Help us narrow this down please. (Uni choices).

[MouldyFridge]

DS needs to narrow the short list down to 5 courses. (Currently has 8 from 6 unis).
Looking for experiences of the courses or the places (or anything really) that can help narrow this down.

Cambridge and St Andrews are definitely going down.
He likes Lancaster but can’t decide between the courses.
He likes Loughborough but can’t decide between the courses.
He likes Lincoln but not sure on the course.
He likes the sound of the course Durham but wasn’t so keen on Durham itself.

Cambridge - NatSci
St Andrews - Chemistry and Physics
Lancaster - NatSci or Chemistry
Loughborough - NatSci or Chemistry
Lincoln - Chemistry
Durham - Chemistry and Physics

Some context:
We are from a rural part of the North West (don’t know whether that makes a difference).
He’s at a state school (always has been).
Predicted grades A stars and As in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths + EPQ.
GCSEs - 8x9s, 1x8 and 1x7. (8 and 7 were English Lang and lit).
He has a ton of work experience and career wise thinking something so do with energetics/energetic chemistry
He is out of year (should have left now but only going in Y13) because of issues earlier in secondary school (he re-did Y9 when he started a new school).

This doesn’t work any more as UCAS has brought the equal consideration deadline forward to 14 Jan 2026 which will be before Cambridge offers. (Unless he’s rejected pre-interview.)

Something else to throw into the mix: even with those predicted grades, an offer from St Andrews is not a slam dunk. At my DC’s super selective school it is the uni with their lowest offer/application ratio (this comment is not subject specific and doesn’t take into account the contextual situation you mentioned). So he may want 3 top-rated unis on his application.

The most common grades on the course at Lincoln are CCC and at Loughborough BBC. So there's a difference but perhaps not as great as we would assume (I would have expected the gap to be bigger, certainly).

DD is at a uni (Aber) which also scores highly for teaching quality and student satisfaction - my impression is they work really hard at these because they have to! They need people like DD to tell everyone how great the uni is. Probably Lincoln is the same.

He’s definitely considered York, I know because he asked me to take him and we went together. It was a serious contender at one point. Not sure what happened to that.

Bath hasn’t been looked at (or considered?) as far as I am aware. I’ll mention it and he can have a look.

Just for general awareness: He has been and seen quite a few places, school have been running trips in Saturdays/sundays to lots of universities in the north or England and south of Scotland so I do know he’s visited places like: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Newcastle, Durham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Lancaster as well as places like Cumbria, Northumberland, Strathclyde, UWS, Manchester met etc.
He also went on the special Oxbridge trip.

I’ve definitely taken him to York, Birmingham, St Andrews, Loughborough, Lancaster.

So he’s had the chance to look at a few places and ask questions. He’s ruled things out for his own reasons.

He’s not been anywhere south (Oxbridge being the exception) and I don’t think it was on the radar. I’ll get him to have a look and if needs be I will see if I can get him there somehow to have a look. If I’m honest I’m not entirely sure where Bath is other than somewhere in the south west so that’ll be a nice little adventure if he decides he’s interested.

(Sort of) laughing at the old clichés about St Andrews being trotted out again. Potentially the majority of Scotttish students at St Andrews will have done Advanced Highers in S6 (Y13) in their main degree subject - these are much closer to A Level.
It is miles from anywhere in the same way that Bristol or Exeter are miles from anywhere if you live in the northern part of the UK. There are actually trains that run to Scotland (and yes I am fully aware that the station is at Leuchars not St A itself. There are frequent buses and good taxis.). Planes fly to Edinburgh. Again, buses from Edinburgh.
It is as full of public school
students in the same way that very many universities are.
It is not a vast city in the same way that Durham and Exeter are not, but there is so much to do, with extremely vibrant student societies.
My Scottish DD was at St Andrews and absolutely loved it. Also applied to Durham and got an offer, but ruled it out completely at open day.

That’s interesting about how they might work harder. I know Lincoln got a gold TEF (but I don’t actually understand what that really means).

