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!

It seems to me that aside from London (which DC isn’t considering) and Bristol (and possibly Exeter) most good options for History are a bit further up North (or Midlands) which is a shame as it’s further away from home

Yes the fees will be lower to SFE - 15% of tuition fees for her year abroad. I think it really depends on each university how good they are in supporting you (some give travel bursaries, help find accom) and the same with overseas universities some are more helpful than others but it will a really good experience.

@Ventress he’s not at all interested in studying at a US university.

@Fabfabfab he’s not a fan of Manchester as a city and doesn’t want to venture any further North than that - purely distance from home (3 hour radius is his cut off!).

We’ll know more after his TMUA and MAT tests and today he’s said that he’s going to just put his Oxford application in in October and then add the other 4 choices before the January deadline. By then we’ll know if he got an interview at Oxford, I think, if that’s lead to an offer. If that part doesn’t go to plan then perhaps he’ll reconsider the other 4 applications.

@Muchtoomuchtodo Oxford offers will be made on 13 Jan and the equal consideration deadline is 14 Jan, so there is (just!) time to factor the Oxford result in if desired, at the very last minute.

Thanks @Marisquita . I knew it was tight but hadn’t realised it was that tight! Not sure school will be happy with him leaving the final 4 choices that late!

So we visited Exeter today. The university campus was lovely and I like the town, just wondering whether it's too quiet. DS is not a party animal so is probably all right, but just thinking that the nightlife seemed a bit sparse and you're not that near any other major cities.

Oh there are so many decisions and when I ask DS he's like 'I don't mind', 'seems great'.

He has at least decided that he is not ready for an apprenticeship! A small step forward!

Just checking in as my youngest is starting the process for Sept 26 having just decided not to take a gap year.

Do remember it’s your YP going to Uni not you. I applied for all big cities with Campuses. My YP applied for smaller cities/towns, as really doesn’t want the “big city” experience. Even very small places tend to have student nightlife available.
What kind of things is your son into? Maybe sport or rock climbing or … is more important to him?

At the open day the students said there are only a few nightclubs and they tend to get very busy but they said they have a lot of house parties instead.

@Blossomdearie we drove up because it was more than £200 on the train. It’s absolutely crazy, I imagine we could have flown for less!

We realised today that the 16-17 railcard runs out the day you turn 18, which seems really unfair particularly on older kids going into Y13! You can of course get the 16-25 card but that only gives 1/3 off rather than 1/2. In London kids concession cards run until the end of Aug in the year they reach the cut off age, which seems much fairer. So as of today dd only gets 1/3 off as it’s not worth paying £35 for only 3 months of the higher discount.

Can report that park and ride from South Parkway station for Liverpool works well if you’re travelling from the south.

@AuntyBulgariaa young woman I know has just graduated from Exeter. She said she loved the city but by year 3 there was nowhere she hadn’t been lots of times. She said they had BBQs and parties on the beach too.

I’m glad your northern tour was good @wonderstuffalthough it sounds as though it’s raised lots of possibilities and your daughter has lots to think about!

@MyOtherProfilewhat does your DC want to study?

My son looked briefly at liberal arts @Blossomdearie. I believe Durham is highly thought of for this. Exeter, as you know, has its own theatre on campus, so does Warwick. I don’t know about the others.

If you exclude Oxbridge and London then it’s really just Exeter and Bristol which are south of Watford.

Birmingham has its own train station (a branch line from Birmingham New Street) which makes it very easy from Reading. Warwick you either drive or get the train then a bus. It’s certainly more out of town than the others we visited.

Nottingham, Loughborough, York, Leeds, Sheffield and those further north you have to get to King’s Cross and get the train from there which adds time and cost to the journey (for us anyway).

@Ventress we are still narrowing it down! Either English Lit or Journalism this week...

We considered this (for maths, too) but decided it was too tight- DD was worried she’d mess something up at the last minute! I think she’s decided just to put Oxford down initially, and then the other choices after TMUA results.

A reminder that of you have tesco club card vouchers, you can use them towards a railcard. £17.50 in club card vouchers is £35 for a railcard. But yes, so frustrating that the 16-17 card is so short lived! I'm going to look at a longer term card for the 16 - 25 card.

Student bank accounts often give a free 4 year railcard as their perk. Doesn’t help if you need one for yr13, but a 2 year one might do.

1 year!

I grew up in the south east so when looking at universities, I always had to factor the hassle of getting into London first before travelling anywhere else. Now we live in Leeds so dd is extremely lucky that she has so many good universities within a couple hours train travel.

@bettyjane that sounds wise. I think DS is likely to do similar - getting his other 4 choices in before Christmas but after he knows how the TMUA and MAT went. That should give him a bit more of an idea if his choices are sensible or too aspirational.

@AuntyBulgaria Exeter is a completely different city when the huge student community is there. DD has had the most brilliant first year there with no end of fun things to do - she’s not a party animal either but she’s enjoyed the few clubs (avoiding the main sports soc nights on Wednesdays as that’s not her scene!), live music at Cavern, quirky things at Phoenix Arts Centre, the crazy fancy dress bingo night, endless pubs, music nights at the campus pub, trips to the beach and Dartmoor, uni society events and balls. It’s been incredible for her and she can’t wait to get back for second year. It feels like the ideal student lifestyle to me - and I’m only a little nostalgic, having gone there myself over 30 years ago!

@wonderstuff We’ve had the same railcard realisation! I’ve just renewed DS’s 16-17 one even though it will expire in a few months as he’s commuting to a summer course this month. Seems so unfair that travel suddenly becomes so much more expensive just at the stage when young people are ready to go out and explore the world under their own steam.

@Ventress thanks re Durham - I’ve been avoiding it slightly as it’s SO far from us but I’ll get DS to check it out.

I’m thinking maybe we should just pick one more uni to see this autumn and then he chooses his remaining options based on the course and online research and just plan to go to offer holder days at a later stage - by which time we’ll know if he’s got anywhere with Oxford. I had lovely images of lots of weekends away in different cities but the reality is that we don’t have the money or the time to do that!

@GrowingUpNow What’s Leeds like? Is it a good city to be a young person do you think? I’m a bit embarrassed at how little I know that part of the country!

Leeds is fantastic! It’s interesting visiting other cities because nothing compares in my opinion. Just a shame that dd wants to go further afield. I must admit the shopping tends to cloud my opinion sometimes. Leeds for example has a John Lewis and Uniqlo is about to open. It’s a high bar!

Dd was excited that Liverpool had a Sephora. DSIL was excited to tell us Manchester had a Harvey Nics (she doesn’t have kids so has money for such places!).

I’m desperate for a Uniqlo!

Is it too much to try and visit Leeds and Manchester in one weekend (by car) do you think? Or doable? And how about Leeds and York?

@Blossomdearie I think so. We did Manchester, Liverpool and York on 3 separate days, we found that by the time we got there it was late morning (we travelled up from Hants on day 1, when we didn’t get to Liverpool until early afternoon, and back on day 3, basing ourselves in Lancaster with family) took an hour or so to see the campus, then we travelled into town for some lunch and then were pretty tired. If you are just visiting the town you could probably do 2 or if you were up for a long day. Obviously we had a long journey up and home as well. Definitely not far between those cities. We did park and ride for York and I’d definitely recommend that. We took the train into Manchester from Lancaster, I wouldn’t drive into the city but transport links in are good.