Nottingham or Newcastle for psychology?

[LaBelleSauvage123]

Does anyone have opinions? DS has visited and loved both. He has his grades already
( A* A A) and is taking a gap year and applying for Sept 2020.

Cardiff has a much better reputation for Psychology than Nottingham or Newcastle. They have 2 Royal Society Fellows who teach on UG modules.

Had to come to comment to say Cardiff absolutely is an RG university! Great city, too. Lots of food! May be a bit too close if you live near Bath though.

Cardiff isn’t RG and he wants a research based university.

Cardiff has one of the biggest psychology departments in the country and was second only to Oxford for research in the Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience unit of the last REF. They also offer a four year course with professional placement.

Thank you for all your comments. DS has finally ( for the moment! ) decided on Newcastle, Nottingham, York, Bristol and Cardiff as his five. Will see where he gets accepted and go to the offer days there ( as long as they’re before Feb, when he starts his travelling) then make a final decision. He’s listened very carefully to the comments I’ve read him from this thread and they’ve definitely become part of the discussion so thank you all.

I have a feeling that the offer holder days will be while he is travelling. DD's at Newcastle was in February.

The UCAS deadline is 15th January, and many universities won't have made all their offers by February.

His grades are good so if I were he I would probably have Bristol first and then as back up Nottingham ( or York). However it may depend on his career plans. Some careers the status of the university is important and others not so much. Is he planning to be a psychologist?

( I am certainly not against Newcastle and am from there!)

Yes, he wants to be a clinical psychologist.

Newcastle seems to have steadily climbed the league tables for psychology in recent years.

Wouldn't worry too much about league tables. Friends DD went to Reading and is now a clinical psychologist at GOSH. Did her years placement there too.

Reading has a good reputation for psychology I know.

According to the Complete University Guide Newcastle is placed higher than York for psychology.

Those are good choices!

They are all good choices. I was only think that if he were going to apply for a different kind of career there is a bit of a pecking order of institutions.

You son has really good grades. With those grades he will probably get unconditional offers from all his places and would then be in the driving seat to pick the one he wants, sort accommodation etc. One I noticed that he may wish to consider and is highly ranked is Edinburgh .

Newcastle is an amazing city in which to be a student. Lots of people stay on because they fall in love with it. It's a very happy, friendly place with stunning coast line, great nightlife, reasonable priced housing.