AIBU to think going to an RG university means absolutely nothing

Not everyone agrees with you that RG will 'always' be viewed as superior.
As a parent of a child at a more than decent private school, they do not publish where their teachers trained.
RG status is far less important than the young person choosing the right university for them, and that may well not be an RG university.

www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/10/is-the-russell-group-still-relevant?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Nottingham for example. Friend left his master after some weeks as it was so grim. Told by a librarian "we have some journals, mostly the cheaper ones" 😟

@LavenderBlue19 What red brick university is not now RG? They were Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liveroool, Manchester and Sheffield. Red brick and RG.

Yes I realise that but I think more generally parents don't realise that they get their RG status based on being research led and in their minds they see it as "highly regarded/superior status" hence my referring to it as a kind of shorthand for highly regarded.

@Spirallingdownwards RG plus a few does mean research led. The IFS says higher salaries too, overall. So it’s not shorthand. It is largely a mark of quality but not for everything. Students need to do research on where is best, as in the Maths example.

@Timpot No they won’t because many recruit university blind. It will be all the things I listed in my earlier post. Best advice - get a first and work in his vacations. Or get an internship. Put together a great cv and Lancaster is obviously as good as most for maths, obviously not elite but better than many RG because RG isn’t best at everything!

St Andrews
Bath
Lancaster
Loughborough (or are they RG now?)

All highly regarded unis.

Others are highly regarded for specific courses or within specific professions.

RG has unfortunately just become a misused shorthand for highly regarded.

Universities apply to be in the RG. Bath and St Andrews feel they are just fine as they are. QMUL and Exeter were the most recent entrants I think.

There is a difference in grad earnings from RG when compared to others. Certainly for Oxbridge, LSE and Imperial grads. There’s more blurred outcomes at the “lower end” of RG.

Obviously type of work and degree studied matter too but comparable degrees can have better earnings from RG - eg in Economics and law. The IFS did a big study in degree outcomes a few years ago. RG still leads to higher earnings overall, mainly because of its elite top end. Obviously drive, determination, personality and work also matter to employers.

If people didn’t know they were at RG they obviously didn’t go in this era. In 1970 around 9% of school leavers went to university and now it’s 37%. It’s grown by 70% in the last 30 years. Cost hasn’t put anyone off it seems. The Post 92 group of universities is also a self appointed group and most students end up with them.

Anyone who knows anything about Unis also knows that places such as Bath/St Andrews and a few others sit within that RG standard.

They don’t get 75% of funding so not sure where that came from.

I mean there's a lot of variety within the RG itself. LSE, Imperial, Oxbridge are miles ahead from universities like Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham etc.

Not talking about their financial situation- JUST the funding they receive. It's not hard to assume that the best unis attract the most funding.

Ok so my DC is going to Lancaster to do maths, current rankings 12th for the subject on CUG and 7th in Times Higher. 1st in the UK for research impact according to the REF.

Are you really saying that people would pick a candidate from, say, Liverpool which on CUG is 28th over my DC at Lancaster, purely because Liverpool is RG?

May I point out that even law firms including Magic Circle ones have these rounds of tests these days too ?

Also may I also point out that some companies are moving away from these types of tests because invariably they were getting more Oxbridge etc candidates through to latter stages because they were precisely the type of candidates that perform well in such tests.

You really have a bee in your bonnet about RG. Facts are despite the league tables (which do shift a bit) RG will always be viewed as superior. It's seen as a benchmark. Look at any decent grammar/private school -they will publish where their teachers trained. You bet your life they are all RG.
Just facts however unfair or unjustified you think they are. The fact Oxbridge are members bears out that it's not just a meaningless made up group.

No because everyone knows Bath is a decent uni. And really should be in the RG.

I don't think it matters whether a uni is RG or not but for some careers it does make a difference if the uni is a highly regarded one (or highly regarded for that particular course/career).

There are organisations that work with employers and universities and most advertise on their own websites.
The vast majority of universities have employer engagement teams who act as that link between an employer and their students.

It wasn't a thing when I went to uni (graduated 2003). We were encouraged to go to 'red brick' unis and not ex-poly if we were academic, and I did, but it's not RG.

I went to a RG university, I don't think it's made any difference to my life 🤷‍♀️

I once had a boss who actively tried to avoid Oxbridge graduates because he felt they got too much help through university and that led to them wanting more handholding in the workplace. I thought he was being ridiculous (and was a bit jealous because his university was less prestigious), but my cousin has just graduated from Oxford and I was really surprised at how much support she got during her studies (obviously this might not be true of every subject).

Milk round and grad cracker for a start. Any uni careers office will be able to advise plus the company’s own website if you’re targeting a specific company.

We advertise on our own website - Big 4 accountancy - blind recruitment process.

Where do the top companies advertise for university graduates? There doesn't seem to be a main hiring website anymore for grad jobs.

I’ve just checked and I’ve been to two of them as
well. I didn’t know either was a RG. I don’t know how much that has influenced the views of others about my achievements, but it certainly wasn’t a deciding factor in choosing the courses.

With 5 non Russell groups unis above it…