FIRST MARBLEHEAD CORPORATION

Common Stock

320771108

December 31, 2011

	o	Rule 13d-1(b)
	o	Rule 13d-1(c)
	x	Rule 13d-1(d)

CUSIP No. 320771108

13G

Page  2          of 7           Pages

1	NAME OF REPORTING PERSON I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON William R. Berkley
2	CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) o (b) x
3	SEC USE ONLY
4	CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION   U.S.
NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH		5	SOLE VOTING POWER   5,094,549
		6	SHARED VOTING POWER   0
		7	SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER   5,094,549
		8	SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER   0
9	AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 5,094,549

10	CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES     o
11	PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9)   5.02%
12	TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*   IN

*SEE INSTRUCTION BEFORE FILLING OUT

Item 1(a)	Name of Issuer:
	The First Marblehead Corporation (the “Issuer”)
Item 1(b)	Address of Issuer's Principal Executive Offices:
	The Prudential Tower
	800 Boylston Street, 34th Floor
	Boston, MA 02199-8157
Items 2(a)
	Name of Person Filing; Address of Principal Business Office:
	William R. Berkley (“Berkley”)
Item 2(b)
	Address of Principal Business Office or, if None, Residence
	The address of Berkley is:
	475 Steamboat Road
	Greenwich, CT 06830
Item 2(c)	Citizenship:
	For the citizenship of Berkley, see Item 4 of the cover sheet.
Item 2(d)	Title of Class of Securities:
	Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”)
Item 2(e)	CUSIP Number:
	320771108

Item 3	If this statement is filed pursuant to §§ 240.13d-1(b) or 240.13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person is filing as a:
	Not Applicable
Item 4.	Ownership:
	(a) Amount beneficially owned:
	As of December 31, 2011, (i) Berkley owned directly 3,902,525 shares of Common Stock, options to purchase 24,000 shares of Common Stock, which options are currently exercisable and 6,000 stock units issued under the Issuer’s 2003 director stock plan, (ii) Berkley Peninsula LLC owned 375,000 shares of Common Stock, and (iii) The Berkley Family Foundation, Inc. (“The Berkley Foundation”) owned 787,024 shares of Common Stock.
	Berkley is the Managing Director and sole owner of Berkley Peninsula LLC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the shares of Common Stock held by Berkley Peninsula LLC.  Berkley is the President of The Berkley Foundation and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the shares of Common Stock held by The Berkley Foundation.
	Berkley disclaims beneficial ownership of all shares of Common Stock owned by The Berkley Foundation.
	(b) Percent of class
	Based upon 101,491,493 shares of Common Stock outstanding, as reported in the Issuer’s Form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2011, Berkley is deemed to hold 5.02% of the Issuer’s outstanding Common Stock.
	(c) Number of shares as to which the person has:
	William R. Berkley: 5,094,549 shares with sole power to vote or to direct the vote; 0 shares with shared power to vote or to direct the vote; 5,094,549 shares with sole power to dispose of or to direct the disposition of; 0 shares with shared power to dispose of or to direct the disposition of.

Item 5	Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class:
	N/A
Item 6	Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person:
	N/A
Item 7	Identification and Classification of the
	Subsidiary Which Acquired the Security Being
	Reported on By the Parent Holding Company:
	N/A
Item 8	Identification and Classification of Members of the Group:
	N/A
Item 9	Notice of Dissolution of Group:
	N/A
Item 10	Certification:
	N/A