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?

I find it really sad - and bewildering - that there are adults out there who actively teach their children to have preconceived negative ideas of others merely based on where they went to school. Also that it’s acceptable to call them names.

@CatkinToadflax My DSis has brought her dc up like this this. Is it a northern thing? They are very left wing. They have been brought up to think people with money are somehow wicked and manipulating - and that’s us apparently! They definitely would never go near Exeter. It’s Liverpool, Sheffield and Northumbria for them. The south is off limits and full of people they refuse to engage with. They now refuse to talk to my dd because of her London job. They have friends who are exactly the same. They have no intention of having an open mind and embracing everyone. I think millions feel as the op does and it’s deeply entrenched in some areas. Dsis is degree educated by the way as are her friends. They choose to be insular and their dc are the same.

Yes indeed. It's all very Andy Burnham. God help us!

You probably gave birth in the same maternity hospitals, watched the same children’s shows, went on the same family days out and had the same toddler and pre-school challenges. Along the way their parents made some different educational choices, but that’s all.

Bless you, how naive🙄

Have followed this thread with interest and amusement as DS was at Exeter and had a wonderful experience. He also has dyslexia/ADHD and had support and an ILP.
A few things:

• Ignore all the comments about 'when I was at Exeter in the 1980s/90s...' Things have changed a lot in the last 40 years!😂
• The problem with discussions about Independent Schools is that everyone pictures them as places like the top public schools - Eton, Harrow, Westminster etc and yet students from these schools are a TINY minority. Most independent schools are pretty diverse these days due to bursaries and middle class parents prioritising education over bigger housing, cars and holidays. In our town, all the kids in the same year group from the church secondary school, local comp and (very good) independent all KNOW each other and mix a lot. They probably do scouts or football together, or go to the same parties. I know a family with a child in each of the three schools - each for a different reason, because it was 'best' for the child.

Honestly, most of the students at Exeter are the same - a mixed bunch who don't care where others have 'come from' so long as they're kind, fun, polite and don't leave a messy kitchen!

I'm sorry to say, OP, but you sound a tad over-invested (I was the same) but you have to trust your DD and let her get on and find her independence. Exeter is a lovely 'safe' environment. DS chose it over big city unis like Leeds because it felt manageable (and was also closer to home if he needed a R&R weekend to decompress - which he did!).

I would say don't expect too much from the disability/ learning support though. It's outsourced and not really that helpful. DS waited nearly two terms for his first 1-to-1 and decided not to continue it. The ILP document for his tutors was helpful though and it allowed him to ask for some adjustments.
It's all on the student to chase it up though - they won't be contacting them regularly. It's not school.

I just like to interject a bit of balance into the discussion. My DD attends a state comprehensive (an average one not very low attaining nor very high attaining). She is very sporty and attends clubs and competitions with a lot of privately educated kids. In the main, this is a positive story everyone gets on and DD has developed friendships with kids from private school. However, there have been some snide comments about her school. For example when she made a silly mistake ‘that is what an education at x school does for you’ and just negative comments about the school and student body. It isn’t a regular thing, it isn’t everyone but it happens and it isn’t nice. I only mention it because sometimes these threads seem to suggest that only inverse snobbery is a thing and snobbery doesn’t happen.
DD isn’t particularly bothered by the comments and I don’t encourage her to be sensitive about them or engage in inverse snobbery. However, it is naive to think that some privately educated young people don’t hold some snobbish attitudes towards those in state schools (particularly state schools that aren’t necessarily the MN sought after type).

We went to an open day a couple of years ago. The thing that stood out to me was that it was very ‘white’ a noticeable lack of diversity.

i would also say that it seemed to have a lot of private school students but that is based purely on appearance / how they carried themselves so i cannot guarantee that’s correct or my incorrect judgement.

@snowymarbles It’s very popular with grammar school dc here. Would you know the difference? I doubt it. If these dc weren’t at grammars, parents would be paying. It’s the same at Oxford. State dc are over represented by grammar dc. You really won’t know by looking at someone. And what about the very high performing comps in places like Cambridge and Hampshire, and London? How can you tell anything by looking at people?

This is what my DD noticed, particularly having spent a year at a London uni!

