Nottingham University - what is going on with the League tables?

[BobtheFrog]

Like a few others in this forum, my young adult has just finished their Year 13 mocks and didn't get the grades they had hoped for. Firm and Insurance choices remain unchanged but we have been considering some more modest alternatives

• digging around was surprised with Nottingham data, it had the biggest drop in applications in 2024 of any uni (-3600) is sitting around 60 with the Guardian and even #30ish with CUG and Times. Not long ago I would have expected mid 20s

Anyone know what's going on?

@Africa2go What's wrong with the city centre? My DS found it fine.

When was this because it definitely did used to be 'fine' but I wouldn't say it was now at all. It's run down.

Agree with this but it isn’t necessarily people thinking “it’s such a dangerous city” - in my DS’s case Nottingham was on his longer list but it got to the June open day (just a few weeks after those terrible murders) and he just didn’t want to go. So I suspect the pool of students who’d been considering Nottingham and had actually visited was smaller than year.

When DD1 was at school, Newcastle was the party university. Everything good round in cycles. A friend’s DS chose Sheffield for its boozy culture and nightlife - and was not disappointed. Like my DH half a century ago! Sheffield knows how to have fun. Then we have Liverpool. Hardly known as a quiet place. Nottingham and Bristol aren’t really in the same league and cannot hold a candle to Manchester. Northern cities pride themselves on night life. Students who want to experience a city, have a lot of great unis to choose from. A quieter time is available at Bangor or Falmouth. As I said earlier, students tend to be lemmings. Follow others and accept second hand views such as “everyone” goes to parties or “everyone” goes clubbing. It’s never true.

As for clubbing, thousands have closed. It’s a bit of a declining industry. Probably only kept alive by students. Must be dreadful to see students dressed up for clubbing in the day time - horrific. Not sure why we just cannot accept people like different things. I’d be way more concerned about DC who never come out of their rooms.

Catering can be an excellent option. Gives a lot more time back, is a social activity and the rest of your life will be spent cooking. Nothing wrong with delaying it a bit. Some Oxford students manage it for years!

I grew up in a village just outside Nottingham and all my family still live there. I visited last summer and couldn’t believe how the city centre has deteriorated.

the part of the city centre between the market square and the train station has been badly in need of redevelopment for decades. The political ideology of the city council with regards to transport policy meant no investment could ever be found and the eventual developer went bust before building started.

Now it looks like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie. It’s just empty shop units and a ‘nature space’ which is literally just a load of waste ground where the old bus station used to be with a couple of benches. It’s grim.

Then again, a student ‘fresh’ to the city would probably be unaware of how this part of the city has decayed. There are still plenty of decent shops, clubs and bars and there has been some decent redevelopment in other parts like the Lace Market.

It’s mostly the shopping centre that’s grim, but you can say that about many city centres nowadays.

I visited Bath for the first time a year or so again and thought the city centre was beautiful. I got chatting to an academic at the university who commented that it had ‘gone downhill’ in recent years, so I guess the same could be said about anywhere.

Catering can be an excellent option. Gives a lot more time back, is a social activity and the rest of your life will be spent cooking.

It depends what rocks your boat. For DD cooking is her down time. It is what she enjoys. She doesn't like clubbing.

As a vegetarian she makes the sort of imaginative meals that I doubt she would get in halls. She really is an incredible cook.

Good for your DD @RampantIvy If that’s her thing then great. It would be quite unusual for students to want to spend most of their free time in their first year cooking extravagant meals. There is nothing wrong with them wanting to socialise and let their hair down.

i wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to apply to Nottingham in the aftermath of what happened in June 2023.
The city needs to sort its act out. There is nothing to compare with the type of places students have access to in places like Manchester and Liverpool.

I don’t know where they are getting these figures from because Nottingham and Nottingham Trent are both popular choices among people I know

Applications to Nottingham University were down by about 10% last year @Lampzade

Those are two different points.

What happened in Nottingham could have happened anywhere. Unfair to blame the city.

I live round the corner from where that happened. It's had absolutely no impact on the city at all. So I doubt it that.

The report about the killings in Nottingham put the blame fairly where it lay. The city as somewhere to live has not changed. Nor the university. I’m not sure any city would be immune from this. We have crimes against the young everywhere so maybe students like the ones killed are backing off Nottingham and possibly international students? However there’s no guarantee of safety anywhere and I attached murder rates by police force earlier. Some people just get extraordinarily unlucky.

I do agree that the city itself isn't great. For me there isn't much going on. And I've lived here for 20 years.

The Uni of Nottingham students are not living in the city centre but on or near one of the most beautiful campuses in the Uk. You can also get to it by tram which is fun! If they want to go clubbing the option is there. If not there are plenty of societies to join. I’d agree that the city centre could do with a bit of investment and that there are some northern uni cities that appear to have had more investment in their city centres but some of these cities have little in the way of parks and open spaces and can feel claustrophobic to me having grown up in a rural area. Whereas when I visit my dc at uni of Nottingham it is enjoyable walking round the uni campus and Wollaton park.

That's one of the things that can make student life fun. You can choose to go into catered halls (though cost might be a factor as they are very expensive at Nottm) or self catering.

However, as parents we shouldn't idealise one or the other. DD's friend lived on campus and she said her hall sometimes felt like an oppressive corridor of closed doors (which I found quite poetic!).

DD was in a student flat with a shared kitchen and was looking forward to sharing a spag bol with her flat mates but their hygiene levels were low and they turned the kitchen into a shit hole.

