What are Leeds, York, Notts, Newcastle & Birmingham Universities and cities like? No open days = no clue!

[Notdonna]

DD yr12 and all open days cancelled. We haven’t done much UK travel and don’t know the cities at all that DD has on her list. So if anyone has an insight to Birmingham, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Nottingham - the cities and their unis it’d be very much appreciated. Huge thanks!

[ShaunaTheSheep]

@MillyMolly123 - University of Leeds.

[NotDonna]

@shaunthesheep I’m surprised Leeds campus is small when there’s 35,000 students. Is it a bit cramped?
I’m reading a fair bit about poor library facilities at some unis and them being closed outside term time. Does this ring true?

[MrsGrindah]

I live in Leeds. I think it’s a fab city for students. The large student population gives a huge buzz to the city.

I went to York University and lived in York at a separate time in my life. It is a gorgeous city but has been spoilt by the hen/ stag/ race day booze ups.York uni is a bit out of the city but good bus service ,easy to cycle. True about duck poo though!

[MarchingFrogs]

The campus at Leeds isn't 'tiny small', but it feels quite densely packed, iyswim. Green spaces just outside - and the aerial view on their Literature shows lots of green - but no great expanse of parkland / water within the boundaries as there is at, say, UEA (or Birmingham, although there is a proper public road with buses on it between the 'big park with a lake' bit and the teaching bit, but the latter does have the 'green heart's area) or Warwick. Unless we managed to miss a chunk of it completely, of course, which isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

As for where do they pur all the students, I suppose nowhere has all its registered students on site at the same time (a proportion of undergrads will be somewhere else entirely on year abroad / in industry and only the former may be balanced by 'incoming' students on similar schemes.

[BackforGood]

I’m reading a fair bit about poor library facilities at some unis and them being closed outside term time. Does this ring true?

NOt te impression I got on our visits - indeed, I was surprised so many were open 24 hours a day, 7 dys a week, and mentioned it to a couple of other people with student dc, who said that was normal.

[MillyMolly123]

I still, despite what others think, maintain that Univeristy of Leeds is a very big campus. I’ve worked and studied across 4 differing universities, whilst also visiting several others, and Leeds is by far the largest out of them all.

As in the attached screenshot, they are one of the largest campuses in the country. Campus spans from the top of Clarendon Rd to parts of the LGI, Woodsley Rd and Blenheim Terrace, which I don’t think many people realise. I’ve tried to very amateurishly plot out main campus on my second screenshot. You still don’t get a true sense of scale, but trust me, it’s big!

[EwwSprouts]

Milly did my masters at Blenheim Terrace! Agree Leeds campus is huge. The sports facilities at Weetwood are excellent. Much better than Nottingham.

Got a nephew doing PPE at York. Having a great time and doing well academically. Former state school pupil & contrary to a PP's impression he's not in a minority.

OP would also think about train links for the odd visit home. Nottingham is nearer to us by car but far worse than Newcastle by train.

UEA is freezing in the winter and a lot of London students disappear home for the weekends.

[ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords]

My son is currently at Birmingham and loves being there - he knew that's where he wanted to go straight away. On Instagram a few days ago there was a virtual tour of campus and it says something about students getting the 'Birmingham feeling' when they see campus for the first time and he says he definitely had that.
That's the difficult thing about not being able to visit- places you think you'll like can leave you cold. My son hated Sussex, even though the course really appealed to him and even went back to check another time, but he just couldn't see himself there. Despite never having shown any interest in architecture before, he hated the Brutalist buildings (he has grown up in a city with many beautiful buildings).

[NotDonna]

This is all so very useful. Thank you. The virtual tours are ok but like you say far from the real deal!

[My0My]

Is there any university where a state pupil is in the minority now? Oxford have offered to 69% state for September so this notion that any university is dominated by privately educated pupils is utter tosh.

[NotDonna]

@My0My we are definitely not looking at oxbridge. And given that more than 69% of children attend a state school that percentage is no doubt still too low.

[Gwynfluff]

Once she has done the virtuals and narrowed down a bit, we will go and look at unknown cities - though how you experience a city as a student is very different to living in it full time.

We know Leeds and Manchester (on my kid’s list) well. But other cities, she won’t have been to.

What will be missed though is the ‘vibe’ as she calls it of the actual uni. That’s actually where she will be spending a lot of time. In your list you have some campus based and some more sprawling. York now has 2 campuses but they aren’t near the centre, for example - so they will have a different feel to being in the bustling centre. Leeds campus is in the centre. Newcastle is also more city based.

[Lifeaback]

I went to Leeds (many moons ago!) and loved the city so much I stayed for a few years after and go back to visit every year as I still have lots of friends living there. It’s a fantastic uni and a great city to be a student in- as others have mentioned there are 5 unis in the city so everything is really catered towards students. Fantastic nightlife and brilliant transport links for visiting friends at other unis/day trips to other cities- I was from London and the only places I had ever been to in England were Brighton and Manchester but when I lived in Leeds I was able to go on days out to Sheffield, Newcastle, York, the Lake District etc. The city itself is so easy to get around as it is very small and the campus itself as well as the student areas where everyone lives in their second and third year are all very close to town and within walking distance from nights out/ part time jobs etc.

