Campus universities

[PinaColadaBaby]

I know most universities have a campus of sorts but DD is looking for a traditional campus university - where all the teaching, 1st year accommodation and sport are in one place. So, by this criterion, Leicester and Leeds for example are not campus, whereas Nottingham is.

Traditional campus universities that occur to me: Nottingham, Birmingham, Exeter, Warwick, Essex, York. Do you know of any others please?

Newcastle has really dropped down in university rankings. Not really top now. Birmingham is perfectly sound. A lot of the views will centre around what you want afterwards. What uni gives you the best options for employment if you are aiming high?

What meaningful measures are used in rankings? Newcastle is highly rated for French BTW.

DD is at uni in Bristol and it's definitely not a campus!

I feel some of us (me!) are displaying our prejudices here which is fair enough. My laddo is at Lboro and enjoys it very much. But if your DD loves Birmingham and the course is good and the place is the kind of place she would like to live for three years, then the fact that the first-year accom is a short walk away should not be a deal breaker.

Yy campus v city is an important factor, but so are (in no special order) course, distance from home, city or town or even countryside, grades needed, Soctland? London? Ireland?

My DD wanted campus above much else but ended up in clearing and went to Leicester (emphatically not campus) – in the end, partly due to Covid but also due to other factors, the pastoral support (which we fund excellent) and the options for assessment and choice on her course turned out to be far more important than where she lived in the first year.

Gosh no Bristol is certainly not a campus. Not unless they have built one there since the 1980s haha

Kent fits what you're describing as far as campus and has several options for MFL including ones with a year abroad in a partner university being taught in the language, and also combination degrees (like English and French law, MFL and management, etc)

Kent - great campus in Canterbury

If accom is the concern I wouldn’t worry - there’s a large quantity of on campus accom plus private halls right next to campus, but sports facilities are also not on campus barring the sports centre.

Neither Bristol nor Newcastle are full, self contained campuses (as your DD says she wants)

I mean Bristol was lovely @PinaColadaBaby and I am sure it still is, but a campus of any kind it defo is not. The uni buildings are across Clifton and the halls are in various sites too. I lived 5 mins from the union one year - but was a decent 10 min bike ride from my departments - which themselves were nowhere near each other. In my first year I was two miles from the Wills building and three miles from the city.

@clary. Depends what you are studying at Bristol. MFL is one department. It’s not spread out. It’s in Clifton. You can get halls in Clifton. Or halls bearded the sports facilities. I would not rule out the best universities for French based on sport being handy. It has nothing to do with the quality of the university.

Yes Newcastle is good for French but is one of the lowest ranked RG universities overall. Most employers don’t know the details of, or filter on, the prestige of the French department.

Why look at Kent (which unbelievably does a year abroad!!!) when you can get to a much higher ranked university. All MFL should have a year abroad. If they don’t, they are not good enough.

Yes Newcastle is good for French but is one of the lowest ranked RG universities overall. Most employers don’t know the details of, or filter on, the prestige of the French department.

Most employers don't know the details or filter on university attended either these days.

@TizerorFizz For sure, I managed to move myself by bike from my Clifton flat to my Woodland Road department. It was also perfectly possible to walk. It’s not a campus with nothing but uni buildings set amid green fields (like Warwick or Lboro) though, and it would be foolish to pretend it was.

I studied joint honours at Bristol btw hence departments. The various MFLs were in separate buildings but maybe that’s changed.

The MFL courses in England and Scotland are both 4 years. In what way does Scotland "increase student loan" for a student doing a 4 year MFL course at an English university?

Yes, this is true. All applications to the grad scheme in my law firm are "University Blind" so decision makers only see degree subject and class. This is very common in law now.

But that's the point- it's only payable back when you can afford to pay it back! It has no impact on the student's family (in the sense of their parents and siblings, I suppose it may impact their family if they are married with kids by the time they have to pay it back)
Young people can work in the holidays to pay living expenses not covered by loans. Concerns about money should never be a barrier to choosing the right undergraduate course for you.

I think there is a danger with some units being too campus based iyswim.
My nephew was at Warwick at literally rolled out of bed into lectures. He really suffered from lack of exercise and fresh air in that first year.

That's was his choice to stay indoors and avoid fresh air and exercise though. Someone who lived a bus ride away or who drove could make the same choice.

Yes I agree, but it was a very easy cycle to get into and hard to break.

Lancaster is split into colleges as well as being campus. Lots of inter college events and rivalry go on (County till I die), and a big event ‘Roses’ every year against York Uni.

@Manybeards DD loves look of Lancaster - has poured over website, follows on TikTok etc. I fear it will mean a long drive for us though (7 hours!) if she gets in!

@babygrootandstarlord DD will look into Kent - thanks for the tip

@NeverApologiseNeverExplain DS1 (at Oxbridge) will be gutted by this news! It is fair though 😂

@RampantIvy sorry last reply (re. uni ‘blind’ recruitment) meant for you too!