Russell Group

[Changingnames32]

Can I ask a question about the Russell Group? My DS will hopefully get decent A level results, around AAB. How important is it really that he goes to a Russell group uni?

He's quite keen on Bath for example. Is that considered to be good?

Sorry for my ignorance, I didn't go to university and the school aren't being very helpful.

My other son is at a non-RG uni closer to home, but as he's doing an engineering course (with excellent post-uni prospects) and there are unique facilities for his non-academic interests, it was a good choice.

Bath?

A really popular course which gives you the chance of a year's work placement, and good stats around graduate employment. A good example of non RG Universities offering courses as good as if not better than many RG.

Horses for courses.

If you are seriously academic and want to do a very mathsy degree which will provide a perfect springboard for a Masters or a very technical job in the City, then Cambridge.

If you are are aiming for a good degree with real relevance for future employers and a chance to land a good placement in your third year, you are more an A in maths rather than A* in Further, and a chance to take accountancy courses as options, then Bath.

We looked round Bath and were lucky enough to meet the Economics Admissions person. Really helpful not least because it helped DS realise he wanted a more technical course which would stand him in good stead if he wanted to go on to a Masters. But the right course for others, very popular and well regarded.

I didn't even realise I went to one until I joined MN. In my day it was the traditional or red brick universities that were the pride of the UCCA form.

Basically if the university is hard to get into and needs high grades you will get good students there and employers will prefer it. Even better to stick to the top 10 if you can or top 5.

However it depends what career he wants.Some careers are easier to get into and employers are happy with ex polys. I would say always go for the institution over the subject if you want the top graduate careers. Obviously if you can take the subject you want at the institution which is highest go for that. If not pick a subject which is easier to get into with at the most highly ranked university.

As a recent graduate, I have never, ever seen a job advertised asking for a degree from a Russell Group university- just that they all want a 2.1 or above. I'm not saying that going to a Russell Group uni gives you no advantage, but I don't think many employers filter by university in that way.

The only exception to filtering by uni reputation is perhaps law.

"I've had a look at entry requirements for Economics at one non Russell group uni and its the same as Cambridge! Wow."

You need to bear in mind that Cambridge's "requirements" are "we're not remotely interested unless you're going to get these grades, and loads of people with these predicted grades won't even get an interview." The other uni's are likely to be much closer to "provided you get these grades you can have a place."

Slow
DS got a banking job outside London in 2008 where the requirements were minimum 2:1 from one of 8 Russell Group universities and 3 As at A2. I doubt if the likes of Deutsche Bank in London are recruiting outside a small number of universities.

Yes, it just depends if you want a good job or a not quite so good one.

I graduated from a non-rg uni.

It is ranked as the best department for that subject (research subject) in Europe. It has huge research grants and award winning professors.

I didn't even have to apply for a job, they came to me. That's with a 2:1

Personally I'd look at the ranking of the department, graduate employment and the quality of research grants and publications.

Have a look at ads for jobs he wants to get into, see what they are looking for. An employer specifying rg graduates is excluding a big cut of quality prospects though, so I can't see why a reasonable employer would do that. Most employers know the uni's and courses that turn out good candidates in their field, rg status should be irrelevant.

Why don't people know the plural of uni is unis?

Do not mean to sound rude but this website is dripping with people talking about their children's GCSE's when I am sure they are doing more than one. May be boring old pedant but it is of concern to me.

It depends on the job. Look at some barristers' chambers for example which show you where the barristers went to - the recent joiners. Here look at brickcourt. Go to most junior - Cambridge, Cambridge/Harvard, Australia, LSE, Cambridge (double first, first in year) etc....
One my children is having interviews at the moment and those they are up against will be mostly Oxbridge or other difficult to get into universities. However those are high paid jobs. Go to many other kinds of jobs and the institution is not as important. As long as people make informed choices that is fine. My graduate son currently a post man - his most useful qualification has been the driving test he passed at 17 in terms of qualifications for the role. Horses for courses.

I certainly agree with the post above that if you recruit too narrowly you lose good people. However with hundreds, sometimes thousands of applicants for every post you need some kind of filter whether that be GCSE English and maths or a top 5 university or whatever.

Interestingly my child currently having job interviews has found sport a really big topic in the interviews (and they do an awful lot of it so that has perhaps helped).

(Employers certainly look at that kind of thing (and I never use the abbreviation uni as it grates on me). A lot of people put that apostrophe into words incorrectly, although typing quickly on line I am sure we all make typos.)

"Why don't people know the plural of uni is unis?"

You mean me? I do. I also struggle a bit with the rather poor interface this site has. It's a long time since I last encountered a site which didn't allow you to edit posts, so I don't always proofread as well before posting as I should - I'm too used to reading in situ and editing if needed.

A lot of top employers will only recruit for summer placements and graduate jobs from selected Russell Group universities.

theres a special part of mumsnet just for people like you moomin

Russell Group means certain level of research activity plus a medical school.

It depends what the person wants to do eventually.

If they want to go into University work/academic research or something very technical/specialised, then they should go to the University with the best reputation (RAE ratings going back a number of years for consistency) for that particular speciality, with other factors like cost, what the social life is like, how good the library/facilities are factored in as tie-breakers.

If they don't want a research type career, then it's more about course suitability for what they eventually want to end up doing, and what the general perception in that field is of different institutions.

If you look at RAE ratings, there can be some surprises. Some universities with great overall reputations have weaknesses, some lesser lights have great strengths. And sometimes this really means nothing because a particular institution's brand or links are so strong in a particular sector.

To be honest, given how expensive study in the UK is getting, if they are really a high flier, think about study at a US institution too. Might not end up a lot dearer and their international reputations and networks can be much better. It's only really Oxbridge (outwith specialist institutions in the Arts etc) that has any claim to be on a similar footing in this country.

So, in short, I think Russell Group is a less useful shorthand than you might think.

coconutty not always. I turned down Oxford for Bath. Course was much better for what I wanted to focus on ans both were jostling around the top of the league tables.

Was a great decision for me as I'm now in a prominent position in my field.

At my company we are open to offers from all but we do have our 'preferred' unis as we know they generally produce the type of grads with the right skill set. In any industry most people are familiar with the leading universities in that field so I'd say definitely do your research as to how well regarded the course is by employers, not just RG status.