Maths degrees - second/third tier options?

QUB ticks a good few boxes all the same, with the maths with French and year abroad, and the OP may live within hailing distance of ferries or an airport.

Long way to go though. Many unis will offer MFLs in GB. If you aren’t near an airport Belfast is a trek.

Queens University Belfast offers a four year maths with French degree that involves one year of study abroad (presumably in a French university and through the medium of French).

www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mathematics-french-bsc-g1r1/

Smaller city, nice campus.

Thanks for starting this thread @Justlurkingmostly - also looking at options for DD to study Maths, and need some Uni's that she can also get into to (as well as aiming high!) I will add to this and i find out any info

Predicted grades can be well over what they actually need though. If you have applied for AAB and get AAA but were predicted Astar AA, it doesn’t matter. Context is everything.

Keele?

Sure I guess having been burnt with this I’m hyper aware of it. I’m aware many are happy with a gap year and the advantages it has.

Given that c 70% or whatever it is don’t get their predicted grades a lot will be looking closely at insurance options.

The answer is hardly anywhere hugely popular. It’s been this way for years. There are a few with an excess of accommodation but not many. So is an insurance even worth it? In London the hugely expensive units are often available. However if you firm and get required results, then for most unis, it’s not a huge issue and you get accommodation .

What I’m trying to say is that if you are put off by insurance accommodation issues you might at well knock many unis off the list and just base choices on housing and select a uni with a course you will definitely get into and one with surplus housing so you get a wide choice. I’m very aware of housing issues and my DD would not defer. She was August born too so it wouldn’t have mattered that much. However other dc do defer and start again as firm students and make the most of a year to work and save. It’s pretty normal to do this.

Sorry but I think it’s important not to minimise this. For insurance options, look very carefully at who guarantees accommodation for insurance students. There are very very many that don’t. And they don’t because they don’t have enough accommodation for all the courses they sell.

If DC is happy sharing first year accommodation with year 3s or people not from their uni, great. It makes the whole freshers experience very difficult.

“Just defer” is also a bit trite. Many don’t choose or want to be a year behind their peers.

Yes but not everywhere. Also insurance doesn’t have to be a popular uni. Some clearly do have enough accommodation. So think about insurance carefully but other posters have said they would cut out some unis altogether. The vast majority do get accommodation in y1. Ask to defer if you don’t.

I think it’s at best a tad naïve to call them “accommodation stories”. I’m pretty up to speed on this having had a man accommodation nightmare with DC in 2022. Many unis do not provide enough Y1 accommodation beyond firm offer holders and students end up either miles away from campus or in £££ private accommodation not with people from Y1/their uni.

Surrey was one such uni last year.

OP says “Will likely be a mix of A star and A at ALs but need to also ID some safer option”

I read that as insurance.

We were not talking about insurance though were we? Just a list of unis with no idea of what would be firm. If you firm, most unis accommodate most students. If you discount a uni based on accommodation stories, which otherwise you might have firmed, you will never know what accommodation you could have got had you firmed. If it’s top choice for academic and other reasons, I would still go for it. Insurance is another matter in many unis.

This isn’t correct. There are many unis that don’t guarantee first year accommodation to insurance holders. Check this carefully. I believe Surrey had big problems recently.

Keele is a quiet campus and might be a good low tariff insurance choice to take the pressure off. It is well-regarded for science and maths but off the beaten track, and quite small.

It has quite a few different maths degree options and you can take language courses and a year abroad as part of the course.

UEA might also have the sort of vibe you are looking for.

Is it likely shy young people all end up at the same unis? I find this concept a bit odd. A lively city doesn’t mean a student cannot find their friends in a hall of residence or on their course. What a city offers is not the same as finding like minded people at uni and some will be quieter types. They can, of course, completely change when away from home!

it was ten years ago, but I did this at Leeds. I also did a language so did a year out that way as a joint honours.

When I went, no additional exam, I hadn’t done FM, a campus uni with lots of employment options related to finance in the local region post graduation.

Fair enough but the population is about a million now and it has a big city vibe. The point I was making is that it has a very lively and renowned night-time economy and lot of which is aimed at students. The universities have closed the more suburban halls of residence and moved students into the centre.
It's not Aberystwyth or Surrey which others have suggested and may not be right for a shyer student...but I don't want to derail the thread.

It’s a fairly small city as they go, as in it’s very compact. 25 minutes from one end of the city centre to the other is fairly small.

Stirling is worth looking at.

Could definitely do a language alongside mathematics.

Lovely campus with a loch in the middle.

I agree with others - Bath and Warwick have good reps, campus unis but are very competitive these days for Maths. Surrey and perhaps Southampton for "insurance" type offer. Sussex is a nice campus uni but the Maths degree has low entry requirements

Yes. I thought Surrey might work. Presumably some dc have a noisier life there?

My son is just coming to the end if his 4th year studying Maths at Surrey University.
He is quite quiet and shy and the small pretty campus with lake and gardens and low level accommodation at Surrey really suited him. It's a short walk into Guildford Town but you feel safe and nurtured while on campus.

@foreverbasil Im not actually convinced many unis are quiet! Being in the countryside doesn’t mean quiet halls of residence. Nowhere to go means more partying! Not that many students wander round the countryside alone either.

The advantage of a bigger uni might be quiet halls and clubs for quieter dc. There might be fun to be had in the city but that doesn’t mean a shy person cannot find friends in the right hall. It’s also worth considering a gap year too. Go and do a bit of work and see what happens. There’s the safety net of home but it might be better than choosing a uni based on countryside as opposed to reputation.