How did you find out the most common grades on the courses?

@SoilTiller this made me laugh “It is miles from anywhere in the same way that Bristol or Exeter are miles from anywhere if you live in the northern part of the UK.”
Because it’s so true. We lived closer to St Andrews (approx 3.5 hours away - confirmed, I’ve done the journey) than Bath or Exeter (approx 7-8 hours according to Google).

Its on the UCAS website - click on a course and it's near the bottom of the page.

It also tells you the highest and lowest grades on the course which is quite helpful.

The point about direct entry to second year at St Andrews needs a deep dive into the subject statistics. DS applied for that for biology, predicted 3 A*, and was the only university he didn't receive an offer from. On the open day Zoom it was said they preferred 4 year applicants but he didn't want to 'waste' a year.

DS firmed Durham and loved it, graduated this summer. One of his flat mates was on a contextual offer from the NW and he says it was the best thing he did. Re town and gown, DS played quite a lot of college sport but he also trotted off to play for the town team and they were very welcoming. He played for them all three years and made good friends there too.

DS was in Stephenson College which is fairly modern and furthest out, as was a farm back in time. It feels more open than the ancient buildings which DS did not want as he would have cracked his head frequently nor did he want catered. I agree with go with gut feeling but surely Durham has more in common with his preferred Cambridge and St A than Loughborough and Lancaster (which DS dismissed after open day)?

Wow, his school does a lot of trips !

@SoilTiller At which universities are the privately educated the majority? Hardly any! That’s just plainly wrong! In fact most aren’t above 40% and even by my wonky maths that’s not a majority or “most”. It’s laughable people still trot out this rubbish!

just a word of warning - my DD was predicted 3 x A stars with similar GCSE profile as your son and was rejected by Oxford after interviewing 3 times and also rejected by St Andrews - she looked perfect on paper but nothing is a given! She is (hopefully) heading to Durham.

@theysayimthespitofyou Oxford is not just about A levels though! After 3 interviews it’s a fine line but others just did better in the whole selection process which isn’t just A level predictions. Durham is hardly a poor outcome. StA is also able to be choosy.

@TizerorFizzabsolutely. Which is why OP’s son, even with his excellent grade predictions, needs good options outside of Cambs and St Andrews, which was my point. Nothing is certain when applying to that level of university.

@theysayimthespitofyou Dc have 5 choices so it’s worth having a couple where dc should get in. However 5 all at Durham, StA and Oxford level could be a disaster. Certainly 2 need to not be elite.

Wow, his school does a lot of trips !

Yes, that's exactly what I thought! Ours does one uni trip.

I think we do the heady heights of two local unis.

Hi, OP -

I am a former STEM admissions tutor. I too think your DS can very likely stroll into Lincoln next year if he likes, although there is never a guarantee. So I am with the majority here. However if DS finds he really doesn’t want to let Lincoln go, he should keep it but also interrogate himself about why. It is so different that it might be telling him that he needs something his other choices aren’t providing.

I too was surprised to see the Chemistry League Table ranking for Lancaster in the CUG. Many STEM subjects there are highly ranked. How significant this is, when CUG gives an overall No 10 ranking to the UG Chemistry programme, is not clear. It could be that this is more about research quality (I have not investigated) and other things that really won’t have much impact on the UG experience. St Andrews is the most notable UK university this way - outstanding Teaching and Learning in many STEM subjects, whilst research lags. Loughborough is similar, but they are internationally known for their research in STEM Teaching and Learning.
I would not be too concerned.

Does DS know that for Insurance it is recommended to use a choice 2 grades off your PGs? From what you wrote I will assume PGs of A+ A+ AA and likely offers made on 3 exams. So Insurance choice should be AAA maximum, AAB is more relaxed. I know DS is terrifically able but I also know that you cannot predict what life will bring and who will underperform as a result. The only exception to this is if you prefer a gap year. Or have Lincoln in your pocket, I guess.