It’s a shame she can’t visit them all as each of those unis have a different vibe- Leeds is quite notorious for having quite an edgy, artsy vibe while still being a very academic and prestigious uni.

One thing to consider though is that there is definitely quite a stereotype to the typical Leeds student. It is full of wealthy, privately educated London/Home Counties students. In my first year at freshers week I felt very out of this bubble and felt a bit of pressure to pretend I was from a different background. Over time though I met a much more varied range of people and this didn’t ruin my uni experience but it was definitely a bit grating to me how narrow minded and insular some of those kids were. I had hoped this had changed over time but one of my friends DS has just finished his first year and says it has stayed the same.

[sashh]

but less good on dealing with the sexual misconduct of male students. DS is considering it.

Sorry but that made me laugh.

[Bouledeneige]

All of the universities have campus tours on video and many faculty tours. It's not that hard to find them and have a look.

[DrDreReturns]

I went to Birmingham but it was 25 years ago so I won't be able to give any up to date information. The campus is huge and lovely. They have done a lot of building work since I left, a lot of the accommodation has been rebuilt as well as some of the academic buildings (e.g. the Library). If you are a student there you will probably only frequent the campus, Selly Oak for accommodation after the first year and the city centre. The city centre has completely changed since my time, the train station is a lot nicer (Grand Central) and the Bull Ring is really nice compared to how it was, and its only ten mins on the train.

[My0My]

Well - not that this is an Oxbridge discussion, but around 20 percent of 6th formers are in independent schools I think Oxford taking 69% from state is a big change and is to be applauded. It could even be, shock horror, that independent school candidates are very good candidates and deserve their places? They would also be many students from abroad!

[My0My]

19.6 % of students at Leeds are privately educated. It is far from being full of them. And why on earth shouldn’t they go to Leeds and what’s wrong with meeting people who are richer and come from the south? University is about stretching yourself and even meeting new people. Such stupid comments about Leeds being full of rich privately educated southern students is total tosh and needs to be called out. No one pretends to be someone they are not and I don’t understand why you expect the 19.6% to deny their background either. Perhaps tolerance and understanding is what’s required by all new students. Welcome and embrace the differences. You wouldn’t dare say this about privately educated black students from London would you?

[IrmaFayLear]

agree, MyOMy. My dcs are state-school educated, so I have no axe to grind, but it is daft to suggest that privately-schooled pupils are all undeserving thickos.

[My0My]

Personal experience where DC are unwilling to accept people from a different background is depressing. The idea privately educated students are not worth knowing is not acceptable and may be unacceptable in the workplace where you cannot pick and choose who you work with. I accept anecdotes are often trotted out as gospel truth but when you look at stats, this simply isn’t the case. Over 80 % of students at Leeds are state educated. It is totally possible to meet the type of person that makes you tick if you try. And indeed at any university.

[BackforGood]

I haven't sen anyone suggest that @IrmaFayLear. Only you have used that language.

[bimkom]

Can anyone tell us a bit about Liverpool? DS wants to do medicine, and it wasn't really on our radar, but he went to the virtual open day today, and they have criteria for medicine entry that will really suit him (because medicine is so competitive, everybody says one needs to be a bit strategic in applying). And the other universities he is considering all pretty much have the same criteria, where the UCAT exam is key, so it seems sensible to include one where the UCAT is not so heavily emphasised. And it also seems to go about medicine teaching the way he wants it, so it is ticking all the boxes there. He was really quite excited this afternoon.
But of course we have never been, know nothing about the university, the campus, the city or anything (the one thing he does know is that there is supposed to be an excellent children's hospital there, which is another big plus).

[BackforGood]

I don't know anything about medicine at Liverpool, but I did go and visit my dn when she was at Liverpool a yer or two ago.
The Universities (Liverpool, and John Moores) have their buildings and accommodation mixed in with other buildings right in the City Centre. Liverpool is a really nice city. Lot of money seems to have gone in to developing it over the last 20 - 30 years. The docks area is very nice, and the shopping area in the centre is pedestrianised and spacious, yet thriving at the same time. Civic buildings are mixed in amongst the University in the same area. Everything is easily walkable, but my dn was pretty stunned to find she could get a tax for £3 .

Hopefully someone who knows more about doing medicine will be along soon.

[ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords]

@sashh

but less good on dealing with the sexual misconduct of male students. DS is considering it.

Sorry but that made me laugh.

Yes, I thought it was a bit unfortunate that those sentences were put next to each other.

[mumsneedwine]

@bimkom Liverpool was one of DDs choices for Medicine. It's a fantastic city and the Uni 'campus' is right next to the new hospital (not sure if it's finally opened). Medical school is on same road. Interviews are held in the crypt if the new cathedral (as are the vet ones). DD really likes it and only didn't choose it as there was no patient contact in year 1.