The Student Room Group

Bristol and York uni for English?

Hi, I've been given unconditional offers for Newcastle, Bristol and York. I've narrowed the choice down to Bristol or York because they're both a lot better than Newcastle for English. Can anyone tell me any points to consider when making my choice between them?

I want a university with a great reputation for English, strong English department, small group teaching and community feel. And a good nightlife would be great too!

I like York the best so far, but I've never been to Bristol (I'm intending to visit both soon).

I'm slightly worried about York's nightlife- does anyone go there who could tell me about the clubs etc in York? And anything about the college system? Tbh any information would be useful!

THANKS :biggrin:
Reply 1
Well in terms of reputation, Bristol has a stronger reputation overall (slightly), but York is definitely a lot stronger on the English front. Having lived in neither I cannot offer any comment on the nightlife, however like you I would be leaning towards Bristol... I can only recommend you visit both.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2
York is quite old fashioned in terms of setting, and Bristol is famed for being a brilliant town to be about as a student.
Reply 3
Bristol has everything!! Its got an amazing night life and you cant get everything from league tables! Bristol, in my opinion, has a far greater reputation and the University is beautiful, old and the city, well-you cant beat it!!
The fact that you have an offer from Bristol for English says something, a friend of mine applied there for English with 3 A*'s predicted and full marks in AS English Lit, got rejected this year!
To be fair I am applying for Psychology and have never been to York, however Bristol in my opinion has everything!!! Well done on your offers!
Do remember though, go where you like the best, not where others say is the best! Best thing to do is visit and read up (which i guess you'll enjoy being an English student)
I enjoy living in Bristol quite a bit.
Reply 5
Original post by Monty333
Hi, I've been given unconditional offers for Newcastle, Bristol and York. I've narrowed the choice down to Bristol or York because they're both a lot better than Newcastle for English. Can anyone tell me any points to consider when making my choice between them?

I want a university with a great reputation for English, strong English department, small group teaching and community feel. And a good nightlife would be great too!

I like York the best so far, but I've never been to Bristol (I'm intending to visit both soon).

I'm slightly worried about York's nightlife- does anyone go there who could tell me about the clubs etc in York? And anything about the college system? Tbh any information would be useful!

THANKS :biggrin:


I'm sure you've done this already but go on line to both courses and pull up the actual module details for each one... you can usually dig out vey specific details like the timetable, what you cover each week and the reading lists. That will maybe make up your mind for you if you like the actual details of one course over another. Also look to see who the tutors and professors are... are any of them well known in their field, what is their field? Maybe also consider costs of travelling home, expense of accomodation etc etc

They are both considered great English lit. departments and universities but for me personally it would be Bristol as a city but I'm biased as I'm living in the West Country and love it! Bristol has excellent nightlife.

Good luck and congrats on such great offers to choose from! I see over a thousand people apply for Bristol and there are only 62 places on offer so wow!

ps. Just had a quick look at the York English department and I must say it looks superb... really interesting stuff going on there and as a former literature student I'd be very, very tempted by the sound of some of those modules myself and the creative writer in residence etc. The library facilities sound better too. So I'm reversing my opinion and going for York on the basis that their literature course looks fantastic!!! :smile: There, that wasn't at all contradictory and confusing was it.... sorry!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 6
Thanks everyone for the replies! They were really useful :smile: Still haven't yet decided but the open days are coming up soon, so hopefully it will be easier once i've seen them both!
I'm a third year at York and our course is just :coma:

Haven't seen one that I'd consider to be better.

Quick Reply

Latest