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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

York University vs Birmingham University - tell me the pros and cons

78 replies

SeaGlassBlue · 09/04/2022 18:18

DS is currently deciding which offer to firm for September. He has applied to study History. He's narrowed the offers down to two favourites - Birmingham and York.

If you have any experience of either of these universities please share (the good and the bad) to help him decide!

OP posts:
Original poster
SeaGlassBlue · 10/04/2022 16:41

Does your son have any particular interests, such as sport that he will want to do?

His interests are music and theatre. Not particularly sporty.

OP posts:
UpsetApplecart · 10/04/2022 17:03

I suppose if he is minded to stay in Birmingham on graduation then employment prospects are probably better than York, although obviously there is Leeds close by.

Also you have the the larger city of Birmingham for part time jobs if necessary. Don't know whether York would compare.

I understand York is more of a collegiate system so perhaps easier to make friends this way?

It was a long time ago but friends who studied history at York seemed to do older history rather than more modern ages. Perhaps it was their module choices but something to consider.

Piggywaspushed · 10/04/2022 17:06

York has billions of part time jobs - it's a tourist city.

Original poster
SeaGlassBlue · 10/04/2022 17:09

It was a long time ago but friends who studied history at York seemed to do older history rather than more modern ages. Perhaps it was their module choices but something to consider.

This is one thing that is swaying me towards Birmingham (although it is obviously DS' choice). Their History department is huge and so there are a vast number of choices and lecture specialisms, but certainly at the open day I felt there was a bias towards modern and social history, which I think would suit DS better. Although his love of history did begin at a young age with an obsession with the Romans, so who knows...

OP posts:
derekthe1adyhamster · 10/04/2022 17:11

I'm sure your DS will have the time of his life at either.
My DS is just finishing his first year at Birmingham, and loves it.

Abra1d1 · 10/04/2022 17:16

I’ve had children at each and one did history at York. Generally they found it very enjoyable, and four years on from leaving still enjoy meeting up with their history friends. The only downside was the lecturers’ strike in their final year, which lost them a lot of contact time. they found York a good place to live and played a lot of sport. They are now about to start on a law training contract following a conversion course.

Birmingham child also loves their university. Much bigger and edgier—friends have been mugged in her street. Exciting place to live.

Original poster
SeaGlassBlue · 10/04/2022 17:23

Birmingham child also loves their university. Much bigger and edgier—friends have been mugged in her street. Exciting place to live.

I think this is what scares DS!

I was at Birmingham in the 90s and loved city life, despite coming from a small rural village. I'm not sure whether I was more confident than he is or just more naive!

OP posts:
Abra1d1 · 10/04/2022 17:26

We live in a tiny village too and my daughter adapted very quickly. The less salubrious street is her fourth- and fifth year- house location — in her first year she was in halls and there weren’t incidents of the same type. She herself hasn’t had anything happen but is careful about not walking alone at certain times.

Generally she loves the city and people.

Redbluelellow · 10/04/2022 17:31

I did my masters at York absolutely love the university and the staff/campus/support all brilliant.
York itself is such a lovely place too.

crazycrofter · 10/04/2022 22:22

I would say they’re very different. I work at UoB and recently looked round York with dd. York’s campus is ugly 60s concrete (although the lake and greenery is nice) whereas Birmingham has a very attractive campus, with old buildings, and also has a lake on the Vale.

York - both city and uni- felt very safe and very mono-cultural to us (although we might not have seen a representative selection of students). The campus feels separate to the city, a bit of a bubble, which was a negative point for my dd but could be positive for many. Birmingham uni is more diverse and of course the city is one of the most diverse in the country outside of London.

Obviously there’s a big difference between an ancient and beautiful cathedral city and a large industrial one. I don’t think Birmingham is a particularly dangerous place to live compared to other big cities though. Selly Oak is very much studentsville and most of the first year accommodation is in Edgbaston/Harborne, which are very exclusive neighbourhoods. There are nine independent schools in Edgbaston Shock

Piggywaspushed · 10/04/2022 22:36

I genuinely never felt the York campus was separated from the city when I was there crazybut this might seem more the case when everyone looks at East Campus. In my day at Vanbrugh I was literally a 5-10 minute cycle away from the City! There are short cuts down eg Wellington Street and pubs all down Walmgate en route! Hic!

crazycrofter · 10/04/2022 22:45

Yes, I’m sure you’re right as I’ve only visited once. People speak very highly of York and I wanted dd to choose it in many ways, but I can see it wasn’t right for her.

spotcheck · 10/04/2022 22:49

Where does HE want to go?

Did he go to the applicants day at York?

For the life of me I can't understand why parents try and make this decision for their children....

MarchingFrogs · 11/04/2022 07:22

The OP literally asked If you have any experience of either of these universities please share (the good and the bad) to help him decide! Nothing about making the decision for him.
Literally just like asking one's RL friends with DC at the relevant universities, if one knows anyone, what the experience of those DC has been there.

