Good University - Bad University

[oldbeforetime]

Where can one find out whether a particular university is viewed as a good university or a poor one by the industry one wants to go into?

Prob depends on which industry, I think ?The Times do a good university guide..

The Guardian does an annual guide, it can also be searched by subject area.

Oh and also there is a site called Unistats and you can search universities on there by subject and it will show the employment rates and where after graduation.

You could ring the head of recruitment in a company in the industry you want to know about and ask them which universities they visit for recruitment. My Dad used to be in recruitment for a large multinational(in the 80s and 90s) and they only used to visit about 10 universities for careers fairs etc. Some were just 'good universities' - others offered courses that were a good lead into the kind of work they'd be doing.

Thanks for the posts, I'll look at the websites, then contact the companies.

Yes subject league tables are a good place to start and more important in my book than general ones as some universities although not necessarily in the top 10 nationally as an institution, might well be the best place in the country for studying xyz.

Ds1 is currently looking in the tables and has found The Sunday Times league table is different from The Times which is different from The Guardian which is different from the complete university guide's table. Although you can see a general trend, there are some startling differences. They all measure slightly different things, eg some might show % graduate employment, % first class honours while others show, %student satisfaction with lectures feedback or RAE score

If you look at the graduate recruitment sections on the websites of employers you are interested in, they sometimes have details of which university recruitment fairs they are attending- that might be a good starting point.

Ones that are very old tend to be better regarded than the 1960s ones which in t7rn are usually better regarded than 90s ex-polys.

Also look up the members of the Russell Group universities and the 1994 group too. All these are good ones.

Are you interested in a particular one?

Currently interested in Kingston, Brunel and Bucks universities.

All 3 do very different course for a very specific degree, but don't know if one uni is higher regarded or more importantly disregarded by the industry.

Thanks for all the pointers.

I know none of those are the Russel Group so can't use that yard stick.

Hadn't heard of the 1994 group so will look for that one.

What's the course? We have a Virgin Guide to courses for careers which is meant to tell you what's a good place to study certain things.

Aeronuatical Engineering but the key thing with the course is it must be one where you obtain pilots licence during the course.

The book says "the big four players are Loughborough, Bristol West of England, Hertfordshire and Sheffield Hallam" They also mention Queens Belfast, Glasgow Strathclyde, Bath, Coventry and Manchester.

Not sure if that helps any or not - they don't even mention the ones you've listed Sorry, I don't think I've helped any there!

Thanks for looking - I think the difficulty is AMIS that my dd does not want to build aircrafts she wants to fly them.

And the difficulty of looking at the Unis for Aeronautical Engineering that the league tables seem to just focus on the ones that are 'pure' engineering, i.e. how to design an aircraft etc.

Where as the 3 I listed have a MEng, a BEng, a FEng going on to a BSc, and a BSc, that are aircraft maintenance as well as flying experience.

But I don't know what's best a) out of those qualifications and b) out of those universitites.

And BA and Virgin sites just tell me they aren't recruiting trainees so that doesn't help, I don't want trainee I want to know newly qualified.

And Easyjet offer a sponsorship, but no degree, and I'm keen for my dd to have a degree behind her, if she decides in the future, that flying is her hobby not her job, or not for her full stop.

I think an MEng is best of those.

Has she looked into joining the RAF and learning to fly that way? Also they might sponsor through Uni. A friend of mine's son wanted to join (actually he got rejected after all the tests) but is now doing Aeronautical Engineering at Bristol.

Is there an association of professional pilots? They might be helpful.

AE is one of those strange courses that people always went to Poly to do even with grades like 4 As at Alevel. Engineering was always a bit like that but AE in particular.

I have 2 friends who did AE. One went to what was Hatfield Poly (not sure what its called now) and the other went to Manchester. However, BAE at both Hatfield and the place in Cheshire have now closed. (friends did placements there) So, I'm not sure if those courses carry the same weight anymore.

Out of the universities you have mentioned, I would say Brunel stands out straight away as a university synonymous with engineering for obvious reasons.

Oh and just to say to Darlene, 1960s universities are not necessarily thought less highly off than older ones. Eg Warwick which is consistently rated as one of the best.

She is currently with Air Cadets - although part of her wants to join the RAF, she wants to fly commercial rather than fighter, and is concerned at the length of time that she is tied to the RAF (of course the tie-in is fully understandable).

Well MN may of helped solve the dilemma anyway, because if a MEng is the preferred qualification that takes place at Brunel, and if that's the better engineering school. Then that looks like the most likely way forward.

Thanks for all the help.

This is not at all black and white - it depends on many things.

The 'good uni guides' from the newspapers are a good start for sure but don't fall into the trap of thinking that all Russell Group are better than all 1994 group are better than all post 92s - its really not the case (remember that Durham, York and Warwick are not Russell Group for example!)

Its very subject specific - it you want to do Textiles, you wouldnt go to Oxford: if you want to do midwifery, dont plan to go to Cambridge; if you want to do child psychology, you'll find post 92s (ex polys) that specialise; best places for design are the sepcialist institutions (ex art colleges) - it really is very specific.

And I would say that a 2:1 from a top ex poly is worth more to you than a 2:2 from a lower ranked pre 92 ....

Unless things have changed in the commercial airline industry, as far as I am aware the key thing you need to be a pilot is a commercial pilot's license. Obtaining one of these is very expensive to the extent that it'll dwarf the cost of university tuition fees. That's why you really want sponsorship from an airline. Also I am aware of a number of people who have paid their way and have still found it difficult to get a flying job at the end.

I think it's a very sensible thing for your dd to also get a degree under her belt, however learning to fly on a course isn't likely to make any difference. It won't count towards her commercial license. So the best bet is just to go for something that she finds really interesting and will look good on her cv whatever she ends up doing.

Having said that, if Easyjet are currently sponsoring then just apply. There's going to be stiff competition and they may be more interested in graduates than school leavers but it's still worth a go. It may turn out that by the time she graduates, no one is sponsoring at all - so it may be a missed opportunity.

thekidsmon, I have to just correct you there about Warwick which is one of the biggest reasearch focused universities in the country and was actually at the forefront in setting up The Russell Group and therefore, is very much a member.

I went to Manchester and Aeronautical engineering was very strong then with a large intake or air cadets. Not sure if that helps.

cora - yes, you're right, of course Warwick is RG.

What has always surprised me is that neither Durham or Bath are - its all down to who was at the meeitng at the hotel on the day they decided to form the group, I understand....

AMmumInScotland interested in your virgin guide to courses for careers but can only see a 2003 publication on amazon.

Is yours a later edition? If so could you pass on the ISBN pls? Sounds a really useful book

I'll have to check when I get home - we picked it up second hand, but I think its more recent than 2003.... possibly!

Be wary of rankings as it depends mainly on the funding that a University puts into that department eg. the business school may be top in the country but it may only be because a new building has been built to house it.