University applications for September 2025 - let's go!

[hornetgirl]

Hello to all you on the forum.

Having gone through this all in 2022/23 with my eldest ( just completing year 1 Southampton), I am back again with my daughter - just finishing year 12.

She is looking at Vet med or vet nursing

We have been to several open days: RVC, Chester, Nottingham Trent, Bristol and we have Surrey this Saturday and Nottingham in 2 weeks.

What a stressful process this is even for a second time mum (and expensive on the travel and hotel stays!)

What are you doing with your year 12s so far?

Ooh, interested to hear about Sheffield. We had a look from the train as we went past to Durham the other week but planning a visit in September or October.

Just got back from Liverpool and it was really good. Only downside is that it's a 4 hour drive away.

This is correct about lancaster. You can do up to three subjects in year 1 (apart from on some specific degrees like Medicine). It’s a great university, beautiful campus with a real community feel and loads to do. DS coming home on Saturday and doesn’t want to leave. Spent the past two weeks at the college festival, the summer ball (whole uni festival), BBQs on the beach, walk in the lakes, doing “the Nine” (campus nine bar bar crawl) and generally having the time of his life.

Quite a few comments about Warwick so I thought might be helpful to give a perspective from my DD who is currently there. She chose it because it ranks high for her course (economics) and because she didn’t want a London experience (we live in London). The campus is big and well maintained, lots of nature all around.

There are quite a few en-suite accommodations and everyone she knows who wanted one got one. Most only live on campus the first year and all seem to develop a fondness for their halls regardless. The first year goes by so quickly that I wouldn’t get too hung up on campus living. Second and third year most commute in and there are various towns (some close by, some 30 mins by bus) to choose from. Accommodation is plentiful.

There are clubs and plenty of pubs and places to eat, parks etc, but it’s not going to be like living in a big city. She is a clubber and finds it limited but seems to like the university. The teaching has been (mostly) good and lecturers responsive. There are a lot of very clever people on her course and she hasn’t been able to rest on her laurels at all. It’s ethnically diverse and in some ways very ‘London’, which she likes.

I think if you want to be in a University city and possibly settle there afterwards, Warwick isn’t going to be for you. But the maths, economics, ppe and computer science courses (for example) and the students on them, are very very good.

I thought the campus was absolutely lovely but thought the accommodation was a bit variable. We only looked at Jack Martin (?) and Rootes. Jack Martin looked lovely (but £££) but Rootes looked absolutely dire. Tiny rooms (even the ones with basins), the student was in his room with a couple of friends on beanbags and you couldn't actually get in the room, and the student showing us round said that the halls were completely mixed sexes with boys and girls using the same showers and toilets.

At Keele the student guide said that whilst the halls were mixed sex, the floors were segregated (like I had at Uni, bottom floor male, top two floors female) so that you wouldn't be cleaning your teeth and have a half naked bloke come out of the shower. DD says she prefers the idea of segregated floors but I suppose most girls don't mind otherwise Unis would change this?

Yes Rootes is tightly packed but meant to be fun. The nicest accommodations are Bluebell (but overseas students mostly, also need security cards to access the flat, so not very social), Cryfeld (but again small flats/houses), Arthur Vick and Jack Martin which are very social, then probably Lakeside buildings (bit of a distance). All those are en-suite. Of the others Claycroft is one bathroom to two students.

Most universities have good and bad accommodation. I wouldn’t make my choice based on it. They’re in them for such a short period of time really.

I agree about the accommodation, I think it was other stuff that tipped the balance between Keele and Warwick for DD. Keele offers a far better course for DD but then she isn't going to do Economics/Maths/Engineering etc!

Having said that, I think it's important to take into account the cost of the accommodation. We'll be mostly funding DD so I'm afraid an ensuite is out of the question unless she gets a job and funds it herself! (In fairness she agrees that an ensuite is an unnecessary luxury.)

Thanks for setting this thread up. 2nd for me too. DS at Edinburgh (just a word of warning on flexibility - I think it depends on subjects - he wants to move to joint honours including economics. He has A star economics and maths A level plus further maths, has done all the core economics modules as electives in year 1 and has done well in exams and assignments but it’s quite unlikely he’ll be able to change. Other subjects / Scottish unis may be easier). DD wants to study stem subjects. So far visited St Andrews, York, Durham, Glasgow and Oxford. Cambridge, Bath and Edinburgh to go. So far she likes Oxford and York best. Glasgow also impressed - lovely buildings (new science building was beautiful).

We've been at Loughborough today. A bit quieter than previous places I think because students have largely gone home. No Gaza protest at all!