Exeter isn’t London and nearby demographics for every university will have an effect on intake

As the stats show as posted above there is not one uni in the UK that has predominantly independent school kids. Exeter has 30%. Is that 70% majority that are not privately educated going to be inclusive towards them or are they going to exhibit this type of reverse snobbery that OP is displaying?

@Bobsterbunny Good grief! London universities very much cater to London people who do not travel away from home for uni because staying in London is so much cheaper. It’s a different market. So it’s very different from the SW market or even Durham. I assume you know London is a very diverse city and many poorer students cannot afford to go there at all! The universities there are very different to Exeter and have a huge number of rich overseas students. Imperial and LSE in particular! You cannot look at Exeter and think it’s London!

@Bell8484 have you or your dc been to an open day?

I would suggest that would be a good way of getting first hand answers to your questions.

Tbf, if you sit next to someone wearing £13K worth of Tiffany bangles to an Exeter offer holder day (probably not fakes given the cheap trackie bottoms and grubby Nikes that accompanied them) or someone else wearing a £300 jumper (I googled that since it was a really nice jumper in a colour DD was searching for at the time), then there's a reasonable chance that they have also been privately educated. Not definite, but relatively likely.

The OP has talked about private schools but I doubt it's really the schools and whether they were private, grammar or an inner-city state comp that is the real concern. More that there is a worry that there will be a disparity in parental financial support and whether their YP will fit in financially. Will fitting in cost more than they can afford? Will they be shunned if they can't afford to socialise in the way their new friends expect? If you are considering a university well-known for having a fairly financially-privileged student body, these are valid concerns.

Didn't expect it to be exactly like London! But she did expect a bit of diversity lol...she did feel like she stuck out like a sore thumb when she started, but settled into it and found friends. She'd never met anyone from a private school before...her boyfriend she met there went to private school and Oxford...an education all round 😂😂😂

It's all flat caps, pigeon lofts, back to back terraced houses and Labour voters here don't you know?

Of course it isn't. There are vast swathes of well off, well educated (some privately) people living in the north of the UK.

Or how about your stereotyping Northerners is just as bad as the reverse snobbery attitudes that you are complaining about. I think the problem here is your sister, not most northerners.

And I can't help but notice the irony of your user name, being a big hit by a well known band from Newcastle.

@RampantIvy Well it’s Momentum, anti Jew and jealousy then! Yes, it’s obviously her but it’s fairly well documented that Labour strongholds don’t have high numbers of privately educated dc and northern universities have the lowest numbers of privately educated dc in the country. Far below 6th form numbers who are privately educated.

I agree with @Owlbookend that judgements cut both ways. A young person I taught overheard some boys at a uni open day having a bet over who would shag the ,’roughest state school girl’. Pretty vile. I have also known students who were very embarrassed about going to public school because of the preconceptions attached.
I do agree with previous posters that the best way for prospective students to get an idea about how they feel is to visit. My DD had not really considered Exeter but it was the only one she said she loved at the Open Day. She never regretted it at all. She is state educated and from a single parent family and absolutely flourished there.

Apologies for hijacking the OPs thread, but do any of you with experience of Exeter know anything about the Cornwall campus? I have a state comprehensive year 12 interested in History and share some of OPs concerns about fitting in, although I suspect they might prefer a smaller campus.

Exeter as a city is pretty much a Labour stronghold though isn't it? Well, until the recent local elections (and Reform) that is. Bristol is also pretty left wing but it doesn't stop both universities having a disproportionate number of private school students.

Sorry no idea

@MyDogClive It has Exeter on the degree but it’s miles away! It’s Cornwall and not the same for various reasons. Lower grades and takes overflow from Exeter. By that I mean that when dc aren’t accepted for Exeter, they are offered Cornwall. It isn’t quite the same. Exeter is very non threatening!

@patioh This is because privately educated dc love these unis and the majority of privately educated dc are south of Sheffield. Bristol has less than Exeter by the way. Labour is loved by academics of course! Big uni cities are often Labour. But, the northern unis have significantly less privately educated dc. Maybe a reflection of the lack of local private schools - how many does Sheffield have for example? Hardly any.

The Cornwall campus is stunning and I know several state school educated people who have loved it there. Falmouth is an amazing place to study. It is where some joint honours are so not necessarily the lesser/easier option.

My niece is there, definitely not from the independent sector