Leicester & Lancaster unis

[flusterbluff]

Do people have any knowledge of the demographics of these two Uni's? I don't know much about them. I wanted to know are they heavily populated with any demographic? Private vs state schooled, ethnic group, socioeconomic background etc or are they both quite a mixed bag

That fucking paternoster lift cost me a job! I was interviewing for an early career fellowship, and was so discombobulated by going between the waiting room and the presentation room, and then the presentation room and the interview room, in that bloody lift (I’m mildly claustrophobic and get motion sick easily) that I could barely remember my name!

@BarelyLiterate, alas, I moved out to a village, which was the single most unfriendly place I’ve ever lived in or out of the UK. I was driven to doing a lot of solitary walking, and cursing the clay soil in wet weather…

As cities go, Lancaster is really more of a large market town with a castle in it. Unlike so many cities it doesn't have a sad closed-down Debenhams or other department store because it never had one in the first place.

... these are positives imo.

Leicester is a really good student city, friendly with a decent nightlife and affordable for going out and accommodation both in uni halls and private rentals. Coming from London, Leicester is different and I wouldn’t call it fancy, but we love visiting and DS loves studying there. It’s really diverse, interesting and has lots of different parts for whatever you fancy doing. In the city centre some parts look a bit run down, some quirky and feel a little like York and then there are 2 shopping centres one with a huge John Lewis and a restaurant area which seems to have been recently redeveloped. He feels it’s safe which is something he doesn’t necessarily always feel at home and he likes how everything is easily accessible. Location wise being in the Midlands it’s good and again relatively cheap and easy for travelling to many other places in the country.

Leicester Uni itself is great, he’s been pleased with the teaching and support he’s had. They always seem to be trying to improve themselves and have recently gained gold teaching status. They’re also hoping to join the Russell Group. I’ve linked an article which is free to read if you register.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/let-us-leicester-vice-chancellor-tells-russell-group

I live in Leicestershire and work in the city right near the Uni and have to agree it is dreadful, run down etc, I also avoid the city centre as always feel unsafe. Went on a rare night out before Christmas and hassled by down and outs who followed us. Has gone downhill so much since I was a child and teenager. I can't wait to leave. Ds is at Lancaster and seems to like it there.

When I went to Lancaster late 80s there was a lot of Londoners there. Train route up was decent. They would send trunks up which were kept in the trunk room. Seemed really fancy to this inner city kid.

I think op it’s because it’s not RG. Took dc2 there for open day and there’s a lot more going on at campus than there used to be.

I was there in the early 90s and it was full of Londoners and kids from Essex/Kent.

it’s a brilliant university. dC is there now and absolutely loves it.

I did the same and I very much agree! Lancaster seemed really friendly and I liked the general vibe, but it was very small, cold and wet.

Leicester was fun as a student - masses of pubs, very cheap accomodation and plenty going on. Very ethnically diverse. A lot of the students did seem to live around there, but I was mainly friends with people I met in Halls.

When I was applying to uni RG wasn't a big thing, it was all about going to a red-brick - which Leicester and Lancaster both are. Leicester was one of the top unis for the course I wanted to do - I think it specialises a lot. My friends were mostly doing English, space sciences or archaeology.

I loved the pater-noster though 😁

Lancaster can be cold and wet given that it’s a northern city but it isn’t small at all. It’s much much larger than in the 90s. Campus is amazing. The library is fantastic, all 9 colleges are based on campus and each has a JCR and it’s own bar, there are multiple grocery shops, a post office, a pizzeria, a Chinese restaurant, an Indian restaurant, a noodle bar, the (2nd) busiest Greggs in Europe, a subway, a deli cafe, multiple coffee shops including costa, two more large general eating places used by catered students but open to all, a sports bar which serves American type food, a cocktail bar, a regular market, an eco/recycling store, a hairdressers, a barbers, an amazing new sports complex etc etc. All on a proper self contained and extremely safe campus with stunning scenery, great eco credentials (Mike Berners Lee teaches there), 20 minutes from the seaside and half an hour from the lake district. Free buses to and from the university run nightclub in the city and loads of pubs and bars in Lancaster along with two other clubs. All first years guaranteed campus accommodation and also space for about 1500 later year students on campus too. Oh and it’s a top ten university and reasonably cheap to live. It was brilliant being there in the 90s but it’s even better now.

Lancaster is an outstanding university and the name does carry prestige outside the UK.
Inside the UK, I think it gets less attention than some because of the Russell Group marketing hype and because, as those stats earlier showed, it recruits well locally so less prominent in the influential south east.
In terms of comparison with Bath and Loughborough, if you are finding it's less often talked about, I'd guess it's because a) it's in the north and the talking is going on in the south b) Bath is in a city that's very desirable to the MCs and c) Loughborough has done an excellent job at specialising in sports science.

I was surprised to see lots of dogs on campus though! I didn’t see any when I was there. I didn’t know if these people were just visiting.
Campus used to empty out at the weekend which I didn’t like.

Lancaster can be cold and wet given that it’s a northern city but it isn’t small at all.

The city is small.

Yes it's about the same size as Cambridge, Ipswich, Exeter according to the last census. Bigger than Bath, Chester, Guildford.

@Era that figure is for the Lancaster district council area, not the city of Lancaster itself. Lancaster itself is more around the 50,000 or just under mark.

It’s nice that it’s a small city. I think it has everything students need and the fact that it is heavily dominated by the student population makes it feel safe but still young and vibrant.

Personally I like the size of lancaster - it's good if you don't have a car - you can easily walk around it, and out of it into lovely countryside in various directions. Not so good if you're into shopping though. But then, students are probably better off without a department store or mall anywhere near.

@ErrolTheDragon I think its got a Primark. What more could they want bricks and mortar retail wise? 😆

Ah yes, right by the bus stops that serve the A6 route.

Street view is useful to look at around both city centres to see what they actually look like and their actual size. I found Lancaster city centre very small and quite isolated but that would suit some people. It’s definitely much prettier than Leicester, but doesn’t have as much to do in the city centre unless you like walking/the outdoors.