Campus is beautiful and so well equipped. Having all the world class sports facilities at the centre of it is unique. Some of the accommodation (the most expensive £8000 per year) was just ridiculously lovely and all of it seemed nice enough.

For me I think I struggle with campus unis near small towns. Not my cup of tea I want a bit more bright lights big city but DD doesn't feel the same and (as I frequently need to remind myself) it's her who's actually going!

Loughborough and Sheffield seemed a lot more like they are really wanting students to pick them than Exeter and Warwick (who probably don't need to try so hard). They talked a lot about student experience but also about teaching quality and the course content and job focus.

I always thought that it's best to go to the 'most prestigious' uni you can get into but now I start to wonder are some of them resting on their laurels, not actually very good at undergrad teaching and might one be better to go to an up and coming place like Loughborough, Bath or Lancaster.

I thought bath, Loughborough and Lancaster were prestigious? Going to Loughborough tomorrow to look at sport business.

Just they are not Russell Group. People talk about them as 'Russell +'
I am increasingly less convinced that it matters but perhaps it still does?

I think it matters up to a point. Given they were a self selecting group in the early 90s (the RG) things have evolved since then. I would say for many courses Lancaster and Bath at least are very much out-ranking Cardiff and Newcastle who seem to be hanging onto their RG status but not otherwise topping many polls.

Bath Loughborough Lancaster and St Andrews are all prestigious, all top ten and none of them are russell group. All of them rank more highly in the general league tables than many of the russell group marketing consortium universities.

DD went to Newcastle. She had a great time but its way down in the rankings compared to say Loughborough (although Loughborough does rather rely on the sporting courses to stay at the top)

Hello! We are going to Southampton on 6 July! How are you getting there? Train or car? If car, where will you park?

DS is Yr 12, we have done Warwick, York, Newcastle, Bath, then Southampton next week.

DD went to a non RG which is now desperate to become RG. Apparently some of the criteria is down to size which is why her old uni is rapidly expanding. There’s a case for smaller unis to remain smaller - DS loved Bath and had scrubbed Warwick off the list.

I booked a car parking space when we booked the open day (there was an option as part of the booking system) but I think we might go by train. I saw the parking areas last visit and they looked pretty spacious and well organised. There are free shuttle buses from the station if you go by train. We looked at York too but not your other options. Nottingham tomorrow!

We are also at Nottingham tomorrow
We're in the city now actually staying over.

As we were travelling here this morning there was a report on the news of a stabbing and then of roads being closed for a bomb scare.

I started to understand why a campus uni might be preferred.

6th most dangerous city in the U.K. apparently!
(Bradford, Coventry, Manchester, B'ham, London)

Doesn't feel especially unsafe in the city centre just now.

Nottingham always had a problem with gun and knife crime, even when I was there. The crime was always pretty much confined to non student areas.

Nottingham is a campus uni though, and a beautiful one at that

We went to Loughborough Open Day yesterday and seem to be in a minority of one in that we didn’t like it. My DD just couldn’t picture herself there. We went to the English presentation and weren’t blown away by the modules on offer ( we have looked at the website for the modules available). My DD much preferred the campus at Essex and the variety of the English course there. She came out of Essex wanting to sign up immediately but left Loughborough very ‘meh’.
I know to anyone else I would say ‘oh, it’s important to go where they are happy and feel they would enjoy the course the most’ but all I can think of is university rankings and how this might impact career opportunities down the line. This is so difficult.
We have booked in to look at York, Lancaster, Surrey and Leicester as well, so hopefully some of those will inspire too.

Out booking email for Southampton says free parking no need to book separately:

"We are happy to offer you a FREE parking space at Wide Lane Sports Ground for the Open Day. There is no need to book this separately."

There will be a free bus to the Uni from the parking.

They also have shuttle buses from Southampton Central and Southampton Airport parking stations- see open day programme on this page: www.southampton.ac.uk/open-days/undergraduate/what-to-expect-on-campus

There is also Swaythling station which is just down the road from Montefiore and Wessex Lane Halls (not open) but about half a mile walk to Highfield campus if you want to see how your student could travel to halls and then onto campus.

(I went to the lovely Southampton many moons ago, lived in "Monte" and then Portswood. Absolutely loved the uni and can't wait to see it again next weekend!)

Is that the 6th most dangerous city with 2 or more Unis (I can't remember what it was from). If anyone is interested, I looked it up after after Bath were boasting they were 2nd safest and Guildford is number 1 (University of Surrey).

Sheffield is top for ds atm. The engineering dept was amazing.
Still many to visit though!