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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

Physics and maths courses

53 replies

Arianrod · 14/09/2016 13:45

Any ideas for a shortlist of universities teaching good Physics and maths courses?

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titchy · 14/09/2016 13:52

[http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Physics+%26+Astronomy CUG]

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titchy · 14/09/2016 13:53

AARRGGHH!

CUG

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Arianrod · 14/09/2016 14:03

dc looking for a campus or smaller place university within the A*AA - AAB offer range.

Anyone have any personal recommendations to take a look at?

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mummymeister · 14/09/2016 18:50

have a look at Exeter and Leeds. we had a very bad experience with Bath so wouldn't be touching them with a barge pole for all of my other DC's.

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Arianrod · 14/09/2016 18:57

Thank you. Oh dear. dc going to Bath Open Day on Saturday.

What was the bad experince? Or if not suitable for forum then happy for you to send me a brief message, but please ignore if that is not suitable.

Had not thought about Exeter as I thought they were more towards the humanities side of things.

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stonecircle · 14/09/2016 19:05

Also hoping you'll share mummymeister. Bath is likely to be one of ds's choices for physics.

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MrsWobble3 · 14/09/2016 19:09

My dd is reading physics at Durham. Her UCAS list also included Manchester, Bristol, Southampton and Bath I think.

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Coffeewith1sugar · 14/09/2016 19:25

My nephew will be going to Bath in 10 days time studying Physics. Got in with 2A*B the B was in Physics. There's was bit of leeway I guess this year for missed grades despite them saying to them on open day that they don't take equivalent grades or B grade in anything.

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stonecircle · 14/09/2016 19:31

That's interesting coffee. I wish there was a way of identifying those universities that will relax their offers a bit and those that won't.

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SparklesandBangs · 14/09/2016 19:32

Like MrsWobble my DD is at Durham doing Physics and would definitely recommend it. Her other top choice was St Andrews and Bath was OK.

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startwig1982 · 14/09/2016 19:33

Bath and Exeter are excellent.

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Arianrod · 14/09/2016 19:34

dc got AAA at AS so likely to be predicted A*AA but the final grades could drop so wants a bit of leeway.

Only likes Southampton out of universities visited so far. Need to find four more Southampton lookalikes.

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haybott · 14/09/2016 19:36

Most physics courses will be lenient about meeting the terms of the offer outside the very top few.

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stonecircle · 14/09/2016 19:38

DS liked Southampton too - did a physics taster day there in the summer. He's also very taken with Nottingham (did the open day last weekend).

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degreedebatedefine · 14/09/2016 19:39

I did chemistry at Oxford recently - would recommend for sciences. Also on my list was Edinburgh (v good physics/chemistry course overlap), Manchester, Birmingham, York, also try imperial college unless you're against a London uni. Good luck :-)

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MrsWobble3 · 14/09/2016 19:40

I've only seen Southampton on an open day but it had the same sort of feel as Exeter to me so that would be worth a look. No idea about the physics course there though.

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mummymeister · 14/09/2016 19:41

My Dc missed their offer by 1 UMS mark in a subject not being studied beyond A level. also had a number of issues with lost paperwork in relation to another issue that would have affected DC's grades. They would not accept on the course even though they admitted that perhaps had they not lost the paperwork on the other issues then they may have done. I was completely underwhelmed by their attitude. very up themselves imo. clearly felt that they were aspiring to be in the Oxbridge league.

Really liked Exeter even though it is a slog to get to from where we live. lots of campus investment, live music scene looked really good. it is a very sporty/active campus as well. wasn't overwhelmed by York as it all looked a bit tired.

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bruffin · 14/09/2016 19:42

Ds friends are at Durham and Manchester. The Durham atudent is not impressed and ended up with the course notes from the Manchester friend.

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haybott · 14/09/2016 19:52

Oxford/Manchester/Durham/Imperial would expect higher predicted grades than A star AA and Manchester/Imperial make offers which are higher than A star AA. These four won't allow dropped grades.

Agree that Exeter and Nottingham are fairly similar to Southampton. All three of these would be very likely take a dropped grade and are very well-respected courses.

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Iwantagoonthetrampoline · 14/09/2016 19:52

Warwick. I did a combined maths & physics course there about 15 years ago (!) so may be a bit different now. Has a very good maths reputation. I got 3 As at a-level but didn't do further maths and found the course really tough going, a massive step up from a-levels and expected to hit the ground running in the first week. Nearly gave up after first term but persevered and ended up with 2:1, but in hindsight I think I would have been happier on a less intense course somewhere else. Nice campus outside Coventry but most live in leamington spa after first year.

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Arianrod · 14/09/2016 19:58

I'm afraid dc didn't like Durham but no idea why as I didn't see it.

Hadn't thought about Exeter so will suggest it. Making a list of the others.

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DorynownotFloundering · 14/09/2016 20:08

DS going to Leics to do Physics, had offers from Southampton (loved it) & Keele was his insurance -lovely campus. All good departments just Leics suits him for future studies .

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Coffeewith1sugar · 14/09/2016 20:15

It's weird isn't it with bath mummy in the case with your dd and mine who also missed out by 1 UMS my dd was 2 UMS or 1 raw mark in a unrelated subject. But in my nephew case they will take a missed grade in the subject that is directly related to the degree. Despite his offer had a condition that his A had to be in Physics or Maths and yet he got a B. Nephew didn't do FM either he got A* in maths and economics. Even he was suprised he got in, as Bath had convinced them that the course was very competitive, they had increased the grade requirements that year to reflect that kids that get in often exceeded their grade offer, which also meant they didn't have to take missed grades. Maybe it was a way of hyping the course to attract the best on open day.

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Arianrod · 14/09/2016 20:26

If Bath university hype it like that on Saturday my dc won't apply. I hope they don't do this as it will be yet another one off the list.

dc is booked in to the Warwick open day.

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Coffeewith1sugar · 14/09/2016 21:30

They are a good uni. Please don't let me put you off them. As I guess Bath aren't exclusive to a bit of hyping. My dd liked that they did the placement year on all their courses. The sporting facilities are amazing, olympic size pool and ginormous gym. The only downsize is that it's rather small compared to other campus uni.