How many insurance choices?

[Dixiechickonhols]

DD in yr 12 predicted A* x3.
Shes been consistently working at this level and achieved AAand A/A* in her mocks so the predictions do seem realistic but I’m very aware that nothing is guaranteed.
Course she’s looking at is A*AA for most top unis. One she likes is AAA so was planning on using that as an insurance backup.
Is that enough or is it advisable to put one with lower offer.

Yes thank you. She has naturally gravitated to Oxbridge and Russell Group choices from her grade predictions and personal preference. We have looked at which uni attended stats for trainees at city firms/pupillage.
She’s at Cambridge today with school.

Exeter is also very much a campus university

No need. I just think this highlights how the university websites themselves are the only data sources to reply upon.

Even the UCAS search is not clearly distinguishing courses as only being eligible to non UK applicants

Well I do feel an idiot. However it’s quite misleading, @lastdayatschool I have to say I was surprised.

Probably why she hasn’t had it on her to visit list.

So the clearing places are for international only?

I’d not even thought to look what in clearing so that was useful to me and I didn’t realise they split international and home so good to know.

@Dixiechickonhols - yes, a lot of the more popular universities definitely seem to have more clearing vacancies for non-UK vs. UK.

Some, e.g. Bristol, are only open to non UK applicants - www.bristol.ac.uk/clearing/

We're looking as DS has firm and insurance offers which are effectively the same (AAA and A*AB), so we need a backup plan.

Thanks. Is that for law?

That's because many international students already have their results. For example IB results day is today.
UK students don't get their results until the 8th or 17th August.
There is no point universities having UK courses in clearing at this point as there are almost no students to consider the courses. Plus universities will not know how many of their firm and insurance offer holders have made their offers until 14th August, at which point they will be able to work out which if any courses they still have places on.

It does mean that Scottish students and UK students who took IB have to wait for clearing to open on 17th August for them.

@jgjgw1 - given the numbers of universities that do have courses for UK applicants advertised already, including a lot of RG and RG+ ones, I'd have to say you're mistaken there

Queens Belfast is now in clearing for law for all applicants. So they may potentially reduce if your DD missed the grade requirement which makes it a slightly safer insurance choice.

You can see which universities are in general clearing for law on the ucas site. Exeter Bristol Warwick etc are not (exeter has none of their courses in general clearing at the moment). The well regarded universities in clearing for law are Lancaster, Birmingham, Liverpool, Surrey and UEA. There are loads of others but they’re largely outside of the top 20.

Thanks I’ll have a look.
Belfast is definitely on her list as insurance.
Lancaster I’ve suggested a look as it’s well regarded locally but she’s said no as too close to home and campus which she doesn’t want.
Went to Liverpool with school trip 2 weeks ago and disliked (plus too close objection)
I’ll suggest she has a look at others but I dread to think how long UEA would take via public transport!

UEA is also campus anyway

Perhaps look at Leeds. It’s sort of campus but not really in that it’s a cluster of buildings many of which are together but right in the middle of the city with nothing separating the city and the university. I wouldn’t call it campus but some do. It’s similar to Newcastle in that regard. It’s generally fairly well regarded. Not top ten but generally top 20.

Newcastle is RG but low grades and easy to get an offer from but its reputation has suffered as a result. It’s one of the lowest ranking Russell groups right down in the mid 30s.

Glasgow is another non campus option.

Cardiff also worth a look. RG but non campus

Leeds I’ve suggested as it’s really easy on train from us but been dismissed as too close and too northern. I personally think it would be worth a look.
She’s said yes to Glasgow visit but we can’t make Aug open day and next one is late October. But yes that’s definitely a possibility. It’s another A star A A and lnat.
Newcastle hasn’t appealed for various reasons and I don’t think it’s particularly well regarded for law.
Cardiff - will suggest she has a look hasn’t been mentioned by her at all.
Thanks for taking time to reply.

Save your cash and your time. Let her apply to four and see what happens. If she gets a Belfast offer and she’s happy to take the risk on an AAA insurance then she doesn’t need another, it’s really just a waste of an option.

on the other hand if she doesn’t get offers from Oxford, Durham and Kings she might need that slot for a first choice.

@Dixiechickonhols This analysis is a few years old and possibly doesn’t include government lawyers, but it’s illuminating. QUB is barely represented. This gives me the impression that grads from there are mostly employed in NI. It might look equivalent to others but it’s curious that it’s very low in employment tables.

Thanks @TizerorFizz

That’s a bizarre diagram. There are various top 20 universities that don’t appear at all. I’m not sure you should rely on that.

it is however the case that the law is different in Northern Ireland so most lawyers practising in England and Wales won’t have studied in Belfast.

I'd go Oxbridge plus 1/2 others that were aspirational (and unless there is a massvily good reason for London I'd avoid as it is so expensive) plus a couple that do well on the law recruitment tables despite being less demanding - Nottingham is the obvious one here as it does very well on the "where did awyers go" tables without being as demanding.

I’ve seen right list before which is 80% Oxbridge/Russell group Unis for city firms.

Yes I’d prefer no London for accommodation cost reasons but she loved Kings and liked UCL too.
Nottingham is campus which she doesn’t want. It’s still A star AA but no lnat.

@RoyKentFanclub Which top 20 unis are missing? (Besides QUB?) There’s often a gap between overall ranking and law ranking and employability. Nottingham punches above its weight. However it’s highly regarded by many and popular with London Dc who want to be lawyers. Hence it’s position in the tables I think. Ditto Bristol.

Nottingham is only less demanding as there’s no LNAT. I would choose Bristol and Nottingham over QUB mainly based on employability. It’s always worth remembering, LLB grads compete with any grad who takes the 1 year conversion course or who gets a training job after graduating.. Non law grads account for roughly 50% of lawyers. This widens the competition by a huge amount. DD did MFL. Friends of hers did the same. Others did History, Music, Classics, English etc. All at elite universities or highly regarded ones in the upper sections of the tables above. Job application strategy, internships, knowledge of intended work sector, scholarships, and personality plus success at yet more tests all make a difference. It is not just law knowledge that counts!