York, Exeter or Birmingham for English?

[Hedgehog18]

Wondered if anyone has experience of these Unis for English? DD has offers from these but is not sure which to go for. Thanks

Which does DD like?

Does she have other interests or hobbies that would be best served by one of these?
How far is she prepared to travel? That's quite a spread you've got there!

They are all excellent for English (all top 10 really consistently in league tables with York usually leading the way.) This will come down to location but also modules.

For example: York is renowned for old English and Middle English, Birmingham for Shakespeare. York's module system is very flexible.

I agree they are massively geographically spread!

What bits of English does your DD love the most?

The other thing to mention about York is its focus on world literature : so literature in translation or in the language itself : this was always York's USP. These days, I think it puts some applicants off, sadly.

What does she want after graduating? Teaching - it won’t matter. Other competitive areas of employment - look at grad employment stats. What is her longer term goal? English grads don’t always find it easy to walk into jobs and that includes Oxbridge ones. I would pick the highest ranked university overall on the Complete University Guide. Employers won’t care if you have studied Old English, JKRowling or Milton. It’s irrelevant to them.

They are all well rated but the courses are very different from one another, so which does your DC prefer?
I chose the York course because of the flexibility on choice of modules, the range of workd literature and historical literature. I didn't want to read any more Dickens at the time and York didn't make me! I took a 19c French literature module instead.

Workd = world

York is the strongest.

Re rankings in any league table - what do you do if the one you chose solely because it was number 1 in the league tables (and therefore the most desirable to all right-minded employers) and find as you start your final year that it has been relegated to number 9? What desirable employer is going to look at you now?

I've never worked in HR - do most organisations include 'checking university league tables to find each applicant's alma mater' in someone's job description?

Birmingham has a lovely campus. In my day it was also world renown not just for Shakespeare studies but English language also. I believe they did a lot of the leading research into AI and language. I can’t say what it is like now. Birmingham has a really strong reputation with employers also. All these universities are great places to go, however.

Percy there literally wouldn't be any issues with any of these three for employment and reputation and they are close in the tables so a decision does need to be made on preferences and content sometimes!

It also might matter in teaching in terms if a) which degree gives you a breadth of subject knowledge b) whether a degree facilitates classroom placements. Several do , and it is a pre requisite of teaching applications .

Thanks all for helpful replies. York is her favourite at the moment

In terms of the actual unis, a strong feature of York is its college system.

As very many subject areas have Oxbridge at the top, they are unlikely to drop to 9. The top end of elite universities is remarkably stable.

And includes all 3 of these so a decision needs to be made via another means.

And grad prospects are 82 or 83% at these universities. So quite large numbers don’t get grad jobs. Most research doesn’t put English grads as being well paid after graduation when compared to other degrees. But yes, they are very similar in ranking and stats so choose the course that’s interesting.

I know all three departments pretty well, and really, a degree from any of them will be a very good degree. So dig into their websites and look at what the 3 year programme is: what is the balance of core compulsory modules, and optional choices? What is the focus or spread of modules? Who in each department is writing the books in areas of interest to your DD? All three are top-ranked research departments, so you'll be being taught by world-leading researchers. And in English departments everyone teaches across all programmes (it's not like the sciences where the top-ranked researchers tend not to do as much hands-on undergrad teaching).

It might come down to area, city, campus - as a degree from any of these universities will be a very good degree & a great experience. (Be aware that at Birmingham, the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford is almost exclusively postgraduate, so an undergrad is unlikely to study there except for special lectures).

Has she actually been able to visit any or all of the universities? They are all attractive and all conveniently placed for their respective city centres. DD (Birmingham, second year, not English, I'm afraid) tends to bumble around Bournville / Moseley / Stirchley and her home ground of Selly Oak rather than spend much time in the city centre, though. The area around the university cause is really quite green and leafy - (and an awful lot less mountainous than Exeter). She has friends at both Exeter and York who are very happy with their choices - one girl has made a few 'Exeter Uni' videos on YouTube.