Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is anyone prepared to admit their DC does not attend - now or in the future - a Russell Group university

204 replies

TheOliphantintheRoom · 01/10/2019 15:41

Don't be afraid. This is a safe space. MNHQ probably won't ban you. Though you may have to name change.
You can even fess up if your DC didn't go to uni.
Come on - I know you're out there.

OP posts:
Aragog · 01/10/2019 16:58

RG didn't exist when I started university. But neither dh or I went to what are how RG. We both went to 'new' universities. Despite this we've both got on with our careers and dh, in particular, has done exceptional well even without a RG degree.

Dd won't be going to an RG university either. The course she wants to do are better at different universities.

QuestionableMouse · 01/10/2019 16:59

I had unconditional offers from two RG unis and turned them both down in favour of the local ex poly. 😯😯😯

The RG unis weren't really interested in supporting me while the ex poly has been fabulous.

hazell42 · 01/10/2019 16:59

I have 4 kids. 3 decided not to do university, at least for now.
The 4th will be applying soon.
I couldn't give a monkeys whether she goes to an RG university, as long as she does a course she likes. Neither does it bother me that the others chose not to.
I, on the other hand, am about to start my PhD at an RG.
That's not why I picked it.

coconuttelegraph · 01/10/2019 17:00

As it's been in the news this week that 50% of school leavers now go to university by definition the vast majority of students don't go to RG universities why would anyone care about it?

Is there some kind of sneering that I'm missing? Who cares?

Drabarni · 01/10/2019 17:00

Two grown up dc that didn't and one dd who won't. Although would you consider a conservatoire as just as wanky.

MereDintofPandiculation · 01/10/2019 17:01

DC2 went to an ex-poly with good industrial links, had a well paid sandwich year which allowed him on graduation to apply for jobs specifying prior experience as a requirement, is earning a high salary for our area, owns his own house, and is fitting in all the foreign travel he can manage. I can't imagine that a RG uni would have enhanced his quality of life. But apparently his 1st class degree is only the same as a bare pass from a proper university ;-)

Waxonwaxoff0 · 01/10/2019 17:02

I didn't go to university at all. I know nothing about them, or what a RG one is. I left education straight after GCSEs.

My ex husband (DS's father) barely even went to school and now earns £60k as a train driver.

DS is 6 so a long way off yet, but I'm not bothered if he goes to university or not. I would just like him to have a career he enjoys.

thecatsthecats · 01/10/2019 17:05

Phew - that's a relief ' wouldn't want to be accused of being a professional snob.

Maintaining your amateur status so you can snob at the Olympics?

TheRobinIsBobbingAlong · 01/10/2019 17:12

Neither of my DCs went to university. One went to a local college then straight to work, the other entered an apprenticeship. I would have been happy for them to go to uni, but supported their choices. My DDs bf didn't go uni either. He's just completing his training as a police officer. At the end of the day it's what's right for the individual.

GnomeDePlume · 01/10/2019 17:19

One went to non RG now working in the science field in which she studied.

One now at RG (another scientist)

One applying to join armed forces in a trade

All bases covered!

pointythings · 01/10/2019 17:20

Mine doesn't - for what she wants to do, the RH unis aren't at the top of the table. She did turn down two RG unis, does that count?

The other one has just started 6th form and is looking at studying outside the UK.

Mummybares · 01/10/2019 17:23

The world is changing. It's very old fashioned to focus on RG only.

Nextphonewontbesamsung · 01/10/2019 17:28

One of my dc has just started University. I couldn't even name the RG universities. She's at the best place for the course she wants to do.

Original poster
TheOliphantintheRoom · 01/10/2019 17:33

Maintaining your amateur status so you can snob at the Olympics?

Don't think you need to be an amateur to participate in the Olympics these days. Or nobody mentioned it to Andy Murray.

OP posts:
Nextphonewontbesamsung · 01/10/2019 17:34

There's a small number of MN posters who seem to be obsessed with RG Universities and a small number who are obsessed with super elite public schools and, worse, superselective grammar schools. I only hope their children don't massively disappoint them if they choose a different course in life for themselves.

Faith50 · 01/10/2019 17:34

I went to university in the late 1990's. I had no idea about Russell Group universities (not that I would have been close to getting in). I attended a very standard university.

ThebishopofBanterbury · 01/10/2019 17:38

Haha great post op. I thought it was law that every mumsnetter's child attended a Russell Group! That's all you ever hear.

cantkeepawayforever · 01/10/2019 17:45

DS is at one of the usually hellishly difficult to get into conservatoires, so no.

I have an Oxbridge PhD but many years later did my PGCE teacher training at a new university which grew out of an old teaching college - I would say that my experience at both institutions was great, because they specialised in what i was studying - Oxbridge at the high level research science stuff, the ex-teaching college non RG university at teaching teachers. Met inspirational lecturers and specialists in their areas at both.

WickedGoodDoge · 01/10/2019 17:49

I’ve never understood the MN obsession with RG universities. It’s possibly because I’m foreign, but DS is currently applying to uni and I haven’t a clue as to whether any are RG.

tommyshaircut · 01/10/2019 17:51

St Andrews, Lancaster, Bath, Loughborough- none of them are RG and all feature regularly in various top 10 lists.

BinkyBaa · 01/10/2019 17:53

I have two degrees from a Russel group university. I'm also unemployed and struggling to find work. Imo it's nowhere near as important as schools make it out to be. A child who knows what they want out of a career and is willing to work for it specifically will do far better than a child who is academically gifted looking to put fancy names on a CV.

TheFairyCaravan · 01/10/2019 18:02

DS1 decided he wasn't going to uni the night before his A levels came out. He passed with 3 As, still said he wasn't going. He's just coming up for 25 and earned £32k last year. He loves his job and the opportunities it gives him.

DS2 had 2 offers from RG but got an unconditional offer from a non RG so chose that one. It was very highly ranked for his course and he loved it there.

Trafalger · 01/10/2019 18:42

I work at an ex poly after turning down a job at a RG uni. Will I be banished forever from here? I can say the uni I am at has some outstanding courses in technical subjects (trying to be vague!) that are looked at very favourably by industry. So it all depends on the course.

BogglesGoggles · 01/10/2019 18:44

We’ll be encouraging ours to study abroad if we’re still in Britain when their time comes.

UsedtobeFeckless · 01/10/2019 18:51

DH did an apprenticeship, l went to art school, DS1 is at a non-Russell uni that offers the slightly niche STEM degree he wanted but looking at a couple of RGs for his MA ( he drank the koolaid ... Grin l'd rather he stayed where he is as he really likes it! )
DS2 is going to a RG uni but his subject is definitely a you're going-to-be-poor-but-happy choice and l think he picked the university because of the course rather than the kudos!