Salford: community and business-minded

• Undergraduates 18,585
• Postgraduates 3,025
• Students from low social classes 34%
• Hefce teaching income £37m
• Hefce research income £5.5m
• Income from Hefce 39%

Salford University has strong links with the local community and industry. It began as a technical college and pioneered sandwich degrees in the 1950s.

Last year, it won the Northwest’s equivalent to a business Oscar for its Community Bank, which offers cheap loans to those in deprived areas.

Salford generates a fifth of its income (£23 million) through third-stream activities. It has created 50 spin-off and start-up companies.

But Salford has no plans to scale down teaching. It has a well above-average intake from lower social classes.

And half its research-active staff are graded 5 and 5*.

Vice-chancellor Michael Harloe said: “We have no intention of becoming a non-research based institution.”