If your degree is from a former polytechnic, do you regard yourself as having gone to university?

[reelingIn]

I'm asking this question because young people whose parents haven't "gone to university" are being given priority for university places and other related activities.

My cousin and I were both the first in our families to go onto higher education - I got a degree from a university and he got a degree from a polytechnic. We've both had graduate careers and, for what it's worth, he now earns a lot more than me, not least because he went into a technical field that needed specialist skills (exactly the sort of thing that polytechnics used to specialise in). But he told me he would answer no to the question "did you go to university?" Other countries around the world probably have similar idiosyncrasies in their definition of a university. So it strikes me that, if the question is being used to prioritise applications in a highly competitive admissions process, they should be a bit clearer about what they mean by a university. For example, they should say "Does your parent have a tertiary level qualification?" instead.

Thoughts?

Why would he downplay it?

Oblomov, I'm sure he doesn't downplay it when it's to his advantage, but if downplaying it can give his kid extra credit in the university admissions process, then why call a shovel a spade if the shovel is more helpful?

I suspect the universities don't care whether people think it's an unfair question or not - so long as they can tick the box for "widening participation" and satisfy whatever targets they have.

@reelingIn I know some of my older siblings' kids answered "No" as their parents went to Polys. Even if they had answerd "Yes" they tick the boxes for other diversity measures. Funnily the my siblings who haven't got a degree sent their kids to private schools, so I see the questions as completely pointless.

I went to a poly that's now a uni. It was nowhere near being a uni at the time, but I'd still consider it the same as having gone to uni. It's a degree (hons) I have, albeit earned at my poly but awarded by the associated university.

The applications people are trying to prioritise kids from underprivileged background ie whose parents couldn’t afford to spend several years out of the job market.

If your friend has a degree and ticks no then that’s fraud. Sounds like friend has issues / massive chip on shoulder.

If it wasn't a university at the time he attended, he did not attend a university. It doesn't matter what it became after he graduated. However, I agree the question ought to be "do you have a tertiary level qualification" if the answers are meant to include polytechnics (at the time of gaining the qualifications).

I did a survey recently at work which had a few questions on social mobility. It asked things about my parent's jobs and their level of education which I think is more revealing than your uni/non uni tertiary education.

Technically he is accurate in his answer. I was educated overseas so no way they can check my education. Also my DP didn't go to uni but his Dad did. It is a fairly clumsy way of trying to identify social mobility status.

That’s balls, laudete. It’s perfectly obvious what they actually mean by the question and what they’re using the information for; and using weasel words to justify why you’re right and they’re wrong just makes you look a bit thick.

For the widening participation, there is normally more than one ' box to tick'

They mean university level study. Your cousin is bonkers, and selfish

I would say no. I went to Sheffield City Polytechnic, I found out recently that my educational details claim I went to Sheffield Hallam University!

I think it also depends on the name of the institution he went to. If it contained the word “university” at the time he went to it then that’s the answer. I agree with PPs that dropping out doesn’t count.

It saves time explaining. Where I went is now a uni, and what I have is good honours as good as anyone's.

But at the time, I would have been adamant that I did not go to a poncey university with a load of posh kids in their Batman capes and stupid scarves. I did not 'read' anything, I studied. I went away and came home, none of that 'Up' ad 'Down' crap, etc.

A degree is a degree. It also depends on what the degree is and who you're talking to. It depends on the profession too. Veterinary, Medicine would have to go to a university.
My friend who done a degree in a college then a masters in uni, is often asked what uni she went to for her degree in MC circles. As much as she hates it she's become mc to her family so is in limbo in life.

I can’t make sense of your post, EmeraldShamrock

Yes, of course it counts. And if it is his DC who ticked the box, it would be them who pays the price, not him. Not much of an advantage

Are there really universities that give priority to students who are the first in their family to go to university? I thought it was just one of many criteria for places/bursaries/summer schools that are aimed at students from disadvantaged backgrounds eg to be eligible you need to live in a certain area/have attended a school with low university admissions/have a low household income AND have parents who didn't go to university.

I went to a a former polytechnic for my degree, MA and PhD and i'm now an academic at one.
Yes I went to university and yes I teach at a university.

Oh and First Generation Students have been a priority for widening participation activities for years. That isn't a new thing

@74NewStreet you wouldn't be the first to not get my gargle.
OP yanbu the question should be more specific. It should question qualification not where they got it.

Are there really universities that give priority to students who are the first in their family to go to university?

Yes and no. They aren't given an automatic place but would possibly be targeted by some WP activity before and during the application process. They may also be eligible for a bursary at some places.

But of course! if an ex-poly is now called a University, then it does count as University.