Birmingham or Bristol for University

[Invertedwheelbarrow]

Hi I'm 18 looking at unis to go too and these are my top two option. Bristol seems a more chilled out city that I could walk around and its very pretty, the only problem is that it's incredibly expensive. Birmingham is actually alot better then I thought and just seems like a cheaper manchester without the football, the campus is also lovely and I got a better vibe from the general student population. I can't decide which one to pick as they both have aspects I love, if it wasn't for the money I might be leaning more towards Bristol but Birmingham seems like a smarter choice. Any advice on how either city is to live would be well appreciated.

I agree with most on here, Birmingham Uni is great, cheaper to live in and as safe as anywhere. I regularly visit Bristol and love it but my goodness you are paying London prices for everything. I don't know how the students manage there. Unless of course, they're funded by wealthy parents. Birminghan has three football teams btw. Birminghan city, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion😀

@Oblahdeeoblahdoe sorry to be pedantic but West Brom is definitely not in Birmingham - it’s a town in the Black Country, like Dudley and Walsall. However West Brom’s football ground is very close to the border and easily accessible from the university 🤣

I know Bristol has a reputation for being expensive and student accommodation hard to find, but its actually 22% cheaper than London, across the board.

Of course you're right 😉 It does have have a Birmingham postcode though and is only about 4 miles from Birmingham city centre.

That’s true - although half of Worcestershire and Warwickshire also have Birmingham postcodes 🤔 Very confusing!

Isn't Birmingham dangerous?

I have miraculously survived.

Oh yeah that should've been properly worded I meant world renowned (Villa are great btw and I've always supported them it's just the manchester clubs are more of a brand at this point)

These are my DS’s subjects at Birmingham. You could also look at their Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences degree (LANS) - this has allowed DS to major in politics and international relations, but also add modules from other subjects (he’s particularly interested in migration so he’s added some anthropology, philosophy, sociology and now some German in his final year after a year abroad at university in Berlin). He’s also worked on projects with students from other disciplines with each student bringing their own skills and knowledge to problem solving/research so not just studying his field in a vacuum if that makes sense.

If it helps - we live just outside of Birmingham (15 mins by train) and it a city like any other really not a crime addled stab hole! Students generally like it and have fun!

HS2 won’t make us anymore a suburb of London than we are now - it’s 1.10 from my local station already.

my middle daughter is at Bristol- she gets the full loan, a bursary and has 2 jobs - it’s ’bare Spenny’ her rent each month is £3500 between 4! But she loves it there. Crime wise - well her mate was bitten in the bus by a drunk woman last week!

my eldest is studying Politics and IR at Manchester, cheaper to live but not hugely- just as ‘safe’ as anywhere else.

you forget Birmingham City FC btw!

The reason I ask about safety in Birmingham is because I go on "Brumfess" I type in mugged and like students in Birmingham have been mugged. Especially in Selly Oak.

Re mugging. It may be that as a Russell Group University, there will be quite a lot of students from fairly privileged backgrounds, living in quite a well-defined area of the city. Some of them will be carrying expensive new phones, because these are seen as an essential/Mummy and Daddy are paying for the contract. Some of them will be buying into a drinking culture or experimenting with drugs now that they've go a bit more freedom. They're not necessarily streetwise and especially in and around freshers week they may not yet have friends who will look out for them. These factors can make them vulnerable.

But there are other areas of the city - not the bits around Birmingham Uni - where there will be tension between gangs or drug trafficking which may be significantly dodgier. I've lived in Birmingham for decades, a few miles from the University and mainly use public transport. I can honestly say that while I've been walking alone home at night, no one has ever hassled me. (Of course, this may be because I look like the sort of spectacularly boring, sober person who isn't carrying any valuable personal possessions.)

I wondered this. It was my non negotiable when DD was looking at Unis. No Birmingham. Always found it so intimidating and unsafe(had my bag snatched). Luckily she wasn't interested anyway. Glad others have had a better experience and I do know anecdotal experiences aren't evidence.

My Dc absolutely loved Bristol ( recent grad), and did manage in full loan, even though it is pricey.

Stoke Bishop halls were fine, frequent and free shuttle bus into town.

The university awarded a bursary to students on full loan. Not sure whether that was course/ first choice / A level results dependent.

Given the subject @Invertedwheelbarrow I would look very closely at what work these grads are getting. Which university has the best connections in terms of work? What do you see yourself doing? There’s another thread running where a IR grad cannot get work with a relevant charity. What are you aiming to do with the degree? Look at what has happened to overseas aid this week.

You can get that kind of site for almost every university.

Also the PPE degree which, unlike otehr unis is Social Policy, politics and economics.

DD is at Brum and has loved it. Fab campus. Lived in Selly Oak in 2nd year. 3rd year was in Paris (don't recommend) going back into campus for 4th year.

She paid £90/eeek for campus accommodation so v cheap.

Not sure it’s universal but I think it is - Dd1 gets it from Manchester and DD2 from UWE (dd1’s is a lot more) - neither applied for it it was automatically given as they are on a full loan

I live in Birmingham and do loads of school trips to the Uni. It's a beautiful campus. I personally love living here. It's rough around the edges, like any big city, but you get a better lifestyle for your money here than in most places imo.

What I'm saying is that quite a few of the people he knows went to private schools (my children went to state schools) are from posh areas (like us admittedly) and have trusts, well off parents. Of course it's not all the students.
DS is paying £800 per month + bills for a room in a house share. My other son at Southampton pays around half that for his accommodation.

If you are concerned about the cost of living in Bristol, get a part-time job, or live over in Easton, Bedminster or any of the other cheaper areas. I looked at both unis with my DCs and the thing I didn't like about the Bham Campus is the halls kitchens didn't have a central table for the students to congregate around. Instead, there was a breakfast bar again the wall. It made me feel like it was a less friendly place.

the thing I didn't like about the Bham Campus is the halls kitchens didn't have a central table for the students to congregate around. Instead, there was a breakfast bar again the wall. It made me feel like it was a less friendly place bit of a generalisation @mugglewump. Birmingham has thousands of rooms on campus - not sure which residence you looked at, but plenty with central tables. Depends where you choose to live (and of course some people might prefer a breakfast bar so good to have the option) I think what is undoubtedly true, for the benefit of the OP, is that accommodation is much cheaper in Birmingham and v plentiful both on and close to campus so worth bearing in mind for anyone on a tight budget.

I think that's one Halls, the big one with wet rooms (forgot its name!) . Aitken definitely has tables in the kitchen.