I agree with the positive views of both Bath and Sheffield from upthread. I also think visiting Durham on Offer Holder Day (if an offer is forthcoming) for a more in depth look as suggested above is a great idea.

Finally, DS should be aware that St A’s has become so popular that there is a real element of randomness. If it doesn’t work out I hope he will take it robustly. Best wishes to him

I am mystified as to why Lincoln would be considered for Chemistry. It’s hardly got a great pedigree for hard sciences. I think the body of students doing chemistry would not be the same as at, say, Bath or Sheffield. For 2 “easier” choices, look at clearing. That will indicate what higher ranked universities have spaces and will be likely to offer next year.

Objectively I agree with you, @TizerorFizz , but when a place captures someone’s attention I think it is good to pay attention to that. We all hope the DS will let Lincoln go but if he feels very strongly about it at least he needs to figure out why.

One thing to consider is if the Uni offers an integrated masters e.g MSci. The funding for these is the same as undergraduate funding rather than a postgraduate loan.

Definitely consider where could be available in clearing with the caveat that that doesn't mean it will be in clearing next year.

DS is in a big city university but has stayed on and near his suburban campus and never been to the city centre.

UEA is a nice leafy campus in a smallish city (Norwich) but probably quite far travel wise.

@poetryandwine Yes - the question is why? There are similar universities in smallish cities and towns that are better. Also dc can easily stay in a university area, eg Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds have distinct areas for the university. Students can be quiet or out on the town. It’s choice but for sciences, all beat Lincoln.

So - Peer pressure maybe? Taking it easy? Being top of the class? All have their attractions. It would be interesting to know the % at Lincoln with his predicted results. I would be looking at job outcomes and where would he go after Lincoln? Lincolnshire is one of the area that employ the least graduates and for Chemistry grads, I honestly think being around possible employers matters. Are the likely employers coming to Lincoln careers fairs looking for Chemistry grads?

When dc have views about a university it’s somewhat narrow because they are only 17. They are not considering everything. It’s up to advising adults to fill in the gaps.

Lincoln is an interesting inclusion when set alongside the others. Granted it has a spectacular cathedral, not sure that is a compelling reason in itself. And relatively few students from the North West, just past 3% of the undergrad body.

whilst the league tables do need to be taken with a generous amount of salt for Chemistry its less than remarkable position is only slightly below Lancaster, whereas in the prior year Lincoln ranked above Lancaster.

I know relatively little about STEM, beyond COWI, but was a little surprised to see for Chem Lancaster is on a bit of a downward trajectory- ranked 11th on CUG back in 2020, the slipped into the 20 to 30 placements, and in the past two years sits in the 30-40 group. Out of around 50 unis ranked for Chem, so not even the top half.

though tbh Loughborough is not that much more inspiring placement wise - 25 in latest set, and mid 20s placement pretty much since CUG tables back to 2008.

The DCs other potential choices are at the real top end. In terms of smaller locations for the subject preference there is though a fairly limited choice. Keele ranks higher than Lancaster -,this year at least.

Just a practical point re Bath - it's a long and expensive journey from the NW, either by car or train. One of my DC's was initially very keen on Bath but when we visited the combination of the journey and the cost of accommodation was very off putting. Obviously if it had been a dream course or they offered something that nowhere else did it would have been different but that wasn't the case for my DC and the practical difficulties just weren't worth it in their case.
I think that if you're comparing several similar courses the practicalities do matter and there's a lot to say for somewhere that the prospective student won't have to work ridiculous hours to cover the cost of living. Obviously the course is the most important thing but all other things being equal it's perfectly reasonable to choose on the basis of logistics or liking the location more. Being happy with life in general is important.

Hard agree with @MrsAvocet there. You need to live there for three years - you need to like it. And yy distance should be at least considered. My Ds maybe would rather be further from home in some ways, but the short journey means I can easily go watch his matches (I realise this is not on everyone’s list, but sthg similar might be). A long journey is £££ and worth bearing in mind

Yes, most students at Lincoln come from East Yorks, Humberside, Notts, and then south down the railway routes.