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?

'nor are all state educated young people bitter and jealous of their more well off peers.'

I don't think the YP are, actually. But the parents seem to be.

Incase you missed my previous post.

I have not said that at all. I simply want her to be comfortable in her surroundings and be aware and prepared when making important decisions.
I’m well aware that uni isn’t a crèche and my dd will have way more life experience than the majority
and has resilience in spades.She has no need for a finishing school.You do however have no idea as to how well she or any other student will mix
or difficulties she and others may have.
I just wondered if they had any extra support programmes.Clearly not but it didn’t hurt to ask somebody with a child already there.

Indeed. I have no skin in the game BTW. We seriously looked at private for secondary. DD passed the entrance exam, but we weren't eligible for a bursary.

We decided that we would be better off supporting DD through university than paying for secondary education, and with hindsight it was the right decision. I have no preconceived ideas about privately educated children and neither does DD.

We are fortunate enough to live within the catchment area of the best state secondary school in the LA, and the only one with a 6th form.

And not being able to afford to move into the catchment of a ‘best state school’ is one reason why parents can end up applying for huge bursaries at staggeringly expensive independent schools.

I wish more people understood this.

Honestly the thought of parents wanting their children to avoid those I know who attended independent schools from completely impecunious homes is horrifying to me.

They do have extra support

I don’t know why someone’s said that doesn’t exist

Extra dupport re emotional, personsal, work related re timetabling etc etc. mental health

Not extra classes. It’s Uni not school.

Thanks @Tocsin

this is why generations don’t move onwards and upwards.

Thank goodness my two at Exeter and one at another Uni aren’t putting up with hateful name calling.

Yes and having done a search I think they do transition support and an enhanced induction programme for some. They also offer personal tutors, pastoral mentors, 1-1 study skills tutoring ILPs etc for some.

That’s really encouraging.

Hold on to your hats I’m going to name call

it’s small minded

Yes

And the personal tutors are very good I understand from both sons

One of mine also has mh support which has been outstanding

but OP
you need to know
they won’t tell you anything about your daughter whilst there

I get updates because of a disability ( and my son has signed an agreement ) that’s all

Its up to the student to engage
They won’t chase them

Yes I know that.

Quite.

We hadn’t expected to send our children to an independent school. They went to a state primary and it was only when we started to investigate the local state options (they would only have have a chance of getting into two) that we decided that we had to explore private too.

it’s very easy for some parents who have good state options to criticise those who don’t for choosing private. Would I have preferred to send my children to a good state school? Yes I absolutely would. But I did not have that option without moving house and we decided that it would be simpler to go private, helped by scholarships (and sibling discount).

Socially, my children have a lot more in common with middle class children in grammar schools and comprehensives in leafy areas than they do with most children in private boarding schools.

This thread is so interesting. I haven't seen a single post criticising parents for either sending their dc to state school or private school. I am so sorry @Bell8484 that your interesting thread got hijacked, you posted your question and I hope the posters sharing their own or their dc's experiences at Exeter have been helpful and provide food for thought. Wishing your offspring the best with getting the uni they want and enjoying their experience there.

As I recall, they called them 'proles'. At Durham, the hill accommodation (cheaper) is called 'the slums'. The proles lived in the slums.

Thankyou! Yes I got some info, some posts have been helpful.😅

I know it works both ways but it appears to be more socially acceptable to take the piss out of the rich and wealthy.

Obviously I can only speak from my own experience and I didn't go to Exeter, but there were a lot* *of privately educated young people on my course and in my halls at University in the 80s. I was definitely in the minority in being from the type of grotty comprehensive that I went to. They were mainly middle class kids who'd been to their local independent and had parents who were doctors, teachers, solicitors, civil servants etc. There was no real difference between them and others from similar backgrounds who had been to state grammars or comprehensives and nobody thought anything of it. I was probably the least affluent of my friendship group and had had some different life experiences but the gulf wasn't huge. I never had any negative feelings about my peers' education and I don't think they did about mine. In fact after the first week or two when we were just getting to know each other, I don't think anyone ever even discussed it.
But there was a subset of really wealthy students who had been to well known public schools and they were different. I didn't need to worry about avoiding them though as most wouldn't have given me the time of day, and they didn't treat the "ordinary" ex private school people much better. Not all of course, I met a lad from Rugby in the first week and he is still one of my best friends over 40 years later, but on the whole if there was any animosity or name calling it was between that group and everyone else - in both directions. I think when people are talking about tensions between ex private and ex state school students, the ex private school kids in question are more likely to be some of the very rich, ex public school set than middle class students. It's undeniable that elitist groups do exist in some Universities. But mainly people just make friends with others who share the same kinds of interests and values and it's ok not to be friends with everyone. I'd think that unless they are at somewhere very small it would be unusual and very unlucky for a student not to be able to find a decent friendship group.
Obviously some Universities will suit some students better than others and some do have very specific needs. But that aside I am of the view that as long as they haven't picked completely the wrong course most students will be ok in most places if they go with a positive attitude and get stuck in. Of course as parents we worry - its part of the job description - but maybe sometimes we worry too much?

