York, Durham, Exeter

[GodessOfThunder]

These universities seem feature in a disproportionate amount of discussion on Mumsnet as institutions commenters see as desirable for their DC to attend. Obviously they are well regarded universities, but why do they attract more discussion here than other Russell group universities, especially those in northern and midlands post-industrial cities such as Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham?

A few possible reasons were suggested by DH:

• They enjoy an undue level of perceived prestige due to being in smaller old cities/towns like Oxbridge
• The Mumsnet user base is skewed towards the SE and biased against post-industrial cities. Mumsnetters are less likely to be familiar with them and hold “grim up north” perceptions.
• There is a “showing off” factor in starting threads and commenting that DC has applied for, or attends, these institutions - the same goes for the “Oxbridge support” threads, the like of which you never see for red bricks.

Does anyone agree, or are there other explanatory factors?

Bristol is where 3 of mine went who all rejected Durham for Bristol although Durham is probably better. Durham has always been second to Oxbridge for generations. York does not offer all subjects but is pretty good. Exeter is not too bad.

Just rank them by which require the highest A levels and you tend to get a fair good ranking. The market is fairly pure once you start ignoring surveys on where they are happiest (ie where idle and drunk).

Your comment kind of confirms my point. Durham isn’t second to Oxbridge in any of the major rankings. St. Andrews, Imperial and LSE all best it, as do Bath and Loughborough on one list.

York is around the bottom of the top 20 typically.

This is a few years out of date but is along the right lines for most of the usual higher paid graduate jobs, not just law https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019 About 18% Oxbridge, then about 16% combined of in this order Durham, Bristol, Exeter

"Grim up north"? OP are you familiar with the geography of the UK and the relative locations of Durham and York?

Haha @redspottedmug ! Was just about to say the same!

Sure! To clarify, I was referring to perceptions of post-industrial northern cities.

Having been an employer of higher paid graduates for many years in several industries, I would certainly not say Durham or Exeter were preferred. They were seen as much of a muchness with any Russell Group unis, with the exception of Oxbridge

Exeter and York are campus universities. That is a big factor.

Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham are huge cities - I think that is a negative for people looking for their kids to be "safe".

Thanks - that seems plausible. It would be interesting to see where the York/Durham/Exeter preferring parents live. Perhaps less likely to live in cities themselves.

Parents love visiting cathedrals.

CastleTower has nailed it

Nothing to do with the DC choosing their favoured location and course. No.

Ha!

There is a massive contingent on here whose kids go to Birmingham and Nottingham. Leeds and Sheffield are also popular. I don’t think your basic premise is right - I would guess Birmingham outnumbers York by 2:1 on here. But York tends to have lower offers, takes people who skip a grade or two, and takes a lot through clearing so it is often discussed as an insurance as is, to a lesser extent, Exeter.

Ok I'll bite, seeing as you think it's all about the parents.

I have one DC at one the cities you've sneered at mentioned. Another at a post-industrial but far from grim northern city. And yet another at Xenia's favoured uni. Go ahead, analyse me

Actually, a few years ago, York got very sniffy responses on Mumsnet on the whole. Durham is definitely beloved.

Where are you looking to find York at the 'bottom of the top 20'?? Presumably you aren't considering its superb reputation for history and English, looking at the fact you mention LSE and Imperial.

Massively outdated opinion of York btw.

Btw , I went to York and grew up in Glasgow! DS1 is at Birmingham. I do agree it is a bit overlooked on Mumsnet. I don't think Leeds and Nottingham are. They are frequently mentioned. Bath and Warwick too.

One of mine chose York. I had no influence in the choice but was happy as it's only an hour away.
The other rejected Durham in favour of Warwick. Again, nothing to do with me though I thought it was the right choice for that DC.
I was relieved they didn't choose London or Bristol. They didn't want big cities and while they looked at Manchester and Sheffield they didn't like them.
The choice of uni has never had any impact good or bad on their careers.

I think York is an excellent uni, I’m not dissing it. And top of the tree for English lit, v good for law etc. but it does make a good insurance choice as it does show leniency more than the Durham-Edinburgh-UCL-Bristol crowd. Sorry if you don’t like that, but it’s true.

I had one at Sheffield, one at Birmingham, one at zplumouth snd one keen on Exeter atm, I’m super open to almost everything. Strong believer in finding the right course and uni for the right kid, wherever it is.

I didn’t write that I believe the university DCs attend is “all about the parents” if that’s what you meant.

My question was around why certain universities are seen as prestigious (unduly in some cases) by the Mumsnet community.

"institutions commenters see as desirable for their DC to attend"

No?

DD went to York - we live in London.

In 2022, York had no openings in Clearing for UK applicants

Or probably not. All the domicile data down to local authority level is published on HESA. Not hard to find