Exeter: uni de jour ! Why ? Everyone we know wants it ?

[PaperTyger]

My DD is high achieving and has offers from all she wants but she's thinking of Exeter.,it was the most popular place at her school last year and everyone else I'm chatting to says their DC want it.
We didn't visit but I can see it's in a beautiful place. Any thoughts ?

I hope she goes somewhere she really wants not becsuee it's the fashion.

It’s popular with the posh squad. High percentage of privately educated students. Not an issue in itself but they can be an insular cliquy group at times. It is very popular with DS’s school, and one of the reasons he wouldn’t consider it. He’d had enough of the ones who applied there.

DS wanted a uni with a broader demographic, although he ended up attending uni in a city where a fair few of his cohort were at uni. He prides himself that he not immediately identified as privately educated, although it has given him the quiet confidence and polish you associate with private schools but not the arrogance.

Boring, lives up to it's reputation as posh boy rugby uni. Not that hard to get into anymore.

Yes, she did stay at Bath overnight. Hill put her off! Dh and I are not English, so we are not very helpful with these things. I am in Exeter now visiting her. She really is so happy and after years of poor mental health, anorexia, time out of school and hospitalisation, I couldn’t be more than relieved.

imagine telling state school kids they shouldn't be applying to Oxford, Imperial, Durham(top of the list apart from Royal Agricultural),St Andrews,Edinburgh becuase they might meet "posh" people - all of which have higher private school percentages than Exeter! I think we should be encouraging our teens to break through perceived class boundaries and feel just as deserving of a place at the higher ranked uni's.

A bit surprised by the ‘Tim nice but dim’ comments about Exeter. DS has an offer of A star AA, which is higher than what Oxford asks for his subject. Also why is being a place for Oxbridge rejects a bad thing? The same can be said of Durham, Warwick and a bunch of other great universities.

We all really liked Exeter when we visited, and didn’t detect any more poshness or elitism than at Bristol, Bath, Warwick or Oxford. DS may well choose to go to Exeter (if he can meet the demanding offer).

It seems such a pity that grown adults insist on making unpleasant sweeping generalisations about all private school students and then extend these views to universities. It’s bizarre.

I think that people are just wanting their youngsters to find kindred spirits. Also when I went to university there was a good social mix but a couple from the south had a lot more money given than anyone else which if totally surrounded by affluent people I would have struggled socially to do things that they were doing.

Probably because they think they’ll meet a rich partner, lots have it as a backup. I know lots that had it as an option and they were the first to offer but didn’t make it their firm or insurance, they hadn’t actually visited before but did after they got their offers and it put them off.

I think its tim nice but dim reputation might come from its entry standards. Whilst it advertises high grade requirements, it tends to let students in who have dropped grades. It's a useful insurance university. Times university ranking makes it 28th when looking at entry standards, below Sheffield, Leeds, Warwick, Bristol, Bath and Durham etc..

If you're from a certain type of background and you won't make the grades for Durham or Oxbridge, Exeter will ensure you are surrounded by plenty of people from your background in a way that isn't so in your face at other universities. It's not just people who went to private schools but people who went to the most expensive private schools and often boarding schools. Those who went to regional private day schools can find themselves feeling overwhelmed by the money and attitudes of the very wealthy there. Exeter, like Durham, is small and compact and it's more difficult to avoid day to day interactions with the dominant rugby/hockey types.

Having said that, I can see why Exeter appeals to many. I know someone there and they've had a great experience and it looks like the university is very supportive, has great teaching and research and also a focus on employability. I think if people know what it's like before they get there and choose accommodation that puts them in touch with the type of people they want to be friends with then it looks like a great place to study.

I also think TikTok has a lot to do with it's growing popularity.

Paragraph 2 has to the biggest load of b0ll0cks written so far on this thread, and there's some strong competition

My northern state school daughter is coming to the end of her time at Exeter. She loves it and has thrived there. Huge mix of friends, some wealthy some not, some privately educated, many not, some gay, some heterosexual, some bi. Some clubbers, some rugby, some both, some neither. She has a maintenance loan.
Like all unis a lot depends on the friends made and interests. She is a devoted member of a club and has made a lot of friends from there, she only rarely sees her first year flat mates although they get on fine. Loves the proximity of the beach in summer and the walkability. I do not love the rents and the drive down at peak times but am very happy she is happy and am glad the open day which did feel full of more privileged than us types didn't put her off.

Which bit?

God almighty,I totally agree!

So people want diversity but not anyone who earns more than them, went to private school or heaven forbid boarding school? So people who are different but not that different and actually if anyone calls their dad Daddy then definitely not. So people really want a uni full of people exactly like their own family. 🙄

@fortyfiftyall of it

@fortyfifty re: entry standards, Exter has a contextual policy offer of 2 grades below standard for many state schools in the SW , do you consider state school pupils more "dim" because they may not as easily acheive high grades due to their school background ?

Gosh - I wish I hadn't written anything now. It wasn't my intention to offend anyone.

Tim nice but dim is a phrase that used to be used about posh people who weren't very bright. I was merely explaining why Exeter might have had that reputation. Nothing to do with state school pupils with contextual offers.