My Uni was a well known draw for Top Public school kids
Eton Gordonston Kings Harrow etc

and we had a lot in my year
Only 30 pupils in total
I was one of the few comp school kids

This is the 80s
They didn’t flaunt it and I really didn’t notice and we all became great friends. We still are now

except for silly nicknames like
Booty
Oh and one disagreement over fox hunting with said Booty

ps. My 3dc went to one of the so called top boarding schools and as I’ve mentioned on the thread. No problems at Exeter or two other Unis Theyve been to.
I suppose it depends on everyone just rubbing along with each other and not judging

You are right, it does seem hypocritical. But jokes about landlords, Etonians, hedge fund managers, toffs are different from jokes about council estates or food banks because of power, status and societal advantage. Mocking poorer or disadvantaged groups is punching down as those groups already face stigma and fewer opportunities. Mocking privileged groups is as punching up at people who are socially and economically advantaged. Personally I treat everyone the same from apprentice to CEO, the local Duchess, same exact same as the dinner lady, the student gets the same respect from me as the Dean.

Why would a state educated dc at Exeter be concerned about a minority they have never met? Are they equally concerned about rich international students they have never met? Or is it just Uk ones they are prejudiced about. Name calling can go both ways - labour are keen on punishing parents who spend money on private schools and of course this sows division. Why cannot dc take other students as they find them? Msny students are pleasant and fun snd who cares where they went to school? The OP’s dc will have no idea whether a school is private or not unless it’s a big name. I’d drop the prejudice and be open minded and inclusive.

So you're saying state school students should be more open minded and inclusive?

But The Times rank Exeter as the least inclusive university in the UK 🤔

It’s about a student who has had an incredibly hard time and difficult road to uni, who has a lot to manage and a parent( not the student) who wants a positive, inclusive experience and an environment they’ll be comfortable in doing some research which every parent does when looking at unis.

This has always been the case and is even more prudent now considering the expense and impact of student loans. For some none of this matters for others it does.

To be honest when looking at any young person spending ££££ and potentially moving a long way from home for something as intensive as a degree I’d expect the cohort it’s geared to and inclusivity to be considered. It would be a bit short sighted not to. Isn’t that part of the making a choice between the very long list of unis process?

It very much looks as if Exeter are trying to be more inclusive and are mindful of a variety of needs so that’s great and not something I’d have been able to find out without asking.

I think you could find that out by actually visiting an Exeter Open Day, and encouraging your DD to speak to current students, who are generally volunteers for Open Day duties at any university I’ve worked at.

And your opening post and thread title are just wrong: 30% is not “ mostly”. It means 70% of students come from State education.

But whether or not a student is State or paid-for educated might not be the crucial thing. It’s about parental support, and family culture. I was educated at a bog standard comprehensive (as Blair called them ), because my parents came from generations of public school education (prep and boarding), and Oxbridge universities. They wanted us to be more part of the community we lived in, but our family culture was quite different from the majority of my school friends. Because of the cultural and educational capital of several generations of elite education.

So the best things parents can do for their DC is encourage reading, books, familiarity with a wide range and style of cultural activity, of reaching beyond a consumerist lifestyle etc etc etc. A lot of what paying for education is paying for is not, as @Bell8484 assumes social “elevation” but cultural enrichment. You can do that without paying for a school to do it.

I think the OP needs to get over a clear case of reverse snobbery, and take her DD to Exeter - or Birmingham, or Bristol, or any of the “top tier” universities (they’re not top tier because of social class by the way) - to meet actual students and staff.

@Bell8484 Exeter is very open about their contextual offers so I think they are trying to attract people from less advantaged backgrounds. I know people who got contextual offers from there that didn't elsewhere, and these were quite generous - e.g BBB for an arts subject.

something as intensive as a degree

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Heavens! Ask the Exeter students I know. One 2000 essay per term. Scarcely any students actually participating during seminars. Half of them too lazy or incapable to contribute meaningfully to group projects leaving a minority to do all the work. If you’re looking for intense scholarship …

And I am still astonished that your idea of a positive, inclusive environment involves finding somewhere that specifically excludes people you know nothing about. Black or mixed race students, student carers, poor students, those from single parent or multi-generational households, those seeing parents scrabbling to keep a roof over their heads - you’d want your young adult kept well away from any of them purely because they were fortunate enough to attend decent schools through scholarships and bursaries. I sincerely hope your young person will be educated into having a more open mind than their parent.