Best unis for maths

[Dangermouse999]

DS is in y12 and we’re looking at going to some uni open days.

He’s planning to apply for Maths and is probably on track to get 4 A stars in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Comp Sci.

He's considering the following:

1st tier: Cambridge/Oxford, Warwick
2nd tier: Bath, St Andrews, Durham, maybe Edinburgh and Bristol
3rd tier: Exeter, Lancaster, Southampton, Loughborough.

He prefers a smaller to medium size town, definitely not London and he's not a big partying kind of person.

Does anyone have any experience of these unis / other suggestions / any advice in general for Maths degrees?

Good to hear that your DS is aware of the STEP paper and working on that. A friend's son is going to Warwick for Maths and Stats. He originally applied for maths but he didn't do well enough on his STEP paper. (He decided to apply for maths late in the game and he feels he didn't do enough STEP practice)
Warwick came back with the counter offer of Maths & Stats and he's doing that. His parents are both Cantab grads so that was his first choice, Warwick was his second and Birmingham was his third.

As a city, I find Cambridge to be prettier and easier to access because it's more open than Oxford which just seems to be a lot of big walls. Also, Cantab seems to have a stronger reputation for maths/engineering/stem. My DH went there back in the day (for electronic engineering) as did many of his friends who now live in Oxford so I have visited both cities many times. My DD has just started at OxBrookes so I will start to know Oxon better.

Good luck to you DS.

I was going to say something similar. Years ago I knew the mum of a very good Mathematician (best the school had ever had yadda yadda yadda). He got offered a place at Cambridge and put Warwick as his Insurance. His A Levels were stellar but he messed up his STEP and missed both places!
It's human nature that think that "50% of Cambridge offers don't convert to matriculation" applies to other people but it deserves serious contemplation and serious thought about the Insurance choice.

Out of interest what did he do? clearing, or gap year and where did he end up going?

He went through clearing. They always say that Maths is a 'use it or lose it' thing so he didn't want to lose momentum on a year out.
He went to a decent University (redbrick, Russel group and all that) but it wasn't one renowned for its Maths Dept.

Check what test you need to take for the current year as they do change and there is more than one; I’ve also heard of TMUA. For places like Durham, they are optional but may lead to a reduced offer.

My daughter studied Maths at Bath, had a great experience, friends for life etc. She also did a placement year in Industry, I can’t over emphasise how much of an advantage that is for graduates entering the job market with a non vocational degree like Maths. She had her place on a graduate scheme with a top company offered and accepted in her final year, long before her final exams. They paid for futher exams for professional qualifications in her first two years of work.

Leeds could possibly have been in his third tier of choices from an academic point of view but it's probably too big a city for his tastes.

Did a trip coincidentally to Oxford over the summer and we already know Cambridge inside out, so it's interesting to compare the two.

DS has a strong preference for Cambridge over Oxford for several reasons and I think if he does end up applying to one of the Oxbridge unis, it will almost certainly be Cambridge.

Exactly this - nothing is guaranteed, hence looking at a few tiers of uni.

DS has been thought of as a stellar mathematician since early primary school but who's to say he won't level off in the next couple of years, unexpectedly fluff an interview or do badly in an entrance test?

I'd be happy for him to go to any of the unis I listed. He's always had top drawer academic ability but the reason he's looking at smaller cities is his happiness in life is just as important as his potential academic achievement.

@clary You need to update yourself on student backgrounds at Bristol. It’s like Oxbridge - big majority are state educated. Unlike Durham. People party like hell at other universities too by the way!

DD is at Leeds doing Nat Sci, with maths as one of the choices. She's loving it.

We had offer days at Loughborough, Lancaster and Durham. Lancaster felt old and poor condition, Durham was very white middle class and Loughborough protests that it's lost its "we're just for sports" but it hasn't really.

Leeds could possibly have been in his third tier of choices from an academic point of view but it's probably too big a city for his tastes.

I found it felt more like a campus university, despite being across the road from the city. It's busy but it feels safe around the main area. He could easily stay within the uni grounds and forget it's busy outside.