And I have nothing against private schools at all. It's disingenuous for some to pretend Exeter doesn't have a reputation for being more posh.

@CrwysmamDo you honestly believe Exeter doesn’t have dc like yours? Unfortunately his quiet confidence and polish will be noticed by the dc of posters on here. Someone will see it as intolerable privilege!

It’s such a shame that university attendance is such a class issue for the majority from state schools if posts are to be believed . State educated dc are a majority everywhere but some dc appear utterly fixated on people they think are better off and will not go to a university because of one overheard conversation! They don’t want to learn with these dc and immediately take against them. How have they formed these dividing but immature views? I blame the parents!

It’s what’s wrong with uk in many ways. Entrenched tribal attitudes that has brought division and disharmony. Students, one would think, could rise above this but they seem to do the opposite. They double down on divisions and naked intolerance and their parents agree and promote it. It’s shameful.

My son goes to a very minor, local private school. When people ask him which school he’s at, he’s taken to saying “<school name> because I’ve got two scholarships and my dad works there”. It makes me rather sad that there’s such blanket prejudice against every private school student everywhere that he feels he needs to say this.

But is that not exactly why people choose private school? Although some say it's for the pastoral support, or the sports, some also say that their child charmingly 'would be eaten alive' at a state school - meaning they don't want their children mixing with the hoi polloi. Then there's a massive volte face at uni and state parents who are concerned about heavy private school populations at certain universities are scoffed at for having 'dividing' (sic) and 'immature' views.

Ds is at Durham - it is very much a place where there is a private / state divide - it is very naive to assume otherwise. It’s not necessarily a problem, but saying it’s not a thing is bollocks. The hill colleges are known as the ‘slums’ as they tend to have more state school kids in. Even the clothes are different so you can tell who is from where - maybe not the more ‘regular’ private schools but the kids who have been to Rugby, Marlborough etc all know each other and stick together a lot of the time. It can be very alienating for the state school kids as they don’t feel like they will fit in.

‘twas ever thus - people stick largely to people like them.

you are so right. Parents choose private schools for exactly these reasons - which doesn’t make it wrong but then to suggest that state school kids’ worries about the private school crowd reflects a lack of open mindedness is actually gaslighting in the extreme. It’s like private school parents are happy to have their kids exposed to the hoi polloi as an enriching life experience once the stakes are lower and their impact on polished and confident Johnny can be mitigated, as the worst of them have been filtered out.
Some of the same posters on here have made clear on other threads they do not think that a child who gets 5s at GCSEs should be able to proceed to A levels and sixth form and university - when actually these kids who haven’t had everything handed to them on a plate may well excel as they get older and have as much right to try an academic education as everyone else.

You misunderstood. He has a number of friends like him at Exeter but it was the ones he didn’t like at school that are the more stereotypical Exeter students he wasn’t keen on being around. He chose a course that is very niche and not offered at undergrad level at any of the RG Unis. He is at a uni where privately educated students are in the minority. His choice of uni was based solely on the subject. But he has had a broader base of friends growing up as a result of the sports he played.

Exeter is also easily accessible from our location so if you’re not bright enough to do Oxbridge or Durham then parents encourage Exeter. DS loves the big city life at uni, he would have loved to go to Liverpool and liked Birmingham but it was a bit close to home. As others have said Exeter is a small city not unlike the city DS went to school he just wanted to experience somewhere with more diversity.

He just found that some of his peer group at school were not very inclusive so now steers well clear. To be honest they were often from families who were new to money so had certain expectations and preconceptions which really aren’t the case. Those are the individuals that at Exeter would be the centre of the so called cliques.

DS has had the best of both worlds and values friendship over status. He adapts to his environment which is a a bit of a superpower in this day and age.

Some of the same posters on here have made clear on other threads they do not think that a child who gets 5s at GCSEs should be able to proceed to A levels and sixth form and university

I have posted numerous times that I think it is not a good idea for a student with a 5 in my subject (MFL) to take the A level as (and I speak from experience here) they will almost certainly really struggle (it's a linear subject and a certain level of ability and knowledge has to be assumed); they will probably become demotivated and it’s unlikely they will pass if I am honest. The same is broadly true of other subjects too, notably maths and to some extent sciences.

But I don't think many people are saying though that a student who gains 5s at GCSE should in some way be barred from post-16 education and uni. I certainly am not. A mate of DS's did an A level in something he got a 5 in at GCSE; tbf he didn't enjoy it much or get a high grade, but he did it and did well enough to get to a good uni where he got a first.

It might be that a different qual will suit a student better than A levels, but that may well lead to uni if they want and they could discover that they find their passion. And all the best to them indeed.

@clary Getting 5s across the board at GCSE won’t lead to university grades in A levels for most though. My view is do BTec and consider lower than degree options. Not saying dc cannot improve from a 5, but in what subjects? Difficult to think where a 5 can readily be converted to A levels with worthwhile grades and schools just want the bums on seats money. Everyone should consider the best route to HE, and that doesn’t have to be A levels. I would prefer to see far more apprenticeships or starting on a 2 year HND course. Then a degree would be another 2 years, but dc would have proved they could study successfully. I would like to see such courses being cheaper and offered locally. This would cut down borrowing by students.