Choosing between Birmingham and Nottingham

[HecticHettie]

DC can’t decide which one to firm for English with Spanish. We’ve visited both and loved them. His GF’s mum has kind of put him off Birmingham by saying Y2-3 accommodation is in grotty area. I think that’s v unfair to Selly Oak but interested in other’s views pls?

The cities are rather different, what does he prefer. I'm bias as I went to Birmingham - plenty of options for second year, not everyone lives in Selly oak (I lived by the cricket ground)

My dd is at Birmingham and not everyone lives where the rest of their year group generally lives. She's in her first year and loving it.

He preferred the city of Birmingham to Nottingham (he thought Nottingham city centre pretty run down) but can’t decide between the two unis - likes them both.

Ive got one in each and both are happy! Selly is grotty but they all seem to love it

Great to hear @PointersPlease - he can’t really go wrong with either!

Are the courses so similar at both, or any variations in methods of teaching, assessments, student support etc that would sway your DC one way or the other.

My DD has just finished 3 yrs at Notts. She had a great time. Has commented that outside the beautiful campus, the city is quite run down. Also, and I've heard this elsewhere, Notts can seem a bit of a ghost town at the weekends, as many students go home. Maybe this is because of its great transport links?

We always called Selly Oak Smelly Oak so I guess we didn't rate it. I think they are quite similar as cities but accommodation used to be cheaper in Nottingham (don't know if that still applies) so that might sway me. Lower rent less financial stress.

First to say that my comments are based on knowing Birmingham city centre reasonably well and visiting both for open days last year but am not an expert.

Depends on what your DC wants out of university life. Our view was that the Nottingham campus was nicest out of all those we visited so if your DC intends their life to be mainly on campus then it would be great. But we didn’t rate the city at all whereas my DC loved everything about Birmingham including the city centre and intends to put it top despite having offers (that she’s likely to meet) from more prestigious unis. Nottingham didn’t even make it onto the UCAS form, though the terrible organisation of the open day didn’t help as it made us wonder whether that would also be the case if you went there.

@HecticHettie Has his GFs mum been to the "student ghettos" off Derby Road and Lenton Boulevard in Nottingham ? 🙂

I'd say Nottingham main campus is nicer (although it can get very windy), but Birmingham is a more interesting city to live in. (Just seen @AliMonkey's post, which says much the same.) Nottingham has always been renowned for student nightlife, though. Does he have a preference for one course over the other, because I think they're both good places to live & study?
Nottingham's buses are superb, but Birmingham University has its own railway station, with Selly Oak one stop down the line and New Street two stops up. You can get trains direct to University station from anywhere up to Lichfield, or in the other direction out through Bromsgrove to Redditch (or Worcester), so there's no shortage of places he could choose to live, although most students would want to live among other students.

Nottingham has trams which run direct from campus to centre. Campus is lovely, nightlife seems fab, loads of quirky cafes and eating places and fantastic student societies and sports - quidditch club is v popular I believe. Cheap student housing (in the 'ghetto' Lenton and Dunkirk). And I love Wooloton Park.
Whichever one he chooses he'll have a great time.

Selly Oak was always a bit grotty because its proximity to the campus meant that people would pay over the odds for tired houses. In Yr 2 I lived in Bearwood and Yr 3 in Kings Heath and cycled in. Lots of friends lived in Moseley, Balsall Heath etc. You don’t have to live in Smelly Poke.

He’ll have a great time wherever he goes - I’m biased towards Birmingham because that’s where I studied (and Nottingham didn’t give me an offer because I didn’t put as first choice).

This thread might be of interest -

www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4732658-halls-at-nottingham-and-newcastle?reply=123552352

We know loads at Nottingham that love it but when we visited with DS none of us liked it. Hard to explain why - equally as to why we all adored Birmingham!

it’s such a personal thing.

if you can, visiting both again on a “working” day. I put a lot of store in the vibe.

My ds has offers for Nottingham and Birmingham. I agree with pp who said Nottingham's open day was disorganised, there were hardly any students to help with directions, nobody seemed to know what accommodation was open to view, when we eventually stumbled across it there was a huge queue to get in. The course talk was very good, so that was the main reason it made his list of 5 but we didn't like it as much as we thought we would.
Birmingham was so well organised and we both loved the campus, it had a nice 'vibe'. So it is his first choice but we are going back for the offer days for both. We don't know much about the cities so this thread will be useful.

I know both unis and like both. I disagree about the campuses, though. I think Birmingham campus is nicer and has more buzz.

I also like both cities. The grotty area for second year equally applies to Nottingham. Selly Oak has the advantage of being very close to the uni.

I can't comment on Languages, but Birmingham has the edge over Nottingham for English.

I won’t say how I know both cities but I do know them both very well. Nottingham is v rough in quite a few places. I think Selly Oak is a better option than Lenton/Radford which is where the Notts 2nd year etc areas are.

I think Selly Oak is a better option than Lenton/Radford which is where the Notts 2nd year etc areas are.

Students aren’t limited to Selly Oak for living out though. Lots of options available.

Nottingham is a nicer student city IMO. The uni campus is nicer too.

Aww selly oak isn't that bad!

I don't know anything about Nottingham but I loved Birmingham. I thought both the city and the uni were great.

Interesting that no one has commented on the fact that whilst Birmingham has Selly Oak on one side of the campus, on the other it has Harborne and Edgbaston which are two of the nicest areas in Birmingham city to live. In my day some students lived in Harborne but it is probably far too expensive now.

The University of Birmingham is great, I went there (History and Russian JH). But I know Nottingham Uni is brilliant too. My ex went to Notts Trent (Fine Art BA) and it’s really a really nice city.

Both are winners in my opinion, so better off walking around both and determine which has the best vibe.

Good luck.

Nothing at all wrong with Selly Oak! Very suburban, yes - full of student terraced housing but the centre of Birmingham is a few train stops away. Plus within walking distance (yes more than 10 minutes walk) you have upcoming and reasonably vibrant Stirchley with Kings Heath and Moseley just beyond that. In the other direct is Harborne with some pretty good pubs/cafes. Nothing is too far really!

As a Brummie I am biased towards saying Birmingham.
There’s a massive influx of student housing that has been built right across the city as you have UOB, BCU and Aston Uni so it’s not just confined to Sellyoak- which Tbf isn’t that bad.