I would suggest that the DS himself also asks the same question on somewhere like TSR - but he may already have done this, of course.

Piggywaspushed · 11/04/2022 11:48

No worries crazy. The places that I definitely did feel were 'bubbles' were Bath, Warwick, and Aberystwyth, and to an extent UEA. Second year accommodation at York doesn't need to involve public transport at all if one gets a bike or walks briskly! The shuttle bus/bus into town are relatively new things.

MarchingFrogs · 11/04/2022 13:40

@Piggywaspushed, interestingly, DS2, after 2 terms at UEA is musing that perhaps he should have gone for a 'city' university, after all, as it eoukd have forced him to, well, get out into the city a bit moreHmm. Not that he doesn't really like UEA still, though. And of course, he only actually applied to campus universities, because he was sure that that was what he wanted...

(Birmingham and York were two of them; discarded in the end as a bit weird, after all, to go to the same university as his siblings and put off by the (online) offer holder day, respectively).

ronaldmcdonald123456 · 11/04/2022 13:44

@spotcheck I don't see anything wrong with parents being involved in the discussion/having a say. In most cases won't the parent be expected to financially help?

Original poster
SeaGlassBlue · 13/04/2022 18:43

@spotcheck

Where does HE want to go?

Did he go to the applicants day at York?

For the life of me I can't understand why parents try and make this decision for their children....

@spotcheck I'm not sure whether you read my first post, but I'm not trying to make the decision for him. The decision is totally his. But like all decisions it can help to gather different people's views and experiences.

He has been to an Open Day at Birmingham and will be going to an Offer Holder Day at York. But I think we all realise that Open Days and Offer Holder Days are all about the marketing and don't necessarily tell you much about what real life is like there.

OP posts:
MindTheGapMoveAlong · 13/04/2022 19:59

If everything else is equal in terms of course content and contact time I’d be inclined to go for York based on ranking, facilities and above all the collegiate system which is incredibly supportive.
I’ve done a degrees/post grad at a big city uni and then at York ( different discipline but allied to History) . York blew the big city out of the water for pastoral care, enrichment opportunities and cross- discipline involvement. Staff are approachable and really know their stuff. 5 years on I still insta & WhatsApp with mine!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have very happy memories and I still know current undergrads - some of whom went on my recommendation.

MindTheGapMoveAlong · 13/04/2022 20:02

@SeaGlassBlue is there any particular period or aspect that he’s interested in? I assume he’s read the module content?

Original poster
SeaGlassBlue · 13/04/2022 21:43

@MindTheGapMoveAlong he's mostly interested in modern history. Loves protest - Chartism, Peterloo, Merthyr Rising etc. Likes social history more than kings and queens.

He's looked at the module content and there is stuff that interests him at both. My gut feeling is that Birmingham might be more aligned with his interests, but that might just be me being blinded by the very good example lecture we saw at the open day!

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 13/04/2022 21:53

DS went to Birmingham. First year is ok on campus but the next 2 years they have to move into the city and it’s mostly a dump. Especially Selly Oak where most students live. York is a much nicer city to live in.

froufroulala · 13/04/2022 22:59

Poor old Selly Oak. A village destroyed by Birmingham University.

MarchingFrogs · 14/04/2022 07:26

Having had two DC live in a variety of roads / properties Selly Oak (and having seen the agent's '360' of the house that one of - currently year abroad - DD's friends is viewing on the group's behalf today), I really wouldn't describe it as a 'dump'. And we actually live in quite a nice road in one of the (apparently) two best places to live in Essex.

There are rentals up the road in more prestigious Harborne, though, if one really can't bear the thought of one's precious baby having to suffer a B29 postcode for a couple of years. DS1's current rent in a rather nice semi-detached is actually less than he was paying in some of his places in Sally Oak, even with one of the rooms deliberately kept spare as a study. Many students prioritise the shorter walk in to campus from many of the 'student' roads in Selly Oak over a posher postcode, though.

Chacun à son goût. And not having visited anywhere other than the university and the 'commercial' centre of York, I am happy to defer to others' experience of the areas where student rentals are to be foundSmile.

Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 07:37

The thing about York is it is small, comparatively, so student rentals are dotted around the place : there isn't one 'place' where students congregate to live. That possibly means less of a sense of student 'community' and 'student pubs'in years 2 and 3 , on the flip side.

Certainly , I lived in a really lovely road in year 2 off Bishopthorpe Road, and a nice one closer to town in year 3 , where students did properly rub shoulders with quite well heeled residents, which sets it apart from a lot of other uni towns where students tend to live in ghettoised student areas. My more recently graduated college lived on the same road, about 10 minutes cycle from the university and a 10 minute walk to the city walls. Some of my friends lived in less nice places. It's simply not true that there aren't 'rough' areas of York but students don't live in them as a general rule.

OP, I have never heard of anyone being unhappy at either university to be honest - the love for both is quite palpable on here and in my professional life. I'd go with the modules unless your DS (who sounds like mine!!) is really after a college type experience.