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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Birmingham Uni - opinions on 'vibe'?

39 replies

Gobimanchurian · 28/06/2024 07:45

Absolutely loved the campus, but worried it's a bit of a bubble as so far out. Someone also mentioned it's mostly private school kids (Durham felt a bit like that too).

We are from the suburbs of a large city so don't want / need something as self contained as it seems to be, and probably prefer a bit more diversity? (no shade on private schools at all, but if there's a 'type' and my kid isn't it they might feel a fish out of water...).

Finding it really hard from open days to get a feel for what life there (outside of study) might look like for them...

Anyone any insight on Birmingham?

Also looking at Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, York and possibly Bristol..

OP posts:

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Pinkypinkyplonk · 28/06/2024 08:01

York is lovely, a good mixed cohort. My dd just finished year 1

Mushroo · 28/06/2024 08:07

I don’t think Birmingham is particularly renowned for being full of private types.

Your list will have a high number of private school kids regardless, because they’re all great unis!

Of the list I’d say the ‘poshest’ are Newcastle and Bristol

MarchingFrogs · 28/06/2024 08:17

Both DS1 and DD chose Birmingham for undergrad. DS1 then worked (not an 'academic' job) on campus for a year, did MSc elsewhere, returned to work at UoB in an 'academic' job and is currently almost a year into a funded PhD there . DD graduated last year and did move away for work and will be going somewhere else again in September for a masters, but her partner is from the wider area and they spend time in Birmingham.

It's only a short bus ride into the city centre, or two / three stops by train (assuming either University or Selly Oak nearest station to accommodation in first year, most likely Selly Oak in subsequent years), so shopping trips / nights out are easy, if that's what you want. But equally, both the local area and other easily accessible 'non city centre' places have their attractions, so you might happily decide not to. Tbh, if someone is actually studying, I very much doubt that their uppermost thought is, 'I'm sitting in a lecture theatre / enormous library but bloody hell, it's not right in the city centre and that's awful' iyswim

Personally, of those on your list, my feeling is that York feels the most 'out of town', but even that, not much.

No idea about the percentage of privately educated students, but it certainly won't be 'mainly', because nowhere is. Our DC are state educated; of the (few) of DS1's and DD's friends of whose prior education I am aware, all, bar possibly one or are also state educated.

OneInEight · 28/06/2024 08:17

Its not that far out from the city centre. ds1 walks in and is a bit aghast that others rely on uber's. Lots of different societies so something for most types. He has never mentioned a preponderance of public school types. Some halls of residence are more expensive than others so it might be there is a different "vibe" in these.

Fgfgfg · 28/06/2024 08:24

So far out? It's 10 minutes on the bus into the city centre and you can walk to Broad Street or Selly Oak for a night out. Lots of opportunities for pt work as well if he needs a job.
It's not as full of elite private school types as it was when I went there so there will be plenty of people he can relate to. To some extent it's also course dependent. Art history, for example, is always dominated by very wealthy young women. What does he want to study?

senua · 28/06/2024 08:45

I don't understand the OP. The DC seemed OK with the place but you are casting about, trying very hard to find reasons not to like it.

We are from the suburbs of a large city so don't want / need something as self contained as it seems to be, and probably prefer a bit more diversity?
Does this sentence really say, "I'm all for difference and diversity but I want my University town to be exactly like back home". lols

Gobimanchurian · 28/06/2024 08:52

Thanks all, sounds really positive. He wants to study business of some sort. We asked at the Vale which way to walk to town and she looked aghast (said it was an hour each way) which is perhaps why it felt so 'out' whereas Leeds and Manchester are easily walkable from campus 15-20m I think that's what we had in mind.)

OP posts:

crazycrofter · 28/06/2024 09:31

Google maps says the walk from the Vale to Broad St is 28 minutes! You'll always find lazy students who aren't used to walking places though, that's not confined to Birmingham.

I work at the university and lived in Birmingham until a couple of years ago; my daughter went to the school right next door to the uni and is now at Nottingham. She's been surprised how much less diverse Nottingham is compared to Birmingham - both the city and uni. The stats I found say 18% are from private schools at Birmingham, similar to Leeds, a bit more than Liverpool and Sheffield and less than Newcastle (25%). I think all the RG unis have a bit more of a middle class vibe than some of the more down to earth unis like Leicester.

ErrolTheDragon · 28/06/2024 09:33

I went to b'ham aeons ago, but liked it well enough to stay for my PhD.

It's not a 'bubble', one of the attractions is how easy it is to get into town on the train (and out to other areas for accommodation after first year).

You're way off base on private school kids. This list won't have changed much in the last couple of years - Birmingham doesn't make the top 20. (In fact nowadays no uni is 'mostly' private school kids though some have a disproportionately high number).

thetab.com/uk/2022/09/16/these-are-the-universities-with-the-most-private-school-students-2022-273947

clary · 28/06/2024 09:52

I agree with others Brum uni is not far out in a bubble, and on the edge of anywhere. Nothing like as far from the city as Nottingham, for example.

All the unis on your list are good, and all will have a fair share of privately educated DC. That's not really something you can factor for IMHO. DD was at Leicester, where state educated was more the norm, but for DS2 at Lboro, almost everyone he knows went t private school. That might be a factor of his course and also the sporty types he mixes with, I don't know.

Of the other places you mention, Bristol historically is favoured by privately educated DC, as is York to some extent. Friend's privately educated DC went to York and Sheffield. I wouldn't focus too much on that issue tbh. I was at Bristol (state educated) and tho then the privately educated were the massive majority(I am sure it is different now) I still found my tribe, as they say.

