DS university first choice

[Enyap]

DS torn between 2 choices for firm, choices are Bristol for sociology and social policy and Hull for British politics and legislative studies.

Hull's course has a one year internship in Westminster which really appeals to DS , but Bristol is obviously a Russell group uni. Also Hull's position in league table has plummeted recently.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Going to PM you OP

That link is helpful for my DS too. Thanks Dox

I don't know anything about the courses but for the last two years we have rented out a house in London to students from Hull on the Westminster placement. We are good landlords 😀 and the students all seem lovely!

To bring the tone back to civility (and I apologise if I was not) Hull and HESA do produce some illuminating stats.

Hull have seen a decrease in good degrees (2:1, 1st) awarded to students under the age of 21.The numbers of BME students students from abroad and UK domiciled is lower than sector averages. It is clearly very different to Leicester for example. The university wants to attract more BME students. The university also wants to close the attainment gap between BME students and white students, although it is not too bad on these figures.

If you look at the numbers of students from the UK at Hull and then look at the numbers from the EU and non EU, Hull has a very kow intake of these students incomparison to many other similar universities. I would say, therefore, that it is perceived to be a bit parochial by certain groups and BME or foreign students are not choosing to go there in great numbers. This may result in a slide down the tables.

Female staff face a few challenges too. In 2014/15 no women was promoted to Professor. 90% of applicants for Chair appointments were men. 55.6 %of the men were successful. In 2015/16 one woman became a professor. In the last 3 years, 13 men and 2 women became professors. So, its not a university supporting women academics! At least they recognise it and want to do something about it. Those stats are a bit shocking though.

I've known a lot of students got to Hull from the SE, including some from "posh schools". It used to be popular as it broke for the summer early so was easier to get summer jobs.

This should result in a real buzz. www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2019/team-gb.aspx

Hull Uni is trying to up the profile of female alumni. This is the event which led to a lot of debate about whether Jenni Murray should have a lecture theatre named after her and the University stuck to its original decision. Freedom of speech is permitted ! www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/women-in-leadership.aspx

Hull University was founded in 1927.
It has strong links to Westminster, as does the City William Wilberforce was our MP, slavery of course, the university has a modern slavery unit, heavily linked to the PM's campaign and the UN. the university also has links to Hong Kong, and Scandinavian countries.
It has a Female VC and recently named 6 lecture theatres after 6 famous female ex alumni.
I see a pp linked to Team GB and there are many sport research facilities at the university. It is heavily involved in plastic in the environmental research and campaigning. It also has a joint medical school and massive recent investment in its facilities.
For politics it has links to 3 Labour MP's in the City and 4 surrounding Conservative MP,s in East Riding, one is no other than ex Brexit secretary David Davies.

We are still UK City of Culture and still have lots going on. 2 Theatres, Cinemas, The Deep and its Penguins, the Ferens Art Gallery, 4 museums, all free. The Humber is the centre of offshore wind generation and our ports are 3rd biggest in UK. Plus there is a massive investment in C4DI centre for new digital start ups. Plus shock horror we too have numerous charities and political parties looking for employees.

If you like Bubbles and others on here want to dismissive a City with a population of 238321 in 2011, as boring and dull, do its your loss, not ours. I lived in Theydon Bois for 3 years 1990 to 1993, and brought at 100 friends up to Hull, all fell in love with the city.

Hull university has dropped down the league tables, but is trying to arrest the problems. Many locals are going to Lincoln and Scarborough, at the lower end of its intake and it seems to looking for higher calibre of students.

But it still has a great body of students there, unfortunately Libby Squire went missing on Thursday night, 70 police officers are looking for her, plus over 300 of her student colleagues have spent all weekend out searching in freezing conditions for her. All in our city are "praying" for her safe return.

Female staff face a few challenges too. In 2014/15 no women was promoted to Professor. 90% of applicants for Chair appointments were men. 55.6 %of the men were successful. In 2015/16 one woman became a professor. In the last 3 years, 13 men and 2 women became professors. So, its not a university supporting women academics! At least they recognise it and want to do something about it. Those stats are a bit shocking though.

Hull is not exceptional in these statistics. Women academics are treated worse elsewhere - this is a national, and international, issue, nit just a Hull issue. Presumably pretty irrelevant for OP's son, too.

Yes I know it’s slightly irrelevant but it shows a culture has grown that might not be recruiting or promoting the best academics and might explain the dive down the tables. The op did ask about this.

All of the women promotion listed by 2boys is because they needed to do something about it! They may also be looking at how to recruit more fee paying students from abroad to fill the coffers. This makes a difference too. To results, profile and university spend.

Do posh people need summer jobs?

My twins are at Bristol and love it. I would choose it over Hull.

