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Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
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Is Lancaster university 'prestigious'?

Are their graduates sort after? Do big firms want to employee them? Is it 'posh' ?

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No.
Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster
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Reply 2
Original post by 4 I Murder Carrots Fun
No.


Oh really, how comes?

Is it crap?
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by her
Oh really, how comes?

Is it crap?


It's not really terrible but if you want a university whose graduates are sought after you should really be looking at Russell Group universities, or institutions that are consistently in the top 10/20 of most league tables (Guardian, Times, etc.). Even though league tables are basically a load of crap, you can tell a lot from the names that crop up again and again at the top end. Obviously, teaching quality varies from subject to subject but personally I would prefer to do a less prestigious course at a more prestigious university because of the career prospects I would gain from doing so (access to careers fairs, that kind of thing) - and the fact that employers won't necessarily know or care that [less good university overall] was top in your subject for the years you were there.
Reply 4
Original post by 4 I Murder Carrots Fun
It's not really terrible but if you want a university whose graduates are sought after you should really be looking at Russell Group universities, or institutions that are consistently in the top 10/20 of most league tables (Guardian, Times, etc.). Even though league tables are basically a load of crap, you can tell a lot from the names that crop up again and again at the top end. Obviously, teaching quality varies from subject to subject but personally I would prefer to do a less prestigious course at a more prestigious university because of the career prospects I would gain from doing so (access to careers fairs, that kind of thing) - and the fact that employers won't necessarily know or care that [less good university overall] was top in your subject for the years you were there.


I think Lancaster is top 10:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-league-table-2012

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8454541/University-league-tables-the-complete-list.html

I just want to be at a good university.
Short answer: Yes it is prestigious.

Forbes just ranked the MBA program here 7th in the world and 3rd in the UK in its rankings of non-US 1-year MBA programs. Equally, the Financial Times has the course ranked 3rd in the world for value for money.

Accounting and Finance at undergrad is currently ranked 2nd in the country by the Times, etc etc etc. Essentially the management school here has an exceedingly good reputation. The physics dept. also receives similar sorts of praise.

As for your second question 'Is is "posh"?', no, not particularly. The vast majority of the undergrads here have been state school educated (if that's how you want to measure 'poshness').


So yes. It is a good university, and to refute the previous poster, there are an enormous amount of career prospects here across the subject spectrum. Certainly b/c of the strength of the management school businesses take a high level of interest in employing graduates. Equally, the strength of the research here means that outside academic institutions are v. interested in recruitment from the university. Over the past summer I obtained placement as an Intern at the US Library of Congress, due in large part to the reputation of the University both here in the UK and overseas (certainly the number of European and Asian students would also seem to imply that Lancaster has a high-profile international presence).
Reply 6
It is a good university, ranked in the top 150 in the world, and top 50 in europe by one league table. Some of its departments are very high up in terms of quality, and it's part of the 1994 group (not as prestigious as the russell group, but still well known and respected)
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by 4 I Murder Carrots Fun
It's not really terrible but if you want a university whose graduates are sought after you should really be looking at Russell Group universities, or institutions that are consistently in the top 10/20 of most league tables (Guardian, Times, etc.). Even though league tables are basically a load of crap, you can tell a lot from the names that crop up again and again at the top end. Obviously, teaching quality varies from subject to subject but personally I would prefer to do a less prestigious course at a more prestigious university because of the career prospects I would gain from doing so (access to careers fairs, that kind of thing) - and the fact that employers won't necessarily know or care that [less good university overall] was top in your subject for the years you were there.


I agree that league tables aren't everything, but Lancaster's in the top ten in the Guardian, Times and Independent, and was last year too.
With regards to 'Russell Group' universities, it would be silly to say that they are the only universities counted as 'prestigious'. Durham, York, St Andrews, Bath and Exeter are all examples of consistently top ten/twenty universities which are not in the Russell Group.
Reply 8
No.
Original post by misseckleburg
I agree that league tables aren't everything, but Lancaster's in the top ten in the Guardian, Times and Independent, and was last year too.
With regards to 'Russell Group' universities, it would be silly to say that they are the only universities counted as 'prestigious'. Durham, York, St Andrews, Bath and Exeter are all examples of consistently top ten/twenty universities which are not in the Russell Group.


