again as 2nd in England in the Social Mobility Index for 2025 is a powerful reflection of the enduring mission of Aston University – ensuring that ability and ambition, not background, shape a person’s future. Maintaining this position highlights the sustained impact of our commitment to widening access, supporting student success, and delivering strong graduate outcomes.

Education has the power to transform lives, families, and communities. When students gain the skills, confidence, and opportunities to succeed, the impact extends far beyond the individual. That is why advancing social mobility sits at the very heart of Aston’s purpose.

Professor Ebrahim Adia, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Wolverhampton, said:

Retaining such a high ranking for social mobility highlights that our Strategy ‘Creating Opportunity, Transforming Futures’ is a lived reality.  Each year we recruit thousands of students from diverse backgrounds, and we give them the support, knowledge, skills and confidence to progress to successful graduation.In the process, we transform their lives, the lives of their families and the economic prospects of Wolverhampton and the Black Country.  

The introduction of credit-bearing Professional Placements for all our undergraduate students from September 2026 will further enhance opportunity and help our students experience the world of work during their studies, develop employer connections and enhance their career prospects.  

I am heartened by the fact we are extending our social mobility ambition to other parts of the UK and internationally and that many more students will benefit from the transformational power of higher education and the University of Wolverhampton.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby and Chair of the Government’s Higher Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group, said: 

I am delighted to see University of Derby’s whole institution approach reflected in our significant positive movement in this year’s Social Mobility Index. As an anchor institution committed to expanding opportunity and tackling inequity, it is especially pleasing to see this recognised in the excellent median salary outcomes achieved by our graduates from communities facing the greatest structural barriers. 

Indices such as this one form an important part of the wider suite of measures that inform the sector and provide valuable context for the Department for Education’s Access and Participation Task & Finish Group’s review of how we can more effectively identify and address wider barriers. Together, these insights will help drive national efforts to improve social mobility.

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 – except apprenticeship students 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 theOffice 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 Outcomesas 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 wage variations across different regions of England. 

Years of Input

Weightings of the measures

The 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 entering higher education 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 (North East, Wales, Northern Ireland). 