Is Exeter uni’s intake still mostly from the independent sector?

[Bell8484]

And if so is this an issue for those from state/ more diverse backgrounds?

My friends dd is there and she’s from the local secondary, it is still one of the posher unis I think though.

I think you can look up rankings of which unis have the most private school kids. I'll see if I can find it

I know many many many many people
who went there and none are from Independant. Where are you getting this info from?

It can attract more Independant kids due to reputation but also knowing someone who worked in admissions and clearing it isn’t leaning toward Independant.

Here https://thetab.com/2025/01/17/the-russell-group-unis-where-the-most-private-school-students-are-lurking-in-2025

My sons are there and say it seems a lot of Indi kids
just their observations I don’t know the stats

edited to add
Wiki notes higher than national average at 30/34%

Does it matter? Or why does it matter?

Think it is - ‘surrey on sea’!

17% of sixth form go to private schools. That's a lot of students..

Full of Lib Dem voters then😀

More seriously @Bell8484 www.hesa.ac.uk has loads of stats.

plus the Times provides a summary by school type - including grammars - as part of its tables.

Good point
I think OP was questioning if it would be an issue re diversity

Obviously not
A Uni with a mix = lots of diversity

From The Times university rankings...

Percentages of students from private schools need to be reframed to take account of percentages of international students, the overwhelming majority of whom will have been to private schools or highly selective state schools. LSE for example is about 50% international students at undergraduate.

This- international students are wealthy almost by default because they’re from families who can afford 30k pa in fees plus living expenses ( often in the more expensive cities) with no access to student finance. Even if they don’t go to independent school, they’re in that income bracket which is what people are really asking- “will everyone else be rich?”

No university’s intake is mostly from the independent sector. This has been the case for decades and decades.

Exeter has about twice the proportion independent school students as the independent share of sixth form students/home university students in total. So 70% of the home student body is from independent schools.

International students are often very, very rich! Students from provincial private schools who grew up feeling very comfortably off can be taken off guard by the lifestyles that some international students have grown up with.

Currently around 30% from the independent sector.

My DD went there (left 5 years ago) and we were expecting a high proportion of private school/wealthy but mostly average. In reality DD was one of only two non private school kids in the 12 in their first accommodation. There were two from Eton!
She did find them very different from her mates from home. Didn’t make friends in that accommodation. Then moved out with three international students who became great friends. Yes they are all wealthy. (She has visited their homes).

So. Surprisingly privileged is what she found. Not a problem though. Good to meet all sorts. And they got to meet a girl from a terrible academy! 😁

Not necessarily. I live in a international school city and, yes, Exeter seems a popular pick among that cohort. However, many of these families get school fees paid by the company that moves them around.

Do you think they have a preference for privately educated students?Anybody know how state school pupils get on and how inclusive it is?

The figure for Newcastle surprised me, I know so many that went there but they were state boarding, not independent

No university is legally allowed to show a 'preference' for private school students. In a way that could be proven.

They will take lots of international ones though as that's a massive money grabber.

The students from the UK pay the same fees wherever they're from so it shouldn't make a difference to them you'd hope.

Do you think they have a preference for privately educated students?

What you're suggesting is the the academic and professional staff responsible for Admissions are corrupt, and look at the school attended, rather than the results or predicted results of the applicant. Do you realise how offensive that is, @Bell8484 ?

The issue with all high A-Level tariff universities (not just Exeter, or Oxford, or Bristol) is that educational advantage maps onto socio-economic advantage, whether children are educated in state or paid-for schools.

No, I don't think the uni has a preference. I just think that a lot of privately educated students and their parents are attracted to it. It has a great reputation but doesn't necessarily have high entry grades, and it's near a lot of their second homes. It's also only a 2 hour direct train from Reading - very easily accessible therefore from the home counties.

Doesn’t surprise me, I went there (from a state school). There’s an agriculture department which partly explains it.