University Applications 2026 - Support Thread

[Ventress]

DS is applying to start university in Autumn 2026. He's done several open days and has a reasonable idea of where and what he wants to wants to study - History or History & Politics.

He loved UCL and Exeter, liked Warwick, didn't like Bristol. He's also talking about early application but can't decide whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge. He's also muttering about Durham, which he didn't visit but others in his History class did and loved it.

Anyone join me for a thread to support our DC as they navigate this process? DS is my only child so this is all new to me!

My friend's daughter has chosen Warwick as her first choice - she loved it. My friend, on the other hand, referred to it as "that monstrosity in the middle of a field" 😂

Thank you 😊. Are there no exams at all? I wonder how common that is for History. I know Durham have exams but not sure about Bristol and other places. Might sign DC up for a virtual open day at Warwick if that’s possible as it’s a long way to go and isn’t the top choice. Not sure which of the northern Unis are best e.g. Warwick, Manchester (everyone seems to love it) and York. I fear we’ve been a bit lazy as we have only looked at Universities nearer home (South)…

We couldn’t go to the Warwick open days but DS is thinking of applying. It sounds like we might need a trip up there!

@Ventress i’m also concerned that DS is going to apply to 5 very aspirational courses. On one hand I admire him and his confidence but I can’t shift the niggle that things might not go 100% to plan next summer and he ought to have one safer bet. AS grades will be helpful but there’s still another year and another set of exams to go!

Just to be annoying and quibble - Warwick isn't north, it's in the south of the Midlands. Know you probably mean anywhere north of where you are, but still, it's not really to be grouped with Manchester and York. It's much closer to Oxford than either of those and you wouldn't call Oxford northern. Sorry - as you were...

Bristol have exams @Fabfabfab, DS and I went to the open day. Of those DS is looking at (Exeter, UCL, Durham, Oxbridge) only Warwick doesn't have any exams. The statement caused quite a stir in the lecture theatre during the subject talk!

If he does apply for 5 aspirational choices does your son have a plan B @Muchtoomuchtodo if he doesn't get the offers he would like? DS' is to take a gap year, rethink his choices and then apply again with grades in hand.

Haha - yes being a southerner I meant anything north of London 😂. Didn’t mean to offend anyone

Interesting- I wonder why they are the only University with no exams. Not necessarily a good thing though. I used to get really stressed but still did slightly better in exams compared to coursework

Just to comment on the no exams in history at Warwick. There are exams but ‘seven day’ ones. It changed in Covid and we were told students are reluctant to go back, so they have kept this method. I think York history has similar 24 hour ones- but it was a few years since we looked -so this information may have changed.
The history essay questions are released at the seven day beginning set date and in first year you choose one 1,500 word essay per paper and in second year two.
In first year there was only one module that had an exam, so it did allow the seven days allocated to write it (although the department says it is best to treat it like a 24 hour exam) .
However in second year depending on your module choices it can be three/four modules with a seven day exam.
When the seven days starts and finishes overlaps between modules, so the student may have one day per 1,500 word essay back to back.
They are told to treat these questions as an exam and whilst theoretically open book they haven’t got time to do much research, but are relying more on seminar/lecture notes.

Imo the history department is very strong and Warwick is a friendly campus with lots going on. It’s marmite as it’s not in a pretty city like Cambridge, Durham or York (although second years mostly live in Leamington Spa), but academically it’s a good choice and allows for building the extracurriculars that employers look for.

@Ventress he’s said if he doesn’t get a place at a top university for Maths then he’s not going anywhere! I don’t think a year out for maths is looked upon as a good thing unless there’s a way to keep the maths going at a high level. His plan b is quite outing - to do with a sport that he’s very good at!

We have been staying with my Dsil and doing a northern tour this week, Liverpool on Monday, Manchester yesterday and York today. Dd liked Liverpool and Manchester. We’re really seeing if we want to visits for open days, it’s a long way to travel for us and dd and I have never been to Manchester or Liverpool before, I’ve been to York, but Dd hasn’t. We don’t seem to have narrowed our search at all!

@wonderstuff we are doing something similar! Only down south. Off to Exeter today, went to Southampton last week just for a mooch about to check out the 'vibe'.
Again like you very few places are being crossed off. That is except for Liverpool. That was an immediate no! (Sorry Liverpool!)

I think that’s a good plan, get a feel for the city first. Although annoying that it didn’t cut down options! We found that when we went back for open days, The ones Dd liked, felt like home.

@AuntyBulgaria yes, it’s all about the vibe! Was the same for 6th form, unsurprisingly there Winchester had a better vibe than Basingstoke. This search is definitely harder! We are too near Southampton and Reading for dd to consider either of those. I like the Southampton campus, did my PGCE there many moons ago. But I’m not a fan of the city really.

