December 2011 it was announced that the university had obtained a 12-month-long injunction against a group of around 25 students, who occupied a residential building on campus from 23 to 26 November 2011, preventing them from engaging in further "occupational protest action" on the university's grounds without prior permission. It was misreported in the press that this injunction applied to all students; the court order defines the defendants as,
Persons unknown (including students of the University of Birmingham) entering or remaining upon the buildings known as No. 2 Lodge Pritchatts Road, Birmingham at the University of Birmingham for the purpose of protest action (without the consent of the University of Birmingham).
The university and the Guild of Students also clarified the scope of the injunction in an e-mail sent to all students on 11 January 2012, stating that "The injunction applies only to those individuals who occupied the lodge". The university said that it sought this injunction as a safety precaution based on a previous occupation. Three human rights groups, including Amnesty International, condemned the move as restrictive on human rights.
In 2019, several women said the university refused to investigate allegations of campus rape. One student who complained of rape in university accommodation was told by employees of the university that there were no specific procedures for handling rape complaints. In other cases students were told they would have to prove the alleged rapes occurred on university property. The university has been criticized by legal professionals for not adequately assessing the risk to students by refusing to investigate complaints of criminal conduct.
In June 2022 the University published a report into, and apologised for, its involvement in developing, promoting and administering electric-shock conversion therapy to gay men, during the period 1966–1983.
== Campuses ==
=== Edgbaston campus ===
==== Original buildings ====
The main campus of the university occupies a site …
