Fee-free (Scotland) or higher ranking (England)

[Pantsnomore]

DS currently has a mix of conditional and unconditional offers for Economics in England and Scotland. He is currently leaning to Bath over an easier offer which is tuition fee-free from Glasgow.

It is obviously his decision but I’d like to make sure that he’s aware of all the considerations. This is where we are at so far:

Bath (3 years)
Pros
Better ranked
Employment prospects
Prefers the aesthetics & thinks it’s more his vibe (rugby & pubs over clubs)

Cons
Fees
Distance from home / associated costs
His age (he will leave school at 17 and so I think would be bonkers to go this year - not yet sure if Bath would accept a deferred place
Terms of the condition are aspirational

Glasgow (4 years)
Pros
Fees
4 Years
Flexibility if he decides he doesn’t like Econ at Uni
Easy to achieve offer

Cons
Sees it as less prestigious
Too close to home
Thinks it’s more of a clubbing based social scene.

Are we missing anything? Is he mad to consider either a gap year for econ, or to go to England at 17? Anyone know anything about econ at Glasgow and/ or whether there is a more sports / pub based scene there.

@Pantsnomore MSE website - Martin Lewis, is the first place to look.

@Ciri I think too few posters realise it’s all about getting selected for the job. The IFS study clearly showed some unis do produce grads who get the higher paying jobs in Economics but these two are fine.

This is what I was thinking?! It’s been a long time since I was at Uni but Glasgow always had a great name for economics? I have a family member with a first from Glasgow in economics who had an absolutely stellar career!

I was just reading the whole thread to see if anyone else had mentioned Adam Smith!

OP, I am from Central Scotland. A million years ago (when English degrees were also free) I had offers from 4 Scottish universities, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, and one English one. I was a bit put off by the rep that Glasgow had for having a lot of Glaswegian students who lived at home. Don’t know if that has changed at all, but I felt it might be quite insular. At that age I really wanted to spread my wings and Glasgow was only 40 mins from home. Your DS may feel the same.

In the end I went to the English University because it was Cambridge and I got the grades so was always going to be my first choice. I must admit I enjoyed being a bit different to my fellow students in that my accent immediately distinguished me. (I did have a friend there who came from Edinburgh, but she was so posh she sounded English 😂).

That said, I can’t really get my head round Bath being a better university academically for economics than the ancient prestigious one that is Glasgow, home of Adam Smith. But perhaps “academic” is not a measure that your DS really cares about? Really interesting what a pp said about the employability stats having other factors.

@WatchandWaitorNot interestingly DS1 was pooled from Cambridge. We didn’t try to steer him away despite tuition fees.

I think spreading wings is part of it. Albeit I was telling him that even if he did get into St A, he’d still only know 2% of the year (despite a large number of successful applicants in his peer group). Percentage would be even smaller in Glasgow given its size.

I think it’s about spreading your wings geographically though, not socially.

I did a 3 day pre-application residential at St Andrews. I’m afraid that I came away with the lasting impression of a weird, tiny, deadly quiet, isolated windy place that was the last place I’d have wanted to go to spread my wings!

Ha! I did one of those residentials at St A. Forget whether it was during GCSE’s or A-levels. I didn’t apply thereafter.

Oh, so you’re not Scottish yourself then?
I guess it might be harder to empathise with DS wanting to go to England because Scotland may be all he’s known?

Moved to England at 13. We’ve always encouraged a more than Scotland / UK outlook. Probably explains a lot. 🤦‍♀️

When DS was 13?

I went to uni in England form a Scottish school , mainly because I wanted to get as far away from home as possible.

But this was before fees and loans. I don't think I would have made the same decision now.

When I was 13.

As someone who went to uni at 17 I would always encourage a gap year (it wasn't really a thing in my day).

Nothing to add on Glasgow vs Bath that hasn't been said already other than I like the opportunity to change degree/subjects at Scottish universities, should he not be set on economics - or he might be exposed to new subjects in his first and second years that take his fancy.

But you said you did GCSEs and A levels?

Fees are a key consideration as is length of course. Both universities are good ones but ans others have pointed out it is worth considering which is best for economics specifically. There are rankings for this you can easily Google. Obviously at any university there will be some students who live for rugby, dislikes clubs etc. so he shouldn’t worry about fitting in to either. As a former recruiter for one of the UK’s most prestigious graduate job programmes, I can assure you we do not look at which uni they went to as we assess for a whole range of attributes during recruitment. We do care that they passed the degree well (2:1 upwards), so doing a course with electives he is genuinely interested in would also be my advice.

With around 40K students at Glasgow Uni and another 5 slightly smaller universities in the City, Glasgow School of Art and huge student FE population there is a big bar scene, clubs, coffee shops, restaurants and large, active student unions there are options for all types. More parks per head than any other city and loads of sport and athletic clubs.

To be fair, I say that I have A levels , too- because otherwise people don't tend to understand.

Yes. I moved to England from Scotland when I was 13. I finished my education there doing English examinations.

Thanks that’s helpful. I think detailed analysis of the course and how it is examined would be a good next step before decisions are made.

Also planning a trip to show him round a bit more. Feel bad he probably knows London better.

Had no idea that was even possible!

I started standard grades for a term, moved and went into the same year group (by age) in England (which would now be called year 9). So then I had 2 terms in England before I chose my GCSE’s.

Ah , OK, sorry I got it back to front. I thought you were saying you had moved to Scotland from England aged 13 and done English exams in Scotland. Because I thought you had you agreed with me when I said “you’re not Scottish yourself”. Totally misread all your posts 🤦‍♀️. I think I was confused because you are in Scotland now, but I guess you moved back as an adult..

Ignore me, stupid derail, as you were…

Also bear in mind that bath is an expensive city with a housing shortage issue. It's lovely, we are there a lot (live nearby) but for students it's simply not worth the hassle, not if Glasgow is free for you

No worries at all and yes moved back in the end.

I would say Glasgow all the way in this case. Better to save fees and go further away for further degree/job.

@WatchandWaitorNot some private schools in Scotland offer A Levels, my DH did them