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?

The only students I know who've gone to Manchester are really very rich indeed ! Ita the new Bristol so I shouldn't worry OP

Definitely up for a first careers / flying the nest board. I’ll always be their mother.

probz went for the drugs ;) only joking - great city and Uni.

it will just about always be better at Oxbridge than LSE because of the nature of your day to day life, sports, rowing, college choirs

Depends what you mean by 'better'. Elite sport is not better at Oxbridge @Xenia. Neither institution features in the top 10 of universities overall for sport. For rowing specifically, Cambridge are ranked 4, Oxford 12.

I guess you could make a case for saying inter-college competitive sport is more readily available to more people, but the standard isn't necessarily any higher than anywhere else, that's another Oxbridge myth.

I look forward to hearing about them all getting their first bonus at Golden Sachs ;)

Why do you presume banking? Neither of my two are interested in banking at all. Please quit jamming everyone who doesn’t agree with you in all things into a narrow conception.

Only joking! It’s pretty obvious though that there’s a strong “showing off” factor in many HE threads (eg. why there are Oxbridge “support threads” and no equivalent for other institutions) and post-HE career threads (which tend towards law, finance etc) on MN though. I’m not suggesting that is your personal motivation though.

I agree that there are a disproportionate number of very academic DC on the mumsnet higher education boards. This isn't the case on the WIWIKAU Facebook page, which is probably more representative of the same cohort.

A bit like how all DSs are very tall and so many DC play sports at an elite level

All are very bright.

My DS plays sport at an elite level, off to the world championships in the GB team this summer...

but! if anyone has recently come to this thread, a reminder that if your DC are aiming for something technical or creative, then different rules tend to apply and the "best" unis to launch such a career are very often not the ones on the League Tables. Even the subject-specific league tables, which weight all sorts of odd and irrelevant things.

There are some support threads about this (search for "art design" for instance).

@GodessOfThunder I do agree that there is an undercurrent of showing off on some threads. That’s why, for me, parents being excited and chuffed about their children being in top 10 or top 20 schools feels pretty authentic. Oxbridge doesn’t have enough seats for all the students who meet the standard. So I think there is room to be delighted with Warwick or St Andrews, or Bath or whatever without picking them apart.

It’s understandable, I agree.

Obviously parents are pleased with their DC’s successes but saying they are going to a top 10 Uni is irrelevant imo as everyone’s criteria of a good Uni is different.

but! if anyone has recently come to this thread, a reminder that if your DC are aiming for something technical or creative, then different rules tend to apply and the "best" unis to launch such a career are very often not the ones on the League Tables.

Or medical/healthcare related. Not all medical schools are in a top 20 university or indeed a top 50.

Almost certainly 😅

Indeed. Courses which are accredited by a professional body will all be to a similar standard, and then it very much could be the "extras" like location which will be the main factors in a decision!

Fully agree. 'Top 10' doesn't really mean anything – by which criteria? for which subject? in which table? A fantastic reputation for research is only relevant if those researchers are teaching the undergraduates (which is by no means universally the case). Scoring high in student satisfaction might mean it's great for parties not that it's a brilliant course. It's all so nebulous as to have very little meaning.

At the end of the day, most specialist employers know which universities have good reputations for their subjects, whether that's mechanical engineering, marine biology or economics. Does it matter what some random on the internet thinks? They're not going to be interviewing the new graduates when they are looking for jobs.

All the universities that DD is looking at for post grad (healthcare related) are languishing near the bottom of the CUG, but they have professional accreditation. Top universities and RG universities just don't offer this particular subject.

The OPs comment upthread around inequality is a pertinent point. Just looking at the applicant percentages from the current cycle (as taken at the January cut-off) . There is a lot of DM/DT nonsense spouted about 50% of school leavers going to uni. Has never happened....at the UK level at least. However it is absolutely the case, and indeed someway past it for London. 57% in the current cycle, with girls in London past 60%, and boys also over the 50% mark.

Quite a gap - 13 percentage points to the next highest region in England, the South East. and a 23 percentage point gap to the North East. For context that gap in 2006 was 10 percentage points, with the London overall rate at 33% back then.

Which leads on the the three Uni named in the thread title. Durham of course being in the the North-East. Before getting to them those DCs that are at uni (full time undergrads only) as I think suggested by perpetual optimist often tend to attend a uni within their home or an adjoining region. The North East is not quite as extreme as Scotland, however near 2/3 go to a North East uni, stretching to 85% once adjoining North West and Yorks and Humber added in.

DCs from London have been suggested as far more adventurous. Not wholly the case. 45% of them attend uni in London, and once the adjoining South East and East of England regions are added in, some 70% are accounted for. However given almost 1 in 5 of UK domiciled full time undergrads are from London, their sheer number does give credibility to the view.

Those from the South East, to a fair extent stay in the broader southern part of the country.

York Uni's biggest draw is from its home region - Yorkshire and Humber. Although they account for only 20%. Nearly 14% from the East of England, and marginally less from the South East. 1 in 10 from London

Fascinating that there are far more females aspiring to higher education than males.

Exeter has a strong southern bias, in part probably explained by location.

70% from the South West, South East and London; rising to 80% if the East of England then added in.