to object to all this "Russell Group" malarkey?

[tispity]

Where has this term appeared from in the last few years and why does it confer prestige upon it's alumni? From where i'm standing, London University has always been a mixed bag really: Imperial (excellent), LSE and Kings (generally good, excellent for a few subjects) and all the others (I know not how many even). If I were to generalise based on what I saw when I used to sneak into their libraries during the college holidays, hardworking, working/ lower middle-class, suburban kids of average intelligence for the most part.

I am not being arrogant but (as a sibling of one and friend of many of it's alumni) it was always just a good old, reliable, solid red brick institution. Why the need to suddenly rebrand itself, in order to stand out from the group?

i'll try to ignore it but it does come up very regularly on here and increasingly so in RL. i had this conversation with a mum at the school gate a few weeks ago:

Her "i went to a RG university"
Me: "what's a RG university?"
Her (taken aback, slightly offended): "You don't know what RG means? I'm surprised you don't know having been to university yourself. Everyone else knows"
Me: "Do you mean London University .. as in that is near Russell Square so ...?"
Her (having privately given up on establishing a 'mum-friendship' at this point) "Well, I did actually but I could have gone to many others. You are good at guessing!"

Do any London University students ever think of themselves as that? I never did. Never had anything to do with the other colleges really. We were even pretty separate from the Medical school that we had just merged with. I wonder if it's the same now. My old college in particular seems to have grown beyond all recognition with all its mergers.

And my college was nowhere near Russell Square

Agree with you TFM. I've seen about five references on MN to London University. Is there a London University now?

This is an interesting table - click on the headings to see the rankings change for various factors - interesting to see that Oxford, though top overall, only comes 7th for 'graduate prospects'....

RG usually comes up in two main context on MN
1.Pushy MN parents fretting about Sophie and Oliver UCAS admission.

1. And of course Xenia who swears that anything not Oxbridge, or Bristol law is worthless.

tispity - what kind of arsehole actually comes out with a statement like "I went to a Russell Group university"?!
Did that actually happen?? I'd have pissed myself laughing at the pretentious wanker.

Unfortunately,on recent degree thread there was much preening and boasting.

I'd never heard of the russell group until my sil was going on about how her dd's private school has close links with all the russell group universities, as if that was more likely to get her into one.

I googled.

Transpires I went to one, without even being aware of it. Don't understand the fuss and actually feel a bit that the school is emphasising "links" when hopefully is a meritocracy when it comes to university entrance rather than a closed shop.

The full group is below:-

? University of Birmingham
? University of Bristol
? University of Cambridge
? Cardiff University
? University of Edinburgh
? University of Glasgow
? Imperial College London
? King's College London
? University of Leeds
? University of Liverpool
? London School of Economics & Political Science
? University of Manchester
? Newcastle University
? University of Nottingham
? University of Oxford
? Queen's University Belfast
? University of Sheffield
? University of Southampton
? University College London
? University of Warwick

What about Hull?

fairycake123 - yes, it honestly did. i was perturbed by it more than anything else, as (much to her irritation) I honestly had no idea. it is only with the benefit of hindsight that i realise that she was indeed a "pretentious wanker"

Is the OP getting confused between UCL and University of London as a whole perhaps?

Oh sorry - there you are! Sounds rude referring to you as 'OP' now

RG is self promoting and self selecting.Lapped up and whipped up for no particular reason.Other than to galvanise the competitive middle classes.

NiceShoes - Which polytechnic did you go to?

JustGettingByMum - thanks so much. well, if that's the list then i did go to one whereas my sibling (who attended a part of London University that's not on that list) did not (even though I believed the reverse to be true). this has given instant meaning to my life ...not. i still would not use it (never ever ever...). i am quite happy to state the facts as they appear on my certificates. i would not want to work for an employer who attached any importance to that term.

since I went to a RG university I can afford to be totally nonchalant about this

TheFallenMadonna - no i'm def not; I know people who have attended UCL.

I went to a Sutton Group University,as I said previously.I find all this preening and gloating very bad taste.

The truth is a lot of the big employers really only recruit from RG, Durham, York & St ANdrews. So if you want to work for BP, for example, and get on their graduate trainee scheme, you probably won't make the cut if you went to University of South Suffolk, even if you did a sensible subject and not meeedja studies.

I went to a university that's in the Sutton group and the Russell Group, and my feelings are best summed up by that Groucho Marx quote about not wanting to belong to any club that would have me as a member. Honestly, if they accepted me they'd accept any old drunken idiot.

I don't think the RG is about sucking up to the middle classes, it's about research networks. I'm not really sure why such a huge fuss is made apart from the research thing. The best researchers are not necessarily the best teachers and you're not going to be an especially better graduate (unless you want to be an academic).

You are not more likely to get in because of 'school links', that is just marketing bollocks I'm afraid.

I had no idea when I attended Cardiff University from 97 to 2000 that it was a member of the Russell Group. Nothing in its prospectus, website, buildings, signage etc indicated it was such. Not sure I'd have cared either way though!

I still believe Russell Group is a collaboration of universities purely to promote UK higher education to overseas students, who will pay more for their attendance, and therefore help fund our education system, ongoing research etc...

Don't really understand how it's become used to look down upon others or suggest that some degrees are more valuable than others. Doesn't make a lot of sense at all. Misguided snobbery I guess.

But Swedlington the proportion of university attendees who aspire to get on a graduate scheme at a multi-national is really very small, and doesn't justify the existence of the Russell Group so it must be about more than making graduates appeal to blue-chips.