My lad wants to do History, and the syllabus at Leeds appealed to him.
I wish more of our prospective students made a decision on that basis, the actual content of the degree, good on him!
History topics taught will vary a fair bit from place to place depending on research specialisms of those teaching, so best to look at those third year modules on the university web-sites, to make sure they're offering something of interest.
Of course, there's no guarantees, sometime staff will be on research leave for a semester, or paternity/maternity leave, or pensioned off (increasinlgly do at the mo) due to VSS, best thing is to ask questions on visiting the departments on open days, or email.
First year modules in History tend to be quite generic, so probably less variation in content between universities, but this changes into second and then third year.
Good luck 🙂
Yeah, he's interested in late 19th and early 20th century. The "taster" lecture that they put on was an introduction to Spanish fascism, so that was him hooked!
she's not a drinker / clubber so the nightlife of a big city wasn't a gap
Sounds like my daughter. My godson is doing the rounds now, and is looking for a big city social scene , so Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham are all on his list.
In some ways (although I totally get it) its a shame thats its such a financial led decision and thus parents have to get involved. I based a significant amount of my decision based on the weather on the day and the visibility of pretty girls. At the time Bristol won, albeit it turned out that sunshine was a rare rare beast and the first winter crossing the downs on foot was a rude awakening.
its a shame thats its such a financial led decision and thus parents have to get involved
my son's chosen York, he knows the city and likes the course, for me that's all good, his decision, he's visited some of the halls there and did a taster day, still all happy, so I've not really had any involvement, though I'll no doubt be at the point of handing over £££!
I remember doing an open day visit (without parents) to Newcastle and spending most of the day at the climbing wall in the Eldon centre. In hindsight not the best way to assess a university. Ended up in Sheffield anyway, my city of birth and moving back from Bradford at the time so got a sense of familiarity as well as being a student in a city which I still love.
Also, got a BA in Geography which confused a few employers to begin with. Not really an issue though.
I was really clear from the outset though of the course I wanted to do and for it to involve a lot of field work (or as much as can be reasonably expected) and Sheffield fitted the bill at the time. Not looked back. Oh and the climbing was still great.
Back in the day (1987) I visited Huddersfield, North Staffs and Coventry.
Ended up at Huddersfield because of what I saw at the open day and they would accept me in with a BTEC (fluffed my first year of A Levels).
4 years later I came away with a mediocre degree (Mech Eng - B.Eng) that was enough to get me into a decent job that I’m still doing 33 years later, albeit with a different employer.
Weirdly one of the biggest influences on my adult life turned out to be my house mate who was a contributor to MBUK at the time (went on to make trousers apparently), so we often had bikes around the house that I could borrow.
I have since forgotten everything about the degree, however… mountain bikes. My hobby, my friends, the way I dress, where I go on-line etc can all be traced back to that.
Both my kids (Manchester and Durham) lived in expensive, tired halls in their first years. Both good which suited their individual preferences. I really liked Exeter when we visited.
Liverpool yesterday. Pretty good, but Leeds just edging it at the moment.
These days the financial penalty for making a wrong course or university choice is so high that obviously parents have to be involved, especially as many are paying around 600 a month to 'top up' (har har) the maintenance grant.
For those considering Exeter, our experience of having a first year there last year was pretty positive. The halls she was in (Birks Grange) were clean, safe, well managed and modern. And expensive.
A room move to a quieter spot halfway through was easily done. For those putting down 'quiet room' on the form (we did) - its very difficult for the Uni to know in advance where the idiots who want to scream and vomit till 4am every night will congregate and asking to move room can change a students experience from wanting to come home to actively enjoying the year.
For those doing a course at St Lukes Campus, remember that Streatham Campus is a fair walk away - we didn't know my daughters course would be exclusively at St Lukes (we were told it was split between the two) and so got her accommodation on the wrong campus. As it happened she didn't mind walking (30 mins) but it did mean being a bit more organized as she couldn't roll out of bed 5 mins before lectures like her mates at the St Lukes halls. There is a bus but it takes the scenic route and it costs!
Exeter itself is a very contained uni (a bit like Cambridge) with the town being so small its basically dominated by students. This can be great if you are like my daughter who is not adventurous when it comes to night life as its safe and predictable. I would have hated it as I mainly did my own thing at uni and literally went to the uni bar once before discovering the gigs and fleshpots of Brum preferably where the students wern't - this would be very difficult in a small place like Exeter.
Finally for those whose offspring have special needs (my daughter has autism), Exeter is very very supportive and the joint prime reason alongside the course for choosing it. We (and she)were not even sure if she would be able to cope with Uni and she has just passed her first year in Neuroscience with flying colours despite a few wobbles along the way.
Just our experience YMMV.
My youngest did a few days at Warwick one summer and the campus looked ace, I was really impressed, but is miles away from anywhere iirc. She did similar at Glasgow and it looked a great place to live. Can't comment on courses at either. She ended up at Cambridge but the pace of the course is brutal. The support is also incredible but I'm not sure it's for everyone really.