YesThisIsMe · 28/06/2024 09:53

Gobimanchurian · 28/06/2024 08:52

Thanks all, sounds really positive. He wants to study business of some sort. We asked at the Vale which way to walk to town and she looked aghast (said it was an hour each way) which is perhaps why it felt so 'out' whereas Leeds and Manchester are easily walkable from campus 15-20m I think that's what we had in mind.)

Lots of students who grew up in car-centred households are terrified of walking anywhere. My London-born DC students are baffled by them.

Vale to the city centre is a perfectly doable and pleasant walk up the canal but it's 40 minutes to New Street and the buses are cheap and frequent so you wouldn't ever walk it unless you were specifically in need of getting your steps in.

IamaRevenant · 28/06/2024 10:02

I went to Bristol OP and had a great time but it's VERY private school heavy if that's an issue (I'm working class as they come though and didn't find it a problem!). It's a great city centre uni if that's what you're after (no idea about Birmingham)

eurochick · 28/06/2024 10:22

I went to bham yonks ago and loved it. Back then it wasn't private school dominated at all. Lots of well-regarded subject, a lovely campus and a huge city for nightlife and culture on your doorstep. What's not to like?

Gobimanchurian · 28/06/2024 10:46

Once again, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply - it's a lovely uni and any preconceptions are thoroughly debunked (ps can't believe we could have walked from the Vale, the guide properly put us off!)

OP posts:

clary · 28/06/2024 10:49

Gobimanchurian · 28/06/2024 10:46

Once again, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply - it's a lovely uni and any preconceptions are thoroughly debunked (ps can't believe we could have walked from the Vale, the guide properly put us off!)

I rememebr going for an open day with DD and a student said "oh you can't walk to campus from the halls in The Vale, we all get the bus". We walked from the furthest hall and it took us about 15-20 minutes! I cannot imagine getting a bus for a 15-minute walk

ErrolTheDragon · 28/06/2024 11:02

I rememebr going for an open day with DD and a student said "oh you can't walk to campus from the halls in The Vale, we all get the bus". We walked from the furthest hall and it took us about 15-20 minutes! I cannot imagine getting a bus for a 15-minute walk

I don't think there was a bus between the vale and campus in my day - if there was no one I knew used it!

Earlier in the year we stayed in the hotel that's now on campus ... I can confirm that it's still a very easy walk.

AnnaMagnani · 28/06/2024 11:03

I used to walk into the city from the Vale, is not that far!

Yes the bus is preferable but I did loads of stuff in town with a student discount.

maudelovesharold · 28/06/2024 11:12

All 3 of mine went to Bristol and Birmingham. All state educated and we live in a semi-detached house, not a mansion! They all fitted in and were very happy with their choices. They’ll find their ‘tribe’ wherever they go, in my experience. There’s always going to be a mixture of backgrounds and personalities.

SonicTheHodgeheg · 28/06/2024 11:13

My dd is at UoB. She reports lots of international students and hasn’t felt out of place coming from a comprehensive.

I took an Uber from the Vale to New Street Station and it was about £7- it would be affordable if you have others to share the ride.

My dd walked to secondary every day so was totally fine walking to and from the Vale. She says that the ones who moan get the side eye because it’s only 25 mins.

Some of the buildings are nicknamed Tory Towers or the Boris Blocks but that’s because they are the pricier buildings, not because they are full of private school kids.

ClaudiaWankleman · 28/06/2024 11:17

Only here to say Sheffield university is great, and the city is diverse and very walkable. Most Uni Of students live a 20 minute walk from all of campus, and the campus is right in the city centre. It's downhill on the way there, uphill on the way back which is great for speedy walking when you're late in the morning and in the afternoon used to encourage me to stay longer in the library because i just couldn't be bothered to do the hill!

clary · 28/06/2024 11:19

@ErrolTheDragon when I was a student in Bristol we all walked (or cycled! up the hill!) from the uni in Clifton to the halls in Stoke Bishop. About two miles I am guessing. Apparently that's a total no-no now but I genuinely never once got the bus in the whole year.

(Lol at the Monty Python-ness of us all "in my day we had to walk five miles just to borrow a library book" )

SlenderRations · 28/06/2024 11:26

How conceivably could any university body be “mostly private school”?

YesThisIsMe · 28/06/2024 11:33

SlenderRations · 28/06/2024 11:26

How conceivably could any university body be “mostly private school”?

Maybe if you were going to university in the 1970s. Hell of a commute though.

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clary · 28/06/2024 11:47

YesThisIsMe · 28/06/2024 11:33

Maybe if you were going to university in the 1970s. Hell of a commute though.

Show quote history

Yeh or the 1980s haha

I would estimate of the ppl I met at Bristol uni in the mid 1980s, about 70% had been to private school. and no one, not one single person that I ever saw that was a uni student, was non-white.

I also had one (one! count ’em) female lecturer who started in my final year and her special subject was... feminism. Well better than a man teaching it I guess. I think my point here is that times have moved on (at least I hope so)

SabrinaThwaite · 28/06/2024 14:05

40 years ago Birmingham was reasonably diverse - plenty of overseas students and not at all geared up to the privately educated (looking at you, Durham). I walked to campus from the Vale and then cycled when living out in 2nd and 3rd year. Social life mainly centred around Selly Oak and student houses / the Guild / the OVT, with occasional trips further afield to nightclubs or curry houses.

One big plus of it being a single campus is that it’s all the departments in one place - so a good mix of people doing lots of different subjects (think it’s only dentistry that’s in a different location?).

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