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?

It is entirely possible to be a Labour supporter and not have entrenched ideas about people who have been privately educated.

I prefer to be broad minded.

I think we are derailing the thread BTW.

I agree.

Northern born, state educated DD doesn't despise her privately educated, southern born friends. She is broad minded - like me.

I think we are derailing the thread BTW.

The OP hasn’t returned for two days - so I imagine she feels she has now read a sufficient number of opinions.

@Bell8484 apologies if I've missed your other threads about any of the other universities in the country that your DD is interested in, but why is specifically whether she will fit in at Exeter such a concern? Is it the only place that offers her intended degree subject / subject combination?

I don't recognise any of this

Neither do I TBH.

Some irony here.

@patioh

What? That a bigger % of dc go to private schools in the London area? Why are there fewer northern dc going to uni anywhere? How many leave northern cities and come south? Not very many in overall terms and they apply in far fewer numbers to Oxbridge, Imperial and LSE. The best unis many think.

"The value of private schools is perhaps more keenly appreciated in London"

"The north dislikes any notion of joining the wealthier south. In fact the south is despised."

"dc from comps being told they are inferior and should not, or cannot, mix with privately educated dc"

None of this matches my experience at all.

Or mine. I sense some anti north prejudice there TBH.

Mine is at Falmouth but lives with several Exeter students. I think it's a completely different vibe in Cornwall, not least because Falmouth injects some alternative culture . Very outdoorsy and not particularly posh, her Exeter friends are people who have gone there for their specialist subjects (eg Exeter don't offer Marine Bio in Devon, only in Cornwall, and wow, what a fantastic place to study that!). It's not the stereotypical Exeter vibe at all. The people who want that will pick Exeter proper or go elsewhere.

OP sorry your thread has been derailed.

I wouldn't normally get involved in a bun fight on MN but have to say @MeetMeOnTheCorner your sweeping generalisations about "the north" (as one collective, homogeneous group) unwilling to venture past Watford Gap services with prejudicial views about wealth, private school and anything to do with the south is really insulting.

@Africa2go Ok. Back that up with figures then? The op is 100% wrong about there being mostly privately educated dc at Exeter. It’s way below 50%. Why not call her out? Why me? She’s insulting too surely?

You might have seen there are around 1/4 of private schools situated in the north. Are you honestly saying many northern dc don’t prefer to stay in the north? Give me your figures because it’s easy to demonstrate fewer Oxbridge dc are from the north. Why is that? Not applying is often given as the reason. Plus the oft discussed - dc want to study with their tribe and this is exactly what the Op is saying. We don’t want to mix with some dc we see as privileged. We don’t want to know them. I dislike it intensely but it’s more prevalent in the north because there’s no need to venture south and go outside your comfort zone. Hence the lies about Exeter.

Prove to me Im wrong by publishing uni destinations from the northern LAs.

To be fair - with such an inflammatory heading / OP, this thread was never going to run smoothly!

YEs, I got the sense from the first post that the OP had a pretty fixed opinion, veering on prejudice.

You may well be factually correct, but the tone of your posts is dripping with disdain towards anyone who happens live north of Watford.

Are you honestly saying many northern dc don’t prefer to stay in the north?

There are plenty of young people from privileged backgrounds who prefer to study within their comfort zone at universities in the southern half of the UK. The implication that only northern students don’t want to venture out of their comfort zones simply isn’t true.

Plus, the oft discussed - dc want to study with their tribe and this is exactly what the Op is saying.

It cuts both ways – see my point above.

Your hectoring and aggressive tone in this and similar threads is getting rather tiresome.

@RampantIvy Of course students ALL rather like their comfort zones! But that not what I’m being taken to task for! I frankly don’t give a flying f where people study. The Sutton Trust dies and the top universities for social mobility are attached. I did not say it was just northern dc but I suspect a bigger cohort. No one calls out the Op for blatantly lying. I don’t believe I’m lying but if dc want greater sicial mobility and live in the north, come south (mostly)!

I don’t think it is very diverse, though it has a lot of rich Chinese students I heard from someone. It’s seen as a viable choice for those who didn’t get into Oxbridge so that will attract a ‘posher’ crowd. I have been to the campus which is gorgeous, my son’s friend attended the uni.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner I have no issue with you making points that are backed up by figures. What I have challenged is the insulting comments you have made, as generalisations, about northerners as though everyone who lives in one area of the country thinks alike. The OP asked a question - I don't think she has said anywhere "We don’t want to mix with some dc we see as privileged. We don’t want to know them". Even now, you're making insulting remarks about northerners not wanting to go south or out of their comfort zone - I'm sorry but you're talking rubbish.

I'm not going to provide a link but my DC's (northern) school publishes leavers' destinations (I'm not sure if LAs actually publish that type of data) - for 2024, 53 out of 147 went to universities south of Birmingham. In 2023, it was 76 pupils out of 149. So roughly between a third and a half of pupils. Clearly they're not all electing for "northern" unis.

I can only speak for my (now at uni) older children and their friends - they applied nationally to universities that seemed to offer the most well regarded courses for their particular interest, narrowed down to whether they liked the vibe of a city university or a campus, which ones were within reach grade-wise, which unis had a good reputation for placements etc. Then they did the open days, and made their choices accordingly, then offer holder days. Geography did come into it - how far away it was from home, how easy the travel was. Whether the uni fitted into a category of "north" or "south" never crossed their minds nor did the likely make up of the cohort between private / state educated students. The reason I'm on this thread is that my Yr 12 child went to a university fair recently and spoke to a representative from Exeter as she'd looked at league tables and its very well regarded for the course she wants, the Exeter student was apparently really engaging, was doing the course she wants to do, my DC came home buzzing about it and we're therefore off to the open day. She had absolutely no idea where it is geographically or the make up of students.

I lived in London for years - most of my peers left uni (wherever that was) and moved to London - some stayed, some relocated elsewhere after a few years. Its ridiculous to say "the south is despised". My sibling lives there still (30 years since uni). My (uni) DC will move to London at some point, probably go further afield too.

Unfortunately @Africa2go that pp’s points aren’t indisputably backed up by figures.

oddly they also avoid the disparities between say Richmond and Wandsworth versus Redbridge and Waltham Forest. Two pairs of London Boroughs yet…..quite differing sets of university destinations.

Sticking with London around half a dozen London boroughs (out of 32) account for near half of the DCs from London at Durham, Edinburgh, St Andrews.

Destination data is published at LA level by HESA and the picture is a lot less black and white.

London is much more densely populated so numbers are bound to be higher.

Half of Londoners who go to university stay in London. So they're not all leaving their comfort zone either.

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/how-cost-of-living-is-influencing-uk-student-mobility/

Spoiler: it's not mainly about comfort zone, it's about financial considerations, travel time, quality of local universities, etc etc.

Let's stop the lazy generalisations.

Let's stop the lazy generalisations.

👏👏👏

Thanks to all those who have shared info about Falmouth, the travel wouldn’t be great to be honest, but from what people are saying, it’s seen as a separate university rather than just another campus. I need to start selling Leamington Spa & Coventry instead 🤣

Experience-wise it's a separate university but on your CV it's just Exeter University I guess. But yes, it's a long way from almost everywhere 😁

And from what I've seen, the Humanities degrees at Penryn are not as challenging, with a small generalist staff there, so far less option choice & so on. It's a lower ask to get in & that does tell you something.