@GrowingUpNow no I don’t think we’ve narrowed it down at all. Although I think it may have completely ruled out Lancaster which was on the long list. Dsil works at Lancaster and that’s were we are staying, it’s lovely, but such a small city compared with the other places we are visiting. I think dd likes the idea of big city living.

DBIL, who’s a retired academic has been saying ‘have you thought about x, or y university, why not?’ And I’m like, it wasn’t on the UNIfrog search, not sure why’ so now there’s a whole additional list to consider 😂. We were able to have a student ambassador show us around at Manchester and it was really good, she was so enthusiastic and there seems so many opportunities available there. It is huge though! Dbil thinks biggest uni in Europe?

That’s interesting, thank you @thatoldchestnut. It’s not that big a deal for my son as he doesn’t mind exams, but I know for some students having that time to work on an essay, rather than the time pressure in a standard exam scenario, would be a reason to chose Warwick.

Yes I’ve read that gap years aren’t looked on favourably for maths degrees. Has your son looked at US universities with a sports scholarship? My nephew is (hopefully) going to Harvard on a full scholarship with his sport and it includes flights and all living accommodation as well as course costs.

@wonderstuff Travelling around in the summer visiting different Universities seems a really good idea and as you say, it’s also nice to go to places you’ve not visited before. I also like the idea of meeting a student ambassador if they are there in the summer still.

Reputation wise, do you think Warwick is seen as more prestigious than York, Manchester and Bristol? We must try and book a visit to Warwick (even if it’s only just to see the place during the summer). York is lovely though. Everyone I’ve spoken to seem to love Manchester and have a lot of fun going there but have a feeling Warwick is higher in the rankings (not the only decision making factor though of course)

Another shout for visiting places for the vibe - DD has been on two open days at Norwich Uni of the Arts, loves it so yesterday we went back to explore Norwich a bit. It’s definitely top choice for her for Fine Art but there are two potentially more vocational courses she is considering (Derby - arts and wellbeing, Reading - arts and primary education). However Norwich in the sun yesterday was good, it’s a cosy city, historic so loads of interesting stuff everywhere and easy to walk around. We stopped at the uni art gallery too for a nose at the current exhibition.

@Ventress my DD is embarking on a year abroad at a Spanish University for non- language subject and all the practical arrangements (Visa, accommodation, insurance, enrollment in courses etc) are more or less left to the individual student to sort out. There are talks and (in theory) people to support you, but the overseas Uni doesn’t offer any accommodation so you just have to rent privately. Spanish Visa application isn’t for the faint hearted either. We are not there yet - around a month to go and no sign of a visa or any accommodation - so it’s all a bit stressful. Hopefully it’ll all come out in the wash. This is for an optional year abroad so might be different if it’s mandatory eg for a language. The tuition fees are paid to uk university from SFE and I believe will be lower, we’ll see. Students studying in same city from DD’s UK uni are planning to share apartments etc and I’m sure there’s a wealth of experience on Facebook/Insta groups, but I wouldn’t bank on any hand-holding from the UK university. Also look into how it might impact overall degree assessment - for DD 100% degree will be predicated on final year rather than 33% penultimate year/66% final year. Lots of positives too of course in terms of life experiences.

In CUG for history Warwick is 7th, York is 8th, Bristol 10th and Manchester is 13th - all really good.

I haven’t looked at Manchester but the others are AAA rather than AAB like Exeter and Birmingham (and other RG+). I don’t know about perception though.

York is much more attractive as a place than Coventry (sorry Coventry). But it is a lot further north. DS ruled it out as outside of his 2 hour travel radius 🙄 We are in the south too but west of London so the M40 is good for us while the M1 is not so good.

Thank you @Sandalshaming, I hope your daughter’s visa comes through soon. I’m sure she will have a wonderful, enriching, experience. Best of luck to her.

Hello! Pleased to see this thread, I feel like I’m obsessing about the whole uni thing and suddenly have very little time to get on top of it all!

My DS is looking at English/ Liberal Arts courses - keen to apply to Oxford and I think it would really suit him, although it feels like a long shot.

His other main contender is Bristol where he’ll get a contextual offer. He loves the city and the uni but the downside is it’s very close to home and already somewhere he knows well - doesn’t seem to bother him but I can’t help but think it’s slightly a shame to not discover a new city for himself at uni. He’s also seen and liked Exeter but his sister is there currently.

So we need to work out which others to look at this autumn - can anyone give me any feedback on English/Liberal Arts/general vibe at York, Leeds and Manchester? Particularly how they might compare to Bristol? And what the student theatre scene is like at any of these? Also Warwick although obviously not a city setting.

I’m wishing now that we’d shoehorned in more open days last term but it was so busy plus he had mocks - does mean that we’re slightly limited now on which open days we can attend before the early entry deadline. And it’s also hideously expensive looking at train travel to the more Northern unis - £200 for the two of us to visit Leeds or York!