Loughborough University

[Souvenir81]

DD is considering applying for Loughborough University for an Engineering degree. She really likes the course and I know it has a good reputation for Engineering but I read a few negative comments in mumsnet which are putting me off a bit. I know nowhere is perfect but have not heard anything negative from Bath and Sheffield for instance, just positive comments.

Any advice? Thank you

DS is there and enjoying it. Some comments on here from people who have no / no recent experience of Loughborough are unduly negative. Your YP should go and see it, speak to students who are there, have a look round L'Boro. He's busy, tons of stuff going on (on & off campus). Had a few nights out in Nottingham, its 20 mins on the train for bands etc. The hall / social aspect is brilliant (definitely meant they forged friendships quickly) and sport at all levels Highly rated for his subject & fabulous links with industry for placement year - key priorities when there is so much fierce competition for graduates.

My DD is approaching GCSEs and wants to go to Lboro. Id like her to go to there or Nottingham as I went there and and had mates at Lboro. She's massively sporty but also a bit immature so I think campus life would suit her.
I'd ignore the safety stuff tbh. We live in a big university city near main hub of halls. Student crime is rife. For the first month of freshers there are police everywhere trying to educate kids from small towns to be more streetwise etc

My son went there to do an engineering degree and loved it.
Lived in the halls for the first 2 years and in a house share for the next 2 years.

Thank you everyone. I am feeling really positive about Loughborough and I think it will be a great choice for DD.

Was meant to ask. She wants to apply and deferrer one year, take a year gap year to travel and work. Is this possible? A good idea?

It depends - some admissions teams are fine with this, some prefer a post qualification application and some STEM subjects discourage a gap year. (They are worried Maths will be forgotten. I think this is overblown but it is good to be aware)

It is best for DD (herself) to find out how each of her preferred degree courses prefers to deal with a gap year. Email is the best way to contact the admissions team. It doesn’t matter whom she writes to, as if that person cannot answer authoritatively they will route her query to someone who can. Everyone is so busy that she should allow several business days before a follow up message.

Thank you, will ask her to email the university.

Just to add, my child is at Loughborough and absolutely loves it. The campus feels like a big holiday park to me, it feels safer than any other Uni we visited. It’s very much not a city atmosphere. He goes to the town to selected pubs (each pub is almost designated student / local apparently) and occasionally into Leicester. He’s not involved in sports at all but does mainly gaming societies & is very busy socially. Halls have been fantastic and no pressure to move out for year 2. He’s having enormous fun there.

Is your DD sporty? If so, it might not be the best place as she will be up against the elite

Big fish in small pond syndrome?

Sounds really positive and great to hear that there is no pressure to move out of halls in second year.

Not competitive sporty but used to play netball for fun and the social aspect.

How much do students need for maintenance in Loughborough?

It's quite possible to live on the maximum maintenance loan there.

I mean the same as anywhere I guess.

But there are cheaper halls options than some unis - ds paid £4k in his first year at Falk Egg (it’s more now obvs but still cheap). His current rent is £5200 for the whole year but not inc bills. Not too bad.

Food, beer, sports kit (!) all cost the same as anywhere.

We visited last week with DD - they do tours most Wednesday afternoons. Can you visit then? It gave a very clear picture of what the uni is like, seeing it on a working day with all the students about. Much better than a standard open day. Still got the talk and the tour (just not dept or inside accommodation).

Re Maintenance costs - depends on type of hall / how social your YP is etc, all the usual variations. Just be aware that although there are cheap options for accommodation, you don't always get your preferred choice. The accommodation booking doesn't open for anyone (other than returning students / those applying with grades - so I mean most Yr 13 students) until after results - you're given a "slot" and its a bit of a frenzy. Can't remember without RTFT whether thats been mentioned before. DS in a catered hall (Mon-Fri) which is about £8,300 then hall subs of £110 on top of that and gym membership (DS and all mates do that) at £280 I think.

He's living off £60 a week for weekend food and snacks during the week / socialising etc term time (31 weeks), so with a bit of extra for freshers week and the odd extra towards a ball / formal ticket etc, we've worked on about £11k (from us inc SF). He'd saved before he went and will work over Christmas / Easter to top that up (e.g. to pay to travel to girlfriend, clothes etc). Obviously if you're in a cheaper hall / not interested in the gym / less social / don't eat like a horse, it may be cheaper

In terms of costs after 1st year, he's signed up for a house at £140 inc bills but a 52 week contract so £7,280. That seemed to be the going rate.

Didn’t know that. Will definitely do it. Do you need to book in advance? Thanks a lot

Yes - if you click book link on this page it has a drop down which shows you the dates - it’s most Weds afternoons in term time.

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/visit-us/experience-days/

@Africa2go lol at 'eat like a horse' I hear you.

yes that's a good point about the accomm scrimmage - but in fact DS2 managed to mess it up [dw, it was his error, I am sure most people would be fine] and was locked out of it on the day - so we ended up chasing up later that day to find somewhere - he was offered a v expensive SC room (like, £7k!! not even ensuite) so we called and moaned, they offered him somewhere cheaper, which he accepted, then a few days later he was able to put that room into a ballot and accept a room in Falk Egg from someone who presumably didn't want it. There are a couple of other SC halls that are also cheaper, tho be aware there is quite a bit of catered accom which is £8k or so.

So yes, it is a bit of a scrum but then there was a lot of flex later.

@clary thats interesting - when DS enquired about switching he was told that there was a formal request he could complete but only after 6 weeks (presumably that's different if you have specific / financial constraints rather than just preferring another room) on the basis that most people won't bother by then. If he'd turned down the offer that he had, they warned he might not get another. Maybe the ballot does still happen, just not widely publicised?!

Ah interesting @Africa2go tbf my intel is two years old (ds now in third year) so things may have changed. Also his was a weird year - 2021 TAGS so loads of ppl needing rooms - maybe they had a specific system for that year only?

He was also easily able to swap flats in his hall as his first flatmates were not his people.

Hello, sorry resurrecting old thread, but just wondering how Loughborough is going? We have a DC2 coming up next also interested in Engineering. No school near us does Further Maths, so if anyone's DD or DS was in a similar position, very interested to hear how they are getting on. Many Thanks @Souvenir81 @Africa2go @clary @Eve & anyone I missed who happens to see this, thanks

@NamechangeRugby DS2 is a few weeks of finishing his degree and he has a job lined up to go to as do all of his course and all of his housemates.

Housemates are a mix of degrees including engineering and economics.

I would say in hindsight Loughborough was not the Uni for DS2 - he needed somewhere more hands-on. Loughborough teaching is good, expectations and standards are high, but its a sink or swim Uni. DS had a major wobble in term 2 in year 2 and the support was not good from student support or his course.

The halls life is great, he's had a lot of opportunities and plays a lot of sport but at the inter halls level ( even though he was in halls in year 1 you stay aligned to that hall and take part in all the activities and teams, go to the balls etc. )

Lots of accommodation available in Loughborough once moving out of halls.

My DS still loving it (coming to the end of Yr 1). Very happy, course seems pitched at the right level for him (I would say they do need to work, but he's certainly had time for the social / sport side of things). Our experience of support has been quite good although it was a minor issue so not quite the same as the previous poster I expect - DS had an issue with an online exam & it not being submitted on time (not his fault, technical issues) so he got 0% as a result. Had to go through the appeal process. but he was regularly updated by the team involved, they reassured him etc.