Goal 1: No Poverty
Queen Mary University is committed to driving action for the SDGs through our research, education, and operations with engagement supporting all that we do.
See below for a snapshot of the activity supporting “SDG 1 - No Poverty”
Research and Innovation
The Partnership for Black People’s Health
The Partnership for Black People’s Health is a community-led research project that engages Black African and Black Caribbean communities in research to reduce the widely recognised disproportionate burden of health inequalities they face in all areas of medicine and public health.
Improving the oral health of vulnerable children
Queen Mary’s Institute of Dentistry is tackling childhood tooth decay—one of the UK’s most common preventable diseases—through community research and school-based interventions. The programme supports children in deprived areas with preventive care, education, and dental access, working alongside local authorities and NHS partners. By focusing on early prevention and community engagement, the project strengthens lifelong oral health and reduces health inequalities. It exemplifies how targeted, collaborative research can improve wellbeing in vulnerable populations.
Education
Widening participation
Queen Mary is the most successful Russell Group university at recruiting students from backgrounds usually under-represented in higher education. In 2021, the Sutton Trust, working with the Institute of Fiscal Studies, ranked us first in the country for social mobility. Of our domestic undergraduate students, 94 per cent are from state schools; 73 per cent are BAME, 45 per cent are first into higher education and 37 per cent are from households where the total family income is less than £35k per year, which automatically entitles students to a Queen Mary bursary.
An important component of Queen Mary’s widening participation approach is our contextual admissions policy. The policy aims to mitigate both educational disadvantage and individual circumstances, ensuring that anyone who is able to flourish at Queen Mary can join us, irrespective of background.
Queen Mary’s Legal Advice Centre
Our award winning Legal Advice Centre (LAC) provides free legal advice to members of our local community. Queen Mary is based in Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in London, and many local residents do not have the means to access legal advice. The LAC is staffed by our students (supervised by staff) and is an integral part of our curriculum for law degree students, thereby providing hands-on experience for our students of working with clients, and a fantastic and very well-used service for the local community.
Operations
London Living Wage
Research at Queen Mary led to the introduction of the living wags. We are a founding partner of the London Living Wage Foundation and strong supporter of the London Living Wage. We were the first UK university to become accredited in 2006 and have been a principal partner of the foundation since 2008, demonstrating a commitment to paying our staff a wage based on the actual cost of living.
Food pantries - support for students
Two food pantries are available through Queen Mary Students’ Union to students as part of an emergency service supporting those in need of short-term food assistance. The QMSU Food Pantry is based in the Students’ Union Hub reception and is open 9am-9pm. The Garrod Good Pantry is located on the 2nd floor of the Garrod building and is open 24 hours.
Engagement
qMentoring
The qMentoring programme has supported hundreds of students in receiving a mentor, with mentors from a wide range of employers including Deloitte, the Civil Service and NASA. In 2019 we launched a new strand of qMentoring, prioritising female muslim students following analysis of graduate destination data which revealed that this student cohort underperforms in the job market six months after graduation.
Equitable Partnerships Toolkit
Queen Mary’s Toolkit for Equitable Partnerships, developed by the civic engagement team, guides organisations and universities in structuring partnerships that address power imbalances and social disadvantage. By providing practical guidance to community stakeholders and public bodies, the toolkit supports inclusive policy development that aims to enhance access and opportunity for underserved groups.