She ended up at Cambridge but the pace of the course is brutal. The support is also incredible but I'm not sure it's for everyone really.
Aye, quite glad youngest missed out having seen what her brother went through there. As you say, the support and contact time is excellent, especially compared to other unis.
the campus looked ace, I was really impressed, but is miles away from anywhere iirc
It's a bus ride to Leamington Spa (via Kenilworth) or Coventry (via Canley, a suburb with retail park and supermarkets and train station*) and that covers pretty much all the areas that 2nd and 3rd years live in, the bus is cheap and just runs there and back along that route at all hours. The bus ride is part of the Uni experience and like those talking about a 30 min walk across town to get places - it just becomes part of life.
I've visited Cov a couple of times and given the reputation (based on the back of the 2-tone era) I was quite impressed, it's not big city Manchester of Leeds but equally has stuff. Leam is the Uni town, so lots of student places. If your offspring wants the big city experience* they won't get it at Warwick, but it's not as 'miles from anywhere' as the geography has it.
* trains from Canley interchange and Leam direct to Brum so it is very do-able for that must see gig, not so much for every night out.
Daughter wasn't impressed by Warwick, either course or campus. Leamington would be a lovely, but damn expensive place to live - potential daughter-in-law had 3 years there.
Just goes to show, daughter studied in the new FAB which won RIBA awards and spent most of her Soc time in the very well appointed arts centre or the sports hub, can't imagine many Unis have better facilities than these 3 spaces.
Just goes to show, daughter studied in the new FAB which won RIBA awards and spent most of her Soc time in the very well appointed arts centre or the sports hub, can't imagine many Unis have better facilities than these 3 spaces.
Really is important that the kids get to have a look for themselves and make choices based on what they want/feel.
Definitely and as i said earlier in the thread, of course the course and teaching facilities etc are important, but they'll be spending 3/4 years or more living in that city / area and if they don't feel 'at home' there it affects the whole experience
The single biggest reason for anyone to drop out is that they're unhappy, not that they're failing or unhappy with the course, and location's the biggest external contributor to that (you can be unhappy anywhere, but being happy if you're in the wrong place is hard) So yep, getting a feel is massively useful. Course, you can't really know after a single visit but it's the best you can do and still helps a lot. Better still if you can have a look at the city (and figure out how accessible it is, if it's an out-of-town campus)
There was a little bit of chat there about accomodation, we had basically 3 levels of accomodation to choose from- standard, or a bit shit, or lovely but expensive. And practically every student you asked would recommend the middle, standard one, unless money is just not a factor. Glory fades basically and money in your pocket ends up better than having an extra 3 square feet of floor or a nicer kitchen. Though having said that, if a kid really recoils from the accomodation that's a very bad factor, see 1) being unhappy.
Number one thing to do is talk to the student "volunteers", they'll be getting paid but still, they'll usually be honest and pretty open with opinions. Ours were all under orders not to be excessively negative but they were encouraged to voice a reasonable negative opinion if they had one, when asked, because while obviously the open day is a big sales job there's also a big factor of "make sure students don't go to the wrong place", and one person's reasonable criticism can actually help another person find the right place. Unis want you to come to them, sure, but they want you to go the distance too and be happy and give good word of mouth and all that.
If someone's got an extra curricular thing that's important to them, they have to go and see if there's a society and if there is ask them. Don't waste time asking the uni, we could tell you "yes there is a society" or "yes we have these facilities" but what they <must> do is speak to the society and find out what actually happens, how active they are, etc. I mention this because kids just don't do it and it's maddening. 100% essential for those athletes, gamers, whatever.
The lad is having a look at Oxford today. He’s gone down with his College as part of their “Excellence” program.
Has anyone got a child studying there? What are your experiences?
We’re worried that if he gets in, he won’t fit in. What with him being a quiet northern lad from a state school / college.
This is probably just our prejudice, so I’d be interested to hear any first-hand experience.
At Oxbridge, they will apply to a specific college as well as the subject. The college will be where they live and depending on the subject, some are heavily faculty based and some will have lots of teaching time with tutors at the college. You can research the state school v private/public school intake at each college and apply to one that suits best. Also some will be known for activism, or a political leaning from the student body, so again you can pick to suit.
Fwiw, state school admissions last year accounted for 66.2% of all the Oxford undergraduate admissions.
All the stats here: (per college, per subject, per UK region etc) https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/AnnualAdmissionsStatisticalReport2025.pdf#page=18
HtS - eldest graduated from Cambridge last year, got in via a similar scheme.Totally understand your concern. Not got time to reply now, chase me up if I don't get back later
@Harry-the_Spider Right then...bear in mind this is Cambridge and not Oxford. There might (my prejudice) be more Eton/Bullingdon types at Oxford, but it still won't be as bad as it was 20-30 years ago when we were forming our own prejudices.
Just thinking of looking at Oxbridge is a big brave step for kids from "ordinary" backgrounds if it's not common in their school or social groups. Better to try and fail than wonder - the only issue is you need to get your applications in earlier.
