Which uni for v academic party child?

[Forev]

DC is predicted 3 a stars. They want to study history. They are highly social. They love parties and dancing. They have grown up in a big city and they love big cities but not London as they don’t like that idea.

they so far have visited Cambridge and said it was too small with too many serious academic types, Durham too geeky and no clubs, Bristol too diffuse and spread out, St Andrews they cried while there as so quiet, Leeds they loved but worried it’s aiming below their academic potential, Newcastle ditto.

they really want to go to the USA but I can’t afford that. They want to research trinity Dublin which we will look into.

She’s 17 just finished yr12.
Keep talking. Encourage open days. Go to offer days. There’s no rush. Gap year?
Trust them to know themselves and support them if they are going down a slightly different path to the expected.
My DD’s sixth form most played fairly safe and went to northern unis a couple of hours away maximum. She knew that wasn’t for her. She’s going into yr3 and has zero regrets.

Reiterate what previous posters have said, 3 A stars predicted is not necessarily a sign of a very academic child whose brain will wither and die at, say, Leeds (a vg university). There's a vast difference between predicted and achieved and I'm guessing that 3 a stars is one of the most mispredicted of all line-ups. If it's like the general stat, then probably around four times as many of those that are predicted will NOT get those grades.

4000 students or around 2% got all A stars at A level last year. These will be heavily weighted towards the sciences.

Honestly think the best thing for your dc (and almost all dc, especially this Covid hit lot) is to see what grades they get, take a gap year and apply for unconditional places with grades in hand. If they get all A stars they may well feel differently about going to a less party place.

A perk of a gap year is they can visit friends at various unis and experience nightlife before deciding where to apply grades in hand.
If she’s wanting to study in USA for a year as part of degree go to the go abroad talks at open days. The schemes varied widely. Generally speaking the more attractive the uk uni is to Americans more opportunities to go to college there.

Bristol.

Your DC cried because it was quiet FFS 🤦‍♀️

How very resilient!

They’ll get a nasty surprise when they find out that soooooooooo many kids get predicted 3 A* and they’ll get as many rejects as accepts.

Mine got rejected from Durham in this situation, and only 27% of the people applying to his course were accepted last year.

On another note @Forev - Durham is a tiny train ride away from Newcastle which has an amazing night life. It is also cheaper to go on nights out in the north east.

I was going to suggest Manchester. I came here in the 80s as a mature student and stayed. There are several unis in close proximity and the city is multi ethnic and has a great vibe for young people. Liverpool (city of my birth) is another suggestion.

Same with DD.
Course and university place are important.
Warwick and York were immediate nos, and lancaster was meh.

A friend’s DD has just graduated with a first from Leeds - she got 11 A stars at GCSE and 3A stars at A level. She enjoys a party but also knows when to get her head down.

OP, your DD is really not too good for Leeds 😂

It was a long time ago LOL but when I was 22 and staying in Boston, I visited bars and clubs in and around the Harvard area and everywhere was very strict on ID. If you weren’t 21, you couldn’t buy a drink.

A friends dc went to Leeds with straight A stars and did Politics. Had a great time. It’s a very good uni though I have no idea about history league tables. Certainly don’t think a straight A student would be surrounded by dimwits. Ultimately if they don’t want Oxbridge or Durham it will be a slight step down I guess.

niece went to Newcastle which I believe is an academically strong university and certainly in my day had a reputation as a party city.

your Dc won’t go wrong with any RG university. If location is important whittle it down to acceptable cities. Then I’d say look at modules offered and which ones appeal I’d have thought for history that’s really important

Most RG universities should offer the option of a year abroad, There should be a number of American partners. The best ones tend to be rather competitive however.

Yes most offer it but having sat through 10 plus year abroad talks there was a big difference in programs and partnerships offered. Eg some had maybe a couple of USA options and when asked it was a couple of places. Whereas some unis had lots of big name USA colleges as options and lots of places. If they are a popular option for USA students to come to that it stands to reason there’s more opportunities the other way (Glasgow being in Scotland and looking like Hogwarts is a popular choice for USA students for example)
Obviously don’t pick a university solely on year abroad options but it was a consideration for my dd.

Lancaster was immediate no but it wasn’t a waste of a day as it clarified definitely nothing too close to home and definitely no campus universities.
The negatives to my dd like loads from her sixth form go and it’s only an hour drive from home would be positives to a different yp. Horses for courses.

I went to Leeds, chose it for the “vibe” as I was very academic (all As) but didn’t want the price of living down south or all the academic stigma of certain unis. Def a party uni with amazing nightlife but also well respected. Manchester and Bristol viewed similarly

OP, if you haven't already, your YP might find it helpful to look on the UCAS pages for grades held by accepted students. It includes contextual so lowest grades need to be viewed with that in mind, but I think that the highest and most common grades give useful information about the general level of cohort (not that A level grades alone are always the best measure of ability at uni) eg see Leeds for history below (highest grade last year on the course was A star A star A but most common is ABB).
https://www.ucas.com/explore/courses/ce125432-288c-56c0-501c-e22903c2ecc9/history?studyYear=2026

My daughter graduated from Liverpool last week - she had a great time there and the university is excellent (she got a first).

If the only reason she didn’t like St Andrews was it is too quiet a lot of St Andrews uni students stay in Dundee now, it’s just been voted a top student city in a poll (can’t remember which one but saw it yesterday on ‘Dundee Culture’ Facebook page). Buses between them are every 10 mins and takes around 40 mins. City centre has plenty student accommodation.

Oxford - if she gets in with the right crowd there'll be a party every night. SOme of the ones I went to were so wild I can't remember much about them....

Totally agree with this. A lot of A Levels just seem like enhanced parroting of information. And now supported by a extra tutoring by a lot of candidates.

It also depends on what you want to study. I am surprised nobody has mentioned Liverpool.

Don't know what it is like in terms of academic rigour and courses.

But Liverpool and Leeds have much better planned City Centres than Manchester and cheaper to live in. And get about.

The Manchester Student Scene became ghettoised and played out years ago. Even before Jack Whitehall was a legend which studying in Manchester

Plus a couple of years back. The University of Manchester lost over 25,000 students. Mainly from overseas but I think that says something.

Also former pleasant areas like parts of Fallowfield and Ladybarn turned into Student Ghettos/Slums years ago

Problems with noise, crime and rubbish dumping.

All universities have lost thousands of overseas students

people who have graduated from Manchester during the last couple of years loved their time and the uni is very well respected

Loads of PP have mentioned Liverpool!

Forget to say in my last post. That Liverpool is also on the coast. Good beaches at Crosby and Formby.

I agree about Manchester fitting the bill.
I'd also suggest Glasgow, definitely a party university. The student union in the 1980s had spare "sleep it off" rooms for those too drunk to get home...