Also if you want to go into politics I suspec they are more likely to meet useful people at Bristol than Hull and surely could get an internship but without the extra 4th year having to be done, if they went the Bristol route.

I am not anti Hull particularly and am from NE England originally.

Always go for the one that demands the highest grades and you tend not to go too far wrong. Now someone will tell me for this course it is Hull I suppose....
Also at 18 you have no idea really what you will want to do in af ew years' time so going to the university where more higher paying employers recruit from can sometimes be a good idea unless you want a life time of lower earnings or may be he wants to go into politics to have no money and do good - not everyone is out there to get the degrees that end up paying you a lot of course. Look at our relatively low paid politicians - lay their life down for the country and accept the relatively low pay. Just as someone is prepared to do it.

Hi, the entry requirements are lower for Bristol actually, however taking away the lower offer DS has they are the same.

I think he will definitely go with Bristol now anyway and try to get as much work experience as possible.

Do you mind me asking if your DC got into their first choice halls?

Now someone will tell me for this course it is Hull I suppose.

I guess my main thinking was the Hull course is politics whereas the Bristol one is sociology.

From memory Bristol halls have ano pening date once uyou have firmed up of about 1 July (you can check on their website nearer the time) and I badgered them to apply on the day the opened. One applied quickly and the other a bit later - he kept telling me it was clear on the website it didn't matter if you applied as soon as applications opened or on the very last day and may be he was right. They both ended up with their first choice halls actually - Wills and Churchill (they are very different twins and did not want to be in the same hall). However not everyone will get first choice. They are not in year 1 now hence I am happy to give the names of their halls.

One said ont he application he wanted a very quiet corridor - they try to match people with similar people and then he ended up deciding to change himself (change how he is) once there and went out quite a lot but that was not a problem. The people on his corridor were very nice.

My other son (different university - Reading) years before that did not get his grades for Exeter (so went to Reading via clearing) was put up first with another student on the top floor of a lady's house (some kind of live in private rental) for the first term until halls became free in term 2.

My DD got her first choice hall as well - different to Xenia's twins. That was despite it being one of the most popular and having to be your first choice. As well as getting the hall, she got the type of accommodation she asked for and was matched extremely well with flat mates.

I know this is old news today but I was at Hull today ... v impressed . And that internship is definitely a real, genuine, year long thing(which they all do), led by a sitting peer. He was there today. His peerage was actually awarded for his work in this field. Just thought I should post to let you know. We met students who had done a term's internship ona different course. One worked for Ben Bradshaw, for example. They aren't paid : so technically research based work experiences.

The accommodation was lovely, too.

If they are not paid, how do they afford to live in London or commute? Or does the course attract London based or rich students? Some might think they couldn’t afford to do this unpaid work! It’s something the Sutton Trust is lobbying about. If stops poorer students being able to fully participate if it’s not paid or living and travel expenses are found. How is it funded piggy?

My DS didn't apply for this course so I wasn't listening to the answers but basically it is the same as being at uni in London for a year. The girl I met who did it certainly wasn't a Londoner, I did wonder some of these things but one would also wonder this about a year abroad or a year in undustry surely?

industry.

Am just reporting back as thought it might have been of interest to the OP.

I did a degree with an internship year and found it massively helpful in finding a job quickly afterwards.

A definite internship
In Westminster is an amazing opportunity. OP, do you think your DC would be interested in a Masters? How about him doing the undergrad at Hull and then going somewhere more elite for a masters.

If a student studies abroad we have had the Eurasmus scheme for EU and other countries. The university swaps with other global universities so students are not out of pocket. I guess the issue is whether they can get enough money for increased rent. Most years out are not just available in London and that’s the difference with this.

If they are not paid, how do they afford to live in London or commute?

We had a Hull University politics student stay with us whilst interning in Parliament. Partly a favour to a friend, though I joked she was replacing DS who had just left for University. We charged her less than she would had paid in Hull halls and she worked hard in vacations so she had extra spending money and could make the most of London. She said others had often found somewhere to stay via rent a room websites. She appeared to have really enjoyed both the internship and the experience of living in London. When she graduated she had been hopeful of a job offer from the MP, but unfortunately the surprise election was called so the job was delayed and she took another job instead. My impression was that she went to a lot of things and met a lot of people so a great way to make contacts.

I was surprised at the negative comments upthread. My impression was that the Hull politics course is established and well regarded. It used to be headed by someone quite famous who set up the Westminster link.

Still is : Lord Norton of Louth.

My impression was that the Hull politics course is established and well regarded. It used to be headed by someone quite famous who set up the Westminster link.

Him, perhaps...

www.hull.ac.uk/faculties/staff-profiles/philip-norton-lord-norton-of-louth.aspx