MrsMC and I are both average wage public sector workers from normal backgrounds, both the first in our families to go to uni. MCJnr is a bright kid, but I never thought of him as Oxbridge material. Born and brought up on the nicer edge of Ilkeston, a former steel and mining town in the East Midlands. Little village CofE primary, secondary school in Ilkeston that borderline failed an Ofsted inspection (MrsMC was a governor at the time), wasn't the top academic kid at either but worked hard, especially at stuff he enjoyed (a girl he went through both schools with was ridiculously bright and ended up doing Maths at Oxford and is now a city trader apparently). Went to a different 6th form college as the local one didn't offer music, he thought he'd have a go at the Oxbridge route through the scheme, didn't fancy the course at Oxford so applied to Cambridge to do music, did his research and applied to whatever college it was.
Two online interviews - the college didn't accept him, but he was put into the "pooling" system. Think Sorting Hat from Harry Potter - actually think of Harry Potter or Unseen University for all of Oxbridge. He was accepted by Pembroke College to do music subject to the grades, which he got. He will admit he may not have got in if he hadn't been the 2021/Covid A level year. (Got A* in Music, Maths and Further Maths but there were no exams that year)
I was worried he wouldn't fit in - not posh, not well off, not conservative with a big or small C, doesn't drink, doesn't party much. I totally underestimated him, and Cambridge. Something like 80% of Cambridge undergrads are from state school - Yak has given details for Oxford up there. Admittedly there are a lot from state grammar schools, but for every one of them he got friends with, there was someone else from a bog standard background. If posh rich kids aren't your scene, you can avoid them. Jnr got involved in the school outreach programmes, and had some great conversations with parents worried that their expensively privately educated kids wouldn't get a place at Cambridge because they were taking more people from "normal" backgrounds. Oxbridge want the best people, they don't care where they come from.
The colleges at Cambridge - and I assume Oxford - have wealth greater than most of the African nations they stole it from, so there are a lot of bursaries and opportunities for kids from ordinary backgrounds. The accommodation at Cambridge is owned by the colleges, so there's no dodgy private landlords to deal with, and the deals including meals mean that for a stupidly expensive place for ordinary folk to live, it was no more expensive, and less hassle, than any other university accommodation.
Formal dinners look a ballache for a fussy eater who smothered everything in ketchup, but they are not compulsory and he made it work for him - by helping with the sound system at the college chapel services he got free Sunday formal dinners. Then he got involved in doing the sound for the Cambridge Union, and has met - and mic'd up - some amazing and interesting people from the world of politics, science and entertainment.
His two best friends from Cambridge couldn't be more different - one is the son of a family who have nearly finished renovating an Elizabethan manor house they bought, the other is the son of council tenants.
Like any uni, it's what you want to make of it, but there are more opportunities at Oxbridge I think. What I would say is that if a student has been the "brightest" star going through school and college, it can be a shock stepping up to the level and intensity at Oxbridge. Some students struggle no longer being the big fish in a small pond. Despite studying music at Cambridge, Jnr didn't make it to the University Orchestra until his final year - the standard of musicians not actually studying music was that high. (He did conduct them in his second year though!) Cambridge discourages students from having term time jobs so that they can concentrate on their studies - lecture and contact hours were about 20 hours a week. Not bad value really for the fees compared to others.
LittleMissMC also applied to Cambridge to do Natural Sciences, a really competitive course compared to music. Same 6th form college scheme as her brother. (She also didn't like the course at Oxford). She passed the interviews but couldn't get a place through pooling, so wasn't successful. She was made up that she got as far as the interview process, but is looking forward to (subject to grades!) starting at Lancaster in the autumn. I'm not sure she'd have been any happier or any more successful if she'd made it to Cambridge, and she says the same. I am just as insanely proud of her as I am of him.
MrsMC and I have both found that several friends/colleagues have had kids apply to Oxbridge since Jnr went, and all of the parents have had the same worries you have, and we had. "We don't know anyone who is normal who has had kids there" is a phrase we have both heard!
Happy to answer questions on here of DM if you have any other questions.
I found Oxford hard at first as an undergrad, socially (also quite Northern lad from state school), but I figured things out and ended up happy there. You never really know if it would be different at another university, because there is no control experiment, but it is quite an intense place.
First year was tough, college felt small and claustrophobic, drinking like a Blue Whale and finding the course (chemistry) really hard. Then resolving to sort myself out and get on top of the course - gave me confidence, made more friends, just relaxed into it basically.
The academic experience was life-changing - exceptionally high standards if you wanted them. At research level Oxford / Cam are merely excellent, but at undergrad they offer something quite unique to this day. I think this is a pivotal point as far as getting the crystal ball out for your lad - no one really knows if they are going to be passionate about their studies ahead of time, but if they have some love for the subject, find it inspiring, then they should try for Oxbridge imho as there is so much upside.
Everyone will have their own experiences - a guy I was close friends with left voluntarily at the end of year one to go and do maths somewhere else. Just wanted to go on the ale and phone in a 2:1 without being hassled each week that he should be doing better.