Cambridge much better than Oxford as a place to live IMO. Oxford as a city is surprisingly grotty outside the colleges (I've worked in both).

I have a DC doing maths at Durham, absolutely loves it. Any specific questions, ask away and I'll pass them on.

Yes it's a small city. The collegiate system suits DC - it gives a sense of community and belonging. Loads of great social life in the colleges. Public transport links to e.g. Newcastle are cheap for students, and good. Downside is that accommodation is expensive and scarce.

@Dangermouse999 I think you slightly mistake larger cities as somehow being difficult for a student to navigate. I’ve had DDs in Bristol and London and DH was at Sheffield. Other relatives have been to Liverpool and Newcastle. They all find people like them and a city doesn’t equal any particular way of life and small towns can be very much about (excessive) drinking etc!

I’d go and have a look at favourites but narrow the list down a bit. Oxford isn’t a small city either! Plenty of “fun” to be had if you want it. Students only really live in a student bubble in a hall for year 1. After that they might want what a city offers, eg theatre, music (gigs) and professional sport. My DD1 definitely did and some places offer this and others don’t. Some people want or need next to nothing - so personality matters and “best” depends on a number of things. For most maths grads, there is a job at the end. Although a Cambridge maths grad I know really struggled!

Interesting you think that about Lancaster. We only went to an open day there in July 2023 and that wasn't my impression at all. Some of the accommodation was a bit older but there were newer and more recently built options too and they seemed to have good facilities. During our open days, we went to much tattier campuses than Lancaster. DD didn't go for it as she preferred other courses but we know plenty of Lancaster students past and present who love the place.

We didn’t love Lancaster at all - my DD thought it was a bit tatty and old and stuck out. Lots of people really love it but she hated it almost immediately. What a waste of a long trip (though I suppose it’s good to write these things off as on paper it looked good)

The smaller town/city location is DS's personal preference.

He's visited Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool and Cardiff in the last 3 years so it's not like he's never seen a big city or is petrified of them. And we live just fairly close to London so he's regularly visited there.

Completely agree - what a great approach.

Bath and Cambridge are lovely places to be outside of the academics. And both obviously have excellent maths departments. At Warwick I know a few people who have done MORSE and this has been really beneficial in their future careers. Is your son wanting to focus on pure maths?

@Dangermouse999 Ah. So he doesn’t want anything much outside university - fair enough.

I know Warwick maths offers some business type modules but these get booked up. Mathematicians can be versatile when it comes to careers though.

Good question.

DS is very strong on pure maths. Up until a couple of years ago I thought he might have gone down the Comp Sci route but maths is his true passion.

He's already studied all the core pure maths content for Further Maths and most of the content for the optional papers, mainly stats and further pure maths.

I'm hoping that his 6th form will open his eyes a bit more to topics outside of pure maths. However, I don't think he's got that much passion for mechanics or going into something like Engineering.

@Dangermouse999 how far are you from London btw? Like an hour on the train? Or a lot longer? As in is it easy to do day trips to London?

Less than an hour by train. I grew up in London so we've regularly done day trips to London with the kids.

This is nothing to do with Maths, but dd is fourth year at Nottingham and you don’t need to be spending that much! She’s had 3 shared houses now and none have cost more than £5200pa. We gave her a limit and she found plenty of options - in the ‘Lenton triangle’ too. But probably irrelevant if cost isn’t a concern particularly.

Has he considered York? It’s a small city with a good quality of life and has got high ratings on student satisfaction in recent years.
I should declare an interest as a relative works there, but I can tell you they get good numbers of very bright students so he would not have trouble finding his academic peers.

Money wise. Since London is relatively near maybe he shouldn't rule it out? Can actually save money. Instead of paying and forking out for 3/4 years worth on accommodation. He can live with family and take the train to one of the fabulous universities for mathematics in London.

There's Imperial and UCL. And also KCL and LSE as safety options. I'm sure your bright DS would get into one of these at the very least.

London is a great city to be a student in.