Uni of Birmingham

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Daughter applied to Birmingham and went fur a visit this weekend with friends and Birmingham seemed to be quite …. Hmmmmm- lots of homeless and druggies in the high street. Is this usual? They are having second thoughts about going.

I have to say we have a LOT of murders in oxford. Murder trials going on probably 42 out of 52 weeks a year. Oddly, disproportionately high. I blame Morse!

More helpfully DS1 was at Brum and had no issues, although he said he was regularly offered drugs in the streets of Selly oak walking home. I can’t imagine it is any different to Fallowfield in Manchester etc. He worked in a bar in the centre of town and also had no issues there.

I went to the UoB. No problems at all. I have also had a great career and out earn Oxbridge peers with a better work life balance. Not saying that's everything but it's useful to note.
Birmingham get a bad rap especially on mumsnet but it's a great uni and gave me a fantastic start in my career.

Dd is at UoB and doesn’t find it any different to other cities. Maybe a uni in the city isn’t for your dd although I imagine unis away from cities also having homeless people and drugs- I live in “nice” suburbs of a city and there’s both here.

There are homeless people in the city centre but you will encounter those in any UK centre, especially around train stations. If you have lived in a hamlet all your life then Birmingham might be a surprise but it's no different to any other city.

I believe the city in England with the highest concentration of homeless people is Oxford. Make of that what you will.

DC at Birmingham and just finished second year. Edgebaston is beautiful and she is in Selly Oak now- never had any issues. She’s had a fabulous time and goes into the city a lot. Really enjoys the combo of beautiful leafy campus and access to a great city

It's a big city - nothing worse than you'd find in any big city in the UK. My mum lives in Windsor and there are even homeless people on the streets there these days! DS is at Brum. Absolutely stunning campus and you need go no further if you want a cosy experience - Olympic level training facilities (DS found himself sharing the pool with an Olympian last week), fabulous art gallery, 24 hour state-of-the-art library. Anyone living on campus would have been pretty much insulated from the bin strikes that dogged the rest of the city. Selly Oak, where most students live when thy move off campus, is so full of students that it's practically an extension of the campus itself (indeed DS's house this year is much closer to the facilities on campus than he was when he lived in the Vale in his first year). There's also a train station on campus so you can even get in and out without venturing any further if that's what you want. An Ivory Tower campus experience is perfectly possible at Birmingham in absolutely beautiful surroundings for anyone who wants it.

DD is just finishing at UoB and has absolutely loved it there.
She has a very active city social life and has never had any issues; it’s just like any other major city, with its share of crime and homeless people.
The uni campus is beautiful and has security on hand.