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Most Rah/Posh University

I was just looking through some old threads and the usual suspects turn up, but I wanted to know what others thought. Of course Oxbridge, Durham, Bristol, Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Exeter were mentioned quite a lot in those threads, and for some reason, Nottingham appeared every now and then. Also, I was reading an old Times article that said that Newcastle was the new place to be, saying it was the alternative if your children (it was directed at middle/upper class parents) get that anorexic letter telling them they wouldn't be getting into their first choice, or any, college.

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Reply 1

yahyahyahs

Oh, must clarify: what is the poshest university now, in your opinion. Wanted to do an updated thread since many of them were dated 2008 and back.

Reply 2

Pete's Dragon

Its not hard to find out. Look at the official statistics published, not what people on here 'perceive' to be the poshest.

Every year the Sunday Times ranking has a list of the unis with the lowest state school intake, and also the most middle class. Also HEFCE (the gov body) every year produces data on which unis have the lowest % state school intake. The data should be on their website. Also, the websites of the top public schools like Harrow, St Pauls, Radley etc list where their students go to university every year.

From memory, the same suspects are usually in the top 10 in the same sort of order. They are

Oxford
Cambridge
Durham
Bristol
UCL/LSE/Imperial
St Andrews
Edinburgh
Nottingham
Bath.

Not sure why everyone thinks Exeter is so 'posh'. It isn't usually in the top 10. After these few then the next 'usual suspects' in recent years have tended to be Exeter, Newcastle, and Leeds. A lot of it is about fashionability. For example, Nottingham is loved by a lot of big public schools especially the ones in the green belt, and they send a huge number there every year (see university destinations pages on public school websites). Alternatively, similar universities rep-wise like York and Warwick dont even get a look in.

If you want to avoid a rah uni, then go to a big civic like Manchester, B'ham, Sheffield.

Reply 3

Mr. Orange

there are quite a few rahs in Newcastle, but i would say Oxbridge and Durham are the poshest

Reply 4

DorianGrey123

my friends at Exeter say it's got a big 'rah' population.
I've come from Bournemouth to Sheffield, and there are essentialy none of them up here. It's cracking!

Reply 5

Don_Lad

Oxford Brookes is far 'posher' than Oxford itself. If I put 10 Brookes girls in front of you, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them. Most of them a ****ing peng though, so meh.

Reply 6

kat2pult

I've heard about Exeter being very rah too.

Royal Holloway has a fair few rahs too. I saw a few at a Sussex open day a few years back, but not as many as RHUL.

Reply 7

looking

Exeter famous for it's rah population right? And filled with dim rahs (worst kind) who couldn't get into ox/cam/etc despite their years of expensive private tuition.

Reply 8

py0alb

Having lived in both Nottingham and Cambridge, I can tell you theres a biiiiiig gap between Oxford and Cambridge and the rest.

Reply 9

99 Red Balloons

Going by my visit to Bath, it has to be there :biggrin:

Reply 10

Margaret Thatcher

Oxbridge: Posh.
Exeter: Rah.

Reply 11

User188463

Original post by py0alb

Having lived in both Nottingham and Cambridge, I can tell you theres a biiiiiig gap between Oxford and Cambridge and the rest.

Thats a pretty big leap of logic to say from just living in Notts and Cambridge. What about Exeter, Ox brookes, st. Andrews, Imperial, Durham etc?

Edit: anyway, 'Rah' isn't the same as being posh, in my opinion. Rah is about Jack Wills, branded clothing, and showing off money and being loud, obnoxious, with an annoying laugh - you have to be a snob to be rah, but not all posh people are snobs.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 12

Mujeriego

The rahs have sieged King's College London.

Reply 13

py0alb

Original post by T-o dore

Thats a pretty big leap of logic to say from just living in Notts and Cambridge. What about Exeter, Ox brookes, st. Andrews, Imperial, Durham etc?

Well the statistics bear this out: something like 90% of all undergraduates at Cambridge came from the top 3 socio-economic groups.

I can't speak to somewhere like Durham. The rest I would imagine are closer to Nottingham than Oxbridge. My point was that to speak about somewhere like Nottingham in the same breath as Cambridge (in this regard) is unwarranted. The gap is huge.

*this is not intended as a criticism of Cambridge students. I'm friends with a good number of them and they're all very nice people.

Someone mentioned Bath: Bath is even less rah than your average Russell Group uni in my experience.

Reply 14

Shmeiks

Original post by looking

Exeter famous for it's rah population right? And filled with dim rahs (worst kind) who couldn't get into ox/cam/etc despite their years of expensive private tuition.

I'd say this is spot on, although somewhat of a cruel truth having applied to Exerah myself.

Reply 15

User188463

Original post by py0alb

Well the statistics bear this out: something like 90% of all undergraduates at Cambridge came from the top 3 socio-economic groups.

Actually not all unis discluding Oxbridge are 'like nottingham', not even the Russell group ones... just trying to point out that being rich or posh isn't the same as being rah. Some of my friends went to the most snazzy schools but are furthest away from being 'rah'.

Having SAID that, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7cR1I6zUGo .

Reply 16

py0alb

Original post by T-o dore

No but theres a pretty strong correlation, is there not?

Reply 17

cambio wechsel

University of the West of England, true as well when it was Bristol Poly.
Exeter.
Oxford Brookes.

I can remember a time when the place to meet really posh girls was at secretarial colleges, mind.

Reply 18

Rob da Mop

There's a fair few rahs here, but we're not all bad :frown:

Reply 19

lusu2002

I studied at newcastle a few years ago. It is VERY RAH. Apparently 2/3 from public school and princess eugenie goes there for gods sake! But don't let that put u off, the best place to go to uni in my opinion.