Any thoughts on Bath Spa University?

[doglover]

We've been trawling websites this weekend looking at possible uni courses and locations.

My dd (Y11) is quite taken by this university and their HERITAGE degree course. It seems to combine a lot of her passions - history, museums, communication, cultures etc. - and has a practical work experience element too.

Would this degree be respected?

Any thoughts about Bath Spa as a learning institution?

Greengrow what everyone has been trying to tell you, for f*ing years is that most employers DON'T filter by university. Only those recruiting traditional milkround type jobs - maybe 20% of graduate employers at the most. So that leaves 80% of graduate employers not caring less where you went. And the 20% that do care, only care when looking to fill entry-grade roles. Once you're on your second or third job it's your experience that will get you an interview in the vast majority of cases.

And contrary to your post of 7.39 whilst YOU and your shallow ilk may regard these as the better careers, most folk don't share your definition of better.

I think it is best to follow what interests you. If you have a passion for what you do, then pursue it. It is my enjoyment of my work which drives me. Once you really love what you do it is so much easier to be successful. The RG Uni will not help you love your chosen career. However, I agree that it may well give you an edge over other graduates when you are 21, but the advantage is limited to a short space in time.

This is getting off topic, but the Bath maths website states their typical offer as A*AA. So I wouldn't categorise that as one of the "univerities it is easier to get into with lower grades".

Bath Spa does not offer Maths.

grovel was that aimed at me? If so: yes, I know, I'm (off-topicly) talking about the University of Bath, in reply to Greengrow, who seems to think that the RG label is more important than I do. But now I'm wondering if her comment which I quoted was in response to Corestrategy. Ho hum.

I've no idea what I was responding to as I am just chatting.
I don't disagree - I think for many jobs (but not the good ones and not the ones we want our children to have) your degree from an ex poly may well be fine. However even if we take a slightly distant relative on the other side of the family - he has got a good job in science for BT because he just graduated from Durham ( he went to a comprehensive school in the North). I really think the institution did matter to BT. If you have 2000 applicants for all those big companies' graduate recruitment schemes they do have to sift.

All I want is for parents and teenagers to know the implications of particular choice. If they then make the "wrong" choice that is brilliant as it means less competition for my children. If I were nasty I'd be pulling the wool over the eyes of others on here and say a first from Middlesex ex poly is as good as a 2/2 from Oxford.

not the ones we want our children to have

Is that the royal we? Aeons ago I said on this thread that not everybody can get into the top universities. However, that doesn't mean it's not worth bothering to go to university at all. Having a 1st or even a 2.2 from Middlesex or any other ex poly is still a big step up from just having A levels or BTEC and likely to lead to a much better paid job, even allowing for student debt.

As someone who reads LI profiles for a living there are many cases when a 1st from an ex poly would be more valuable than a 2/2 from Oxford. It won't overcome the value of the contacts made at Oxford but the 1st will at least make most employers look further into an application. In some ways we have a situation now where no degree is better than a 2:2. More companies will specify 2:1 or above than a "good" university. It is therefore vital to chose a degree you have a chance of doing well in.

Looking further on into your career most companies care more about speed of progression than details of education - the unspoken ageism (and to some extent sexism) that states if you've taken more than 10 years to reach senior management you are "steady" and will never make it.

Degrees are a stepping stone to the next thing. For example, I know someone with a 3rd from Cambridge who could not get onto a PGCE. She thought it was dreadful that someone from a ex Poly with a 2:2 would meet the entrance criteria but not her.

Personally, when I look at job applicants, I look at the whole person rather than the university they went to. Some graduates from "good" universities can't even write a grammatically correct email. If the covering email is no good, I don't even consider the rest of it.

As ageneral rule:

The grade of your degree matters for a year. (as it may determine access to certain courses or eligibility to enter certain job competitions.

the subject your degree was in my matter for up to, say three years. But may not matter at all.

After that its the experience and or further study that counts.

Many thanks everyone. There've been some really interesting, thought-provoking comments which have certainly made us think closely about the institution and the course.

Hmm, having taken my eye off the ball I've come back to this thread and been rather surprised by some of the posts here.

I've am incredibly proud of my First from Bath Spa, especially as I was 52 when I achieved it. I think the course I did was amazing: the academic and pastoral support I receieved was superb and the vocational opportunities were exemplary, and I received a huge amount of support to continue onto postgrad studes.

But the choice I made - to go to my local uni as a mature student, whilst living with an 83 year old mother with dementia, a self-employed husband with a chronic incurable illness and a badly bullied teenage DS with ASD - isn't necessarily relevant to a parent who wants to find the best course for her 18 yr old DD.

Seriously - I would advise any young student wanting to enter this sector that in an IDEAL world, they should apply to study a straight academic history/history of art/archaelogy degree at the highest ranked university they can get in to, get as much relevant voluntary or paid work experience under their belt as they can during their degree course, and then beg, borrow or steal enough to fund an MA in a relevant subject.

Just saying. And I'm also curious why being 'ambitious' for your DC when they are about to spunk 45K down the tubes is somehow is somehow a bad thing! And ignore Greengrow. She has a thing about educational snob shit bless her! . She is a total softy honestly. And loves kittens.