She found her tribe in societies and sports and is much happier sharing a house with friends in her 2nd year.

Young people need to build some resilience and push themselves out of their comfort zones.

But the area around train station is the most horrible part of almost any city - as I said having last been there in the 90s the area around NTU itself (where the big old shopping centre was), the presence of trams , and the Lace Market area have really spruced up. These are areas more likely to be frequented by students.

As a middle aged woman who has spent years cooking family meals after a full day at work, I'd quite like to live in catered accommodation and I wouldn't be fussy about what I was served, just grateful I didn't have to cook it. It sounds bliss.

I appreciate that's not the same view as an 18 yr old though!

And ... it's worth pointing out that both Grace and Barnaby's parents have said their children loved Nottingham and had had the best year of their lives there.

Mine was catered in Birmingham but it's an add on rather than standard. But having not much choice does put students off, as it's more of an expense upfront for catered and the actual accommodation is often more old fashioned.

I wonder what the NSS reports about Nottingham? They must be looking at a drop off in applications.

Oh, she did go out with friends as well, but not in the same way a lot of freshers like to let their hair down. She had taken a gap year and was a little more mature than some of the freshers.

I just feel I had to justify why catered halls were not for her.

My ds is in first year at Nottingham. Am not sure people realise that broadgate park is a large campus (self-catering) 2 mins walk from the main campus/amazing sports facilities so no need to go catered if you don't want to.

My son spends quite a bit of time in the city at the clubs which are well serviced by buses/trams and he also uses Ubers.

Agree it's not a pretty city but the night life is great and if it's not your thing the Uni offers so many clubs/societies etc. Beeston is a perfectly nice area and Wollaton Park is lovely. The campus itself is stunning.

Am a bit worried about him moving out in 2nd year as the students areas look pretty run down but there's safety in numbers. Looking at the crime rates is interesting - it's the same in Nottingham as Hertfordshire where we live!

I’m not saying they are the same point. That’s why they are in separate paragraphs.
I don’t disagree that this could have happened anywhere, but it didn’t. It happened in Nottingham. Barney’s mum’s words struck me when she said they sent him to a city which wasn’t safe. As details filtered though about missed chances and incompetence you couldn’t blame anyone for not applying last year. It’s been reported applications were down by 10%. It’s a shame because it is a fabulous university let down by a less than average city centre. Lenton is also awful. The council should perhaps start by getting the rat population under control.

I don’t think it’s completely nuts tbh. I have relatives who live in the suburbs and I would hesitate to send my dc there now bc the city has declined so much in recent years and there is a lot of violence. The City council has gone bankrupt. There is a lot of homelessness etc. So not unlike a lot of uk cities I guess but there is a definite edge to it.

Fortunately, the university campus is 30 mins away from the city centre, on a completely separate lovely campus with good facilities.You just have to keep your wits about you in town especially after 9 pm.

My heart goes out to those poor parents who lost their young ones . They were let down terribly by under resourced mental health agencies who allowed the perpetrator to walk free.

In the early 90s, Nottingham had the most applications per place of any uni. It was highly competitive to get in and top 10 in rankings.
In last 20 years it has expanded massively and made huge investments which require vast student numbers. Like many unis, lots of international students helped but there has been a drop in them and in order to fill all the places, the grade profile has dropped - lots get in through Clearing, often n grades substantially lower than the published standard Ofer. It’s demand and supply. They have to fill and get buns on seats.
In terms of catering etc, lots of older unis offer lots of older style catered halls. Some do 3 meals a day in hall. Durham is an example ans also has lots of shared rooms. It is still massively oversubscribed and the old catered colleges with some shared room are more over subscribed than any. Newer colleges/halls are self catered so there is a mix, but at Durham and Nottingham, many feel the social aspect of career and eating together is a key part of uni experience. But of course it costs more.
Some students and their families seem to struggle with the idea of shared bathrooms or catered food with prescribed times and menus. There are more fussy eaters about and also those who have a horror at the idea of shared bathroom or even needing to leave their room or eating in a shared space. Some people are more insular and many newer unis with all self catering and more and more studios resulting a different experience.
Maybe some people are more comfortable with the idea of catered and communal lining or shared bathrooms and even shared rooms. Those who’ve been to boarding schools certainly have experienced it. And those with family who went to uni in the past or in schools or colleges where most attend high ranking unis, see catered options as the norm. But perhaps for first generation students, some of these ideas seem unappealing or old fashioned.
In reality most will one in shared houses after first year and not have all en-suites, although some students prefer private halls with all en-suite or studio accommodation. Some students spend vast sums on accommodation via their loans, many hours of work and family top ups and are often not those from the most affluent backgrounds. People don’t always choose their accommodation based on budget but have a sense of needing certain facilities which are expensive.
Most students who’ve been in catered halls recognise the benefits of mixing with a much bigger circle through meals and such accommodation which often has its own bar and other social space and sense of community via organised parties and other events. It’s more the old school and old uni style of life. But especially for those who don’t really know much about that stuff, often self catering might feel safer and seem cheaper and modern purpose built flats with gyms etc might well draw people into options which require more weeks rent etc.

I saw an enormous seagull attempting to fly away with a dead rat in Cardiff last week. There are rats all over Selly Oak.

A lad was murdered (stabbed) in Manchester the year before the Nottingham attacks in a random attack. A poor girl was abducted and murdered in Hull a few years ago, Also students and near their campuses / houses. Not sure if that had any impact.