Least impressive universities?

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If you could reject three from this list based PURELY on how impressive they look on your CV and no other reason, which would you reject, leaving a list of five?

Durham
York
Newcastle
Liverpool
Manchester
Liverpool
Sheffield
Leeds

Thank you

From my limited knowledge, I'd say Durham and Newcastle should be the top two. I guess unis like St Andrews, Edinburgh, UCL, Cambridge, Oxford (probably another couple I can't think of) are out due to unsuitable courses, expected grades.

It's a hard one moving forward. Maybe some employers look more at the degree, rather than uni. DD ended up working for an employer who only employed from top rank unis and Firsts. She got a 2.1, but happened to have taken part in something that was niche and totally relevant to her employer.

This is really silly. You need to pick one based on the course and how good the rep is at that particular university. I would go to Durham over Sheffield for history, for example.

Subject dependant. My local uni is an ex poly and might not seem ‘impressive’ but is leading nationally on certain subjects.

How ridiculous. It's the degree and the work experience you get during that degree that matters - and the person you are, of course.

I would get rid of Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool, purely because I personally wouldn't want to live for 3+ years in any of those. If you are going to randomly pick three then I think thats as good a reason as any!

And I do completely agree it totally depends on the course. However I also get what OP means. When it comes to granny “bragging” to her friends where her grandkid has gone then Durham sounds more impressive than Leeds. Her mates at crochet aren’t going to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of subject league tables. Even a lot of employers won’t unless they’re an engineering firm (for example) recruiting engineering graduates. However I do think any employer would recognise any of those unis are good.

A relative of mine went to Newcastle…I had to google to see if it was a decent uni (pure nosiness) 🤣. York, Manchester or Durham I’d have known without googling. I know Sheffield is RG only because I went there myself. I only realised Liverpool was RG quite recently.

Manchester would be my top pick to live out of all of them. 😃. The shopping is excellent, loads of stuff going on in the city, nice countryside close by. Really vibrant student scene. I find the industrial architecture combined with the skyscrapers beautiful.

Sorry, but the universities are now hidden by many organisations. The civil service, for example, remove the names of universities attended:
https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2015/11/05/name-blind-recruitment-a-commitment-to-diversity/

Lots of big firms do this now too. I totally get why they do it. But also does it mean a 1st class degree from Teesside is the same value as a first class degree from Oxford? Seems a bit odd!

But what is being studied? The medical schools are all the same so a Dr from any them is good. You don't go to Durham for medicine or veterinary science or dentistry. York is good but the nightlife/social side is not going to beat Newcastle but the student might prefer a quieter university. It's a strange thing to say least impressive. My colleagues son got his degree and doctorate in engineering at Newcastle and now works in Nuclear Propulsion. Clearly his degree and University worked for him.

Don't be sorry. Both institutions I work for you absolutely can see the uni and that's also somewhat relevant.

I think civil service has a particularly idiosyncratic selection process which is pretty unknown to anyone but the people who run it

The Russel Group was based on the intensity of research each university carried out. I came across this recently that changed which universities would now be part of the Russel Grouo based on the current level
of research. Lots of universities have had funding cuts and research has vastly decreased since they became part of the group and others have increased so technically would be a more worthy member of the group.
Note - it is from TikTok, but appears to be based on reliable sources

It's a pretty pointless exercise. They're all very good universities. There might be less 'prestige' to Liverpool over Durham, but Durham is not everyone's cup of tea.
Sheffield is world class for Engineering. Manchester is closed behind Oxbridge for Physics...

It depends on what subject the degree or postgrad qualification is in. A university will often have a different reputation for different courses.

This.

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/sector/insights/universities-ranked-by-subject

This may help? Though different people's lists have them in slightly different places - so it's more a general trend for each course.

Sheffield Hallam is in the top 10 for teaching.

Nonsensical question.

Russel group is a marketing ploy they are self selecting.

Yes, exactly, which is why I said "wrongly"

Well I’m amazed UCL is on there for art and design. It only teaches fine art. St Martins is way ahead of Slade.

Behave. Seriously just behave. University should to be a time of growth, development, exploration and life experience away from home. Not a point on a CV. We need to stop curating our children’s lives.

And Sheffield for engineering.

How bizarre!

Depends on the course.

Durham doesn't have a Medical school. So would be impossible to choose. Newcastle went into clearing for Medicine this year. Sheffield is very highly rated for Medicine and vastly oversubscribed.

I think it's a starting point more than any thing definite - and it depends on what they are actually looking at.

I think The Times does one as well - not sure if they do it at subject level and think a few others do.

We tend to use it as a way of finding out who does the course DC are interesting in - then looking at requirements - then look further into each uni and the actual course entails and then do open days. Worked for oldest two who seem happy with their choices and doing it with the third one now.

A bit resurrected...but Liverpool University is excellent for many health related subjects and its university teaching hospitals have an excellent repuation with groundbreaking research and treatments.

Liverpool is often cited as the original red brick university.

Last year all of these subjects were in the top 10 of UK universities

Veterinary Science ( 2nd)
Dentistry ( 2nd)
MedicalTechnology ( 8th)
Occupational Therapy ( 4th)
Physiotherapy ( 6th)
Chemistry ( 9th)
Civil engineering ( 8th)
Town and Country Planning ( 7th)
Aeronautical and aerospace engineering ( 8th)

It depends what you are studying, looked at a few last year for Maths,
Durham is seen as a top Uni
Manchester Very good and a great student city
York pretty good reputation
Liverpool - good student city
Sheffield - Maths building very dated, course presentation worse than others that we visited, Computing building there looked good.
Leeds- don't know anything about it.