Salt burn makes me worry for poor kids at ‘posh’ unis.

What is so incredible? That someone people don't know how to wash up because they've literally never done it? That some people who live in Knightsbridge don't go on the tube? That some of them consider a WC teenager's life as having involved more experience than their own?

Im beginning to think certain Universities have much wealthier students on average and a kid from a poorer background would have a hard time perhaps ? Oliver in Saltburn was almost ostracised.

Oh, OP, Saltburn was a very silly film. It was a complete fiction, and no university is like that for the majority of students.

Maybe there are still some students who think they're living in a modern version of Brideshead, but it's not how modern universities actually are (I've taught in universities since the 1980s).

Bath is fine. Exeter I would avoid if you're not rich.

You can’t be for real!

What an interesting thread. You've had quite a lot of scorn poured on you, OP, from people who are determined you should understand that Saltburn is fictional, but that doesn't mean it has absolutely.no basis in real life, or that it's not natural to worry when a child is making major life choices and/or leaving home.

There may well be a smaller percentage range of privately -educated kids at a given Oxbridge college but IME, they are often louder, more confident and take up more space, as it were, than the less cocky state school kids who might take a bit longer to find their feet. Hence it can seem unbalanced, both in a film like Saltburn and occasionally in real life.

I went to an Oxbridge reject uni when Saltburn was set and tbh the only element I found unrealistic was Felix even taking up with Oliver - I felt there was enough class division at my uni that that just wouldn't have happened. Hot posh people had hot posh friends, and that was that! That's not to say there wasn't a certain amount of mixing/mobility between groups, but it was definitely fairly tribal (with notable exceptions etc, don't @ me).

Sorry, unintentional strike-through.

I can assure you that they are not, and that, if they were, it wouldn't fool anyone for a second. A friend of mine at Oxford lived out in second year in a houseshare, which included a girl who had never done the washing up in her life, and hung over the sink in bewildered admiration when my friend started doing it, asking how she knew how much washing up liquid to use (and had to be reminded to rinse it off when she took her turn she also used to get grocery deliveries from Fortnum's). I knew someone who spent half of the year in London annually, but had never been on the tube. Quite a lot of people found my jobs (very ordinary teenage stuff shopwork, fruit-picking, au pairing) and things like hitching very exotic.

What would you say is more accurate?

Exeter has a reputation for having a lot of private school kids of a certain tweedy vibe. It's certainly not everyone there. It will also probably depend on what course he's planning on doing.

I was at Oxford when Saltburn was set. Many of the really wealthy kids - fee fixing boarding schools - tended to keep to themselves, hang out with people they went to school with. But not all of them. Upper middle class kids - good London independent day schools - mixed with everyone, and interests the same as most of the comp kids.

I went up from a rural grammar, lower middle class parents (office jobs, mortgage, no skiing). My friendship group was pretty mixed - probably 50/50 independent school and not. I always felt the bigger divide was between London kids - who just seemed cool, and knowledgeable about life - and those of us who were excited when our town got a H&M.

but presumably you couldn’t have afforded to?

goodness OP, you must get concerned about so very much if you so easily extrapolate from fictional TV dramas

It is now, 30 years ago it was 44-50%.

Some colleges favoured private schools and some favoured state, so some would be dominated by one or the other.

Saltburn is a very silly film. That is all. The most socially accurate thing about it is that it was written by some wealthy Oxford student who understands aristocratic fear of the middle/lower classes comin' over here and stealin' our privilege, treatin' our elite establishments like a bleedin' meritocracy. Even at Oxford and Cambridge, a huge number of students are state educated. The same will be true of Exeter, Bristol, Warwick etc. Some super rich, others more average.

I think your child will be fine if the course and the city feel right.

All the posh kids will be pretending to be poor working class salts of the earth anyway

ds is at Bath - he has kids from Harrow and local comps in his flat - they all seem to get on ok. It's not a posh uni at all from what I can see?

Think Exeter does have a larger public school cohort, but again as a % of total nos they're pretty low - it's about finding your own tribe at these places and with that many freshers it should be ok?

Agree with PPs on general class mixing and it being a leveller. For me the bigger issue is the vast number of international students mainly from one country, who are mostly rich too. 50% of the students at some unis, 70% at the Scottish one a family member works at. See also threads in HE here about people's DC having various challenges because of this.

Yes generally a student finds their gang, but there's v little mixing between the above big group and the rest.

This is such nonsense, such an outdated stereotype.

Exeter and Bath have majority of state students so he will be not be in a minority!

At Oxbridge 20-30 years ago - you did get colleges that were private school dominated.

Which labels, out of curiosity?

LOL. The number of students at any university who skip over to Milan for shopping weekends is absolutely minuscule. This isn't remotely representative of the average Russell group student, at all.

OP, whatever university your son goes to, I promise you there will be loads of people like him.

Middle class kids surely? Oliver had invented his backstory to be the ‘charity case’ of the year/ease his integration into Felix’s life (apologies if that’s ruined the film for anyone yet to see it!).

For what it’s worth I thought that Saltburn was fun (but also very stupid and far too long) - I certainly wouldn’t base life decisions re where to go to university on it!

my daughter went to Russel group, none of the kids were doing this.

milan shopping!

I went to a Russell Group uni and came from a south london council estate on free school meals and benefits, and had been working since I was 14 alongside studying. I scared the shit out of my posh housemates initially as they thought I was so mature! We quickly bonded despite our different backgrounds and are still good friends now, 25 years later. Uni is a leveller.

Ha I was at Oxford in the early 00s and watching the first bits of Saltburn was like watching my past, but only because of the outfits! The students were from all sorts of different backgrounds and no one was ostracised for not being posh or rich.

I work at a Russell group. The students aren't hugely posh but they are privileged. They go on holidays that are far better than I've ever known, they skip over to Milan for shopping at the weekend for example. They assume everyone has what they have. They're nice and open though. I don't see exclusion on class or background.