Student diversity at Birmingham

Who Are You

The Who Are You campaign is a University of Birmingham initiative that encourages students to complete their protected characteristic information. The aim is to help the University better understand who its students are and how different groups experience university life.

The Who Are You campaign asks students to voluntarily share information about characteristics such as ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and background.

This information helps the University build a clearer picture of its student community and understand whether all students are experiencing fair access, support and outcomes.

Why the University asks for this information?

It helps us support you

Sharing your information helps us make sure the right support is in place.

Without this information, it is harder to spot where barriers exist or where changes are needed in teaching, services or support.

Sharing this information is always optional. You do not have to answer any questions you are not comfortable with. Any information you choose to share is stored securely and handled in line with data protection requirements.

It’s about understanding our whole student community

We know that being asked about your identity can feel intrusive, whether by the University or other public organisations.

You are never identified as an individual. For example, if you share your sexual orientation, this is used only as part of anonymised statistics to help us understand our student population.

Knowing who our students are overall helps us plan better. This can influence decisions across campus, from support services and teaching approaches to facilities and wider community provision.

Your identity matters

Student demographic information is used to plan, improve and review initiatives across the student journey. This includes access and participation work, targeted support programmes, student engagement activity and institutional reporting.

It also helps the University meet its legal responsibilities and ensure that commitments to fairness and inclusion lead to real action.

Data leads to change

When more students complete their information, the University can make better decisions.
Good data helps us turn commitments to fairness and inclusion into real action.

How to update your information

You can review and update your personal information by logging in to registration.bham.ac.uk using your student details.

If you need to update information such as nationality or sex, you may be asked to provide supporting documents, for example official identification. If you would like support with this, you can contact the Aston Webb Student Hub or visit in person. Private rooms are available if you would prefer to discuss your information confidentially.

Want to see the bigger picture?

You can view anonymised information about the University’s UK student population below.

UoB UK Student Population 2025-26 (PDF/195 KB)UoB UK Student Population 2025-26 (Word/80 KB)

If you need the document in an alternative format, please email: studentequality@contacts.bham.ac.uk