Exeter or Loughborough

[Alex74]

Hi there

My ds has offers from Exeter and Loughborough for Business and we are struggling to decide as the firm offer. He is sporty and would no doubt be able to play at least IMS at Loughborough and I imagine Exeter. My thoughts are that they’re both great unis, but Loughborough is still underrated. It’s been top 10 in Sunday Times and CUG for the past 10 years now, and I assume there’s a reason for that! This year its rated at 6 in CUG above Durham, Bath etc. Yet people always assume it’s just good for sports! On the other hand Exeter is Russell Group and located in a
lovely part of the country. Any advice would be appreciated.

Having worked at L’boro and at a couple of different Russell Group Uni’s, I’d strongly recommend L’boro every time.

My son went to Loughborough and 100% loved it. Highly recommend it.

Which does he prefer? Has he visited both?

Exeter is really lovely campus, and so sporty! Which did your DS prefer on the offer days?

Both excellent universities, congratulations on getting offers from both!

It so much depends on the individual and what they are hoping to get from the university experience. Assuming the course is similar at both, you will be considering reputation/league tables, and also extra-curricular opportunities.

Regarding the former, I agree that Exeter might be slightly higer placed, and therefore might look better on a future CV, but imo it appears to attract more students from the the South of UK. I don't know where you live, but where I am, it's sometimes called "Surrey-on-sea"! If your DS wants to meet students from a wider area, maybe Loughborough would be better as it's more UK central.

On the other hand, in terms of extra-curricular sports, Loughborough attracts very sporty students such that team participation might be limited. My DP's brother was a very good club/county rugby player, but was unable to make a team at Loughborough as there were so many very good players there. He ended up leaving after a year and restarting his degree somewhere else where he was able to fully participate in the rugby set.

If inclusive sporting participation and academic reputation is a priority for your son, maybe Exeter might be preferable, but if a more inclusive social experience is important, maybe go Loughborough.

I'm sure he'll be happy wherever he goes. Good luck!

Does he not have a preference?

There’s no we in the decision - it has to be his!

I went to Loughborough 25 years ago and really enjoyed it. The uni has always had a very good reputation and the Business School is excellent.

I liked the fact it’s a campus-based uni and the town is small but Leicester, Nottingham, etc are nearby.

The hall accommodation is good and there are various types.

I played hall sports and for the university football team, though, looking at the website, everything looks much more professional and serious nowadays!

Get him to look at the research profiles of the staff because their expertise will guide the courses differently.

Very hard to actually participate in many sports at Loughborough unless you are county standard or above apart from a few niche sports

Thanks for your reply. Appreciated. Is there any particular reason why you feel that? Thanks.

Yes he has.They’ve both got pros and cons. Both lovely campuses. Exeter is Russell Group but Lboro seems to be rated higher in league tables and student experience. He really likes both. We are going for an offer holder day at Lboro in May and hopefully that will help. Thanks.

My son is also been offered Exeter and Loughborough for business (and some other unis) - I've told him all his offers are for good unis and he can't make the wrong decision - we are going to sit down and do a pros and cons list for each one. But I suspect, as long as he is happy with a course, we are going to encourage him to choose where he would like to live.

In regards to Loughborough's league tables... I don't know how league tables are compiled - is it the students have to agree to participate? I mention it because Loughborough came up highly in the Liberal Arts league tables my daughter was looking at - but when we went to open day this course was only 2-3 years old and they had never had more than 10 students per year group. And I was wondering how does a course with less than 10 students do so well in the league tables.

League table compilation

Here’s the CUG methodology @Alevel2

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/sector/insights/university-and-subject-league-tables-methodology

My DD had exactly the same dilemma 9 years ago Exeter vs Loughborough for Business. She loved both for different reasons.

in the end it just came down to ease of getting there. A 4/5 hour journey vs 1.5 hours - so Loughborough won it! She was very happy there, and I have no doubt she would have been very happy at Exeter too.

Loughborough’s assistance with the Year Out was very good, as long as the student was pro-active and took advice. They had workshops on CVs, practice sessions for the 1 day group interviews and so on. These were all things that may happen at Exeter too but it’s not the sort of thing they tell you about when you look round. Loughborough was also cheap - so that was a hit and there are many houses available for renting in Years 2+ as well as a good variety of hall rooms and types for Year 1. Loughborough had a good social scene - its middle of England location means more bands came to play I think.

She gained the third year placement position and also a job easily so that’s all positive.

Thanks that’s really helpful. 🙂

Same here, for engineering.

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like we are in a similar position! He’s also got an offer from Southampton, but we’ve decided Loughborough and Exeter will be the two of choice. Exeter is obviously in a much more scenic part of the world but also rather remote of course. Most people would probably say Exeter, but the more I hear about Loughborough, the more criminally underrated it sounds.
Even though it’s consistently there in black and white above Bath, Durham and Exeter in the league tables! I assume it’s because many people still seem to associate it with just sports, but it’s clearly much more than that these days. Do let me know how you come along with your decision.

My son is in the same position this year, can you update to say which university your son ended up at, and what he thinks about it? @Alex74

Hi there. Thanks for your interest. My son ended up going to Loughborough and he’s really enjoying it. I’m glad we chose Lough in the end because as well as being a lovely campus (it was voted best campus again last year), its also well connected to other cities like Nottingham and Leicester, which is great. When he’s not out in Loughborough (Wetherspoons seems to be the venue of choice) or at Hey Ewe (the weekly student disco on campus), he’s out in Leicester or Nottingham with friends he has made. Oh and the course seems to be going okay too! Lastly its just an hour and a quarter from St Pancras, which is great. So all in all really pleased. What subject is your son wanting to do?

My dd is at Luff and I’m very impressed at the support she is getting to develop her cv, strong tutor support etc. Luff are great at partnership development (with non-academic entities) which trickles into the curriculum.

Her rent and ease of finding accommodation is way better than my others have had too in other places. It’s also easy to get around and she has experienced a great sense of community. And has had some super holidays and volunteering experiences with her international and more local friends! Has also got a coaching qualification heavily discounted.

100% better off at Luff than Exeter. RG is just a club, and Luff is just as well regarded. I work at another RG. Honestly, so impressed with Luff!

People rave about the Russell Group - O wonder if they realise that the origins of the The Russell Group were largely administrative/political convenience….it was largely to allow the universities to collectively lobby the government on funding, policy, and research interests, rather than anything to do with excellence in teaching at the time.

I worked in HE for 10 years and I think people massively overplay the significance of the Russell Group tbh. When choosing between Exeter and Loughborough, they are both excellent Unis that are well respected academically and graduates from both are snapped up by employers. (I’m a Loughborough grad, so I’ll admit bias in favour of Loughborough, which I think is criminally under-rated.) But I would advise your DS to make a decision on where he would be happiest for 3 years - look at the sporting facilities, the social life, the accommodation, the optional course modules etc.

Loughborough may have wonderful sporting facilities but not for those who are not at high level already. If you want to take up a sport then it would have to be something obscure.
The people I know who went to lufbra (or loogabarooga as I have it called) all did year in industry and found employment relatively easy and quickly.
And rents were lower than average students were paying

Remember Russell group is self selecting not an elite group to try and get in. A few excellent unis are not in it

Loughborough is good for sport science but absolutely nothing else