Uni of Leeds Civil Engineering - need reassurance

[Buckleymumma]

My son missed out on his firm at Bristol and fortunately, got offers from Leeds, Sheffield and Southampton through clearing on lower grades than typical offers which was a massive relief. We loved Leeds and it’s ranked 6th/7th in league tables for Civil Eng so he’s accepted that offer. I’m now worrying that Leeds doesnt have the same reputation as Sheffield, Southampton, and the likes of Birmingham, Loughborough, Manchester all of which he is eligible for through clearing. He visited Sheff, Southampton, Loughborough and Birmingham and much preferred Leeds over them all - I think campus in a lively city appealed to him. If Leeds is ranked higher for Civils than the others, why does it not seem to have the same reputation as the others listed? Please can someone reassure me that he’s made the right choice and it’s a desirable and respected degree by employers? Thank you.

@Buckleymumma where do you get this perception from? If from here on Mumsnet, bear in mind there are one or two regular posters to the civil eng threads who have preferences (or give details of their DH's preferences) for certain unis. Therefore, your perception of 'reputation' may be skewed by just one or two opinions that have been amplified by repetition on multiple threads.

I’ve posted on your other thread. You are only looking at one league table. It’s the one that is completely skewed and a complete outlier. Every other league table puts Leeds higher than Southampton which generally ranks poorly. You have no need to worry.

They are all good russell group unis, why would you think an engineering firm would care about the subtle differences between them? Stop worrying, they are all fine courses!!

My ds is looking at civil engineering and has been on a few work experiences through acquaintances.
General line has been.
Don't get in huge debt in uni, go to a good university but the cheapest one .
Leeds is good ( he is considering this) it's good course and also will be about 20 grand cheaper than the ones down south because of accommodation and living costs.

There is a massive demand for good civil engineers, after a couple of years they aren't that interested in where you've gone to uni but more on the experience you have.

I honestly don't know what you're worried about. And actually it's up to him to make the decision that's best for him ... so perhaps time to back off and be supportive of and celebrate the decision he's made

@Moonshiners ”Down south”??? We aren’t universally in expensive areas. From what I see, there’s some expensive areas in the north too.

@Buckleymumma Generally Southampton is not expensive. The best guide, in my view, is the Complete University Guide. This puts Bristol 4, Leeds 7, Manchester 8 and Sheffield 11. Birmingham 19. Research quality and student entry standards are considered and grad prospects. All these unis are great.

Until recently DH owned a Civil and Structural Engineering consultancy. They also did a lot of environmental engineering . Do they really differentiate between grads from any of these unis? Absolutely not. They want a 2:1 or first. Decent school qualifications and work experience. There’s more to a grad than a uni or a course. What matters is: can the grad utilise what they have learnt?. Can they apply it to real life problems and find solutions? Do they understand engineering principles and are they quick learners? Will
they work effectively in a team? Can they pass the selection tests set? Can they explain why they think their solution works? So degree is the start and Leeds is absolutely fine!

Just make sure he does MEng though and gets work experience. He’s made a good start. Keep going.

My DC is starting an engineering course this year. Spoke to several people beforehand including my friend’s DH who is senior management in a large global company. He said as long as they had a decent grade from a
decent university that’s fine, that in his experience companies weren’t bothered about pure academics, ability to work as part of a
team, levels of pragmatism were also huge relevant.

Thanks all for your feedback and insight. No idea why the original post got duplicated. Son is happy with his choice, has a place in halls so excited for his next chapter.

@Buckleymumma He will be fine. What’s not to like about Leeds?!

Hello
I am a Civil Engineer. I work in Leeds.
DH is a Civil Engineer. He studied Leeds and has worked for several consultancies and contractors across Yorkshire in the last 3 decades.

We have a lot placement/trainee Civils grads from Leeds at work. The BEng and MEng are accredited with the ICE. All the big consultants and contractors have offices in Leeds and industrial links to the Uni. The uni has active postgrad research in Civil, and links into related subjects like Earth Science, Geography/GIS.

Leeds is a perfectly respectable university to study Civil Engineering. Don't panic. He'll have a blast.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads ICE accredit nearly all degrees! It’s always worth pointing out the difference between MEng and BEng these days though. Yes. There’s a lot of work and salaries are on the up for civils!

I know they do, but time was they didn't and I thought it might be reassuring for a nervous parent?

If he didn’t get Bristol but got Leeds, I think it was more about prestige in her eyes. They are all accredited. At some unis they shouldn’t be! The unis don’t make a clear enough distinction between MEng and BEng in my view: in terms of future career. That’s more important to understand.