Those were the ones I was trying to cover with the league tables thing - I'm quite surprised to learn it ranks so high, but then the league tables are often surprising. Perhaps in terms of the most 'sought after' graduates a good guide is looking at the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, where the uni careers fairs attended by each employer are listed. Even if I can't provide any tangible evidence for Lancaster being somewhat second rate, I went to a large private school that sometimes sends up to 60% of its students to Oxbridge and one advantage of this was access to excellent careers and university choice advice. In a year of around 120 people who all applied to varied courses and universities, not one had Lancaster as any of their five choices. Obviously, this could easily be down to snobbery or internal trends but nonetheless...
That said, I've heard that your university is only relevant as far as your first job, after which work experience, references, contacts, etc. become much more relevant. Lancaster is not bad enough a university to adversely effect a job application, but a company that has as its selection criteria 'at least a 2.1 from a good university' might not consider Lancaster to qualify as a 'good university'.
Reply 10

Lancaster does seem to be fairly highly rated over the last couple of years, although before that I don't believe it was. In its current state it's likely that they would be targeted by some major employers, although since it's reached the current level quite recently there's not going to be a huge amount of statistics to look at in determining the answer, and it's also not quite a household name.
Reply 11
You're in with a good chance at jobs - but you've got to work at getting yourself employed anywhere

The extent to which going to a 'sought after' uni is benificial to your job prospects is misunderstood imo - you'd think employers were running round the russell group with giant butterfly nets to capture as many as possible of the magical creatures know as russell group graduates for their own collections.
Reply 12
Personally I believe that if you attend a decent uni, get good grades, experience and work hard, theres no limits to what you can do in terms of employability. My cousin went to one of the worst universities in Britain, worked hard and achieved a 1st and managed to get a job at Sachi and Sachi straight after, £40k a year. I appreciate that this is uncommon, but my point is employers favour good, hardworking characters as opposed to people who simply attended 'posh' uni.
Reply 13
Very decent uni but I'm not sure it's appreciated enough considering how good it is if that makes sense
Reply 14
So far on campus this term i've seen groups from Ernst&Young, Deloitte and Lloyds Banking Group trying to tempt people onto their graduate programmes.
Original post by tuo_corso
Lancaster does seem to be fairly highly rated over the last couple of years, although before that I don't believe it was. In its current state it's likely that they would be targeted by some major employers, although since it's reached the current level quite recently there's not going to be a huge amount of statistics to look at in determining the answer, and it's also not quite a household name.


Lancaster was one of my Dad's choices; he went to Cambridge, and applied for Durham, York and some other places. In 1969. It was definitely not seen to be as good as the others, particularly not prestigious university, as it had not been around long. But when I came here to look at the uni with him, he said it was regarded as being a good new plate-glass university than being bad. It's not, for example, an ex-poly.

But otherwise I agree; it's a small, not that great (but not too bad either) university in the North-West. You've got good prospects if your degree is one of the sciences, engineering, maths or the management school. Humanities or otherwise, your graduate prospects are looking a lot weaker.
Original post by RedRevolver
But otherwise I agree; it's a small, not that great (but not too bad either) university in the North-West. You've got good prospects if your degree is one of the sciences, engineering, maths or the management school. Humanities or otherwise, your graduate prospects are looking a lot weaker.


Graduate prospects are influenced by a great deal though. If you don't do all that much during your degree, aside from turn up to class and socialise with friends, you're CV isn't going to look great, regardless of which university you went to. In contrast, if you made the effort to gain work experience, took advantage of the opportunities on offer etc, your CV would look a lot stronger. :smile:

All my friends from my history course are in a decent job or further study now. But then again, all of us held down jobs, did volunteer work, went on things organised through the careers service etc etc. :smile:

Lancaster is a good university - it would be a lie to say otherwise. However, given its location, it can be overlooked - sometimes completely unknown. They have some great links though, to business and industry, and LUVU [or Involve as it has been renamed] provide some amazing opportunities, as do the careers service people. There is no reason why your job prospects would be damaged by going to Lancaster. :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
It is a very good solid university however I don't think it quite has the employer recognition factor that Manchester or Warwick say have. These universities have been good for a long time so employers will know that its graduates are also likely to be good. Lancaster doesn't quite have the same clout yet

In my opinion it's what you might call an up and coming university and will gain status with employers. So if you're applying now, if it keeps up its position in the league tables, by the time you graduate you could be on to a winner!
Reply 18
I'd like to know this as well. I'm trying to decide which to choose for business management between Lancaster, Bath or Bristol. Any suggestions?
Reply 19
Original post by her
Are their graduates sort after? Do big firms want to employee them? Is it 'posh' ?


A while back it wasn't, but now I hear everyone who goes there rave and scream about how much they love the Campus, the Courses, the Tutors, the Facilities and the Accommodation.

I live in Cumbria, and I think ~20 people went from our School, and everyone came back and said they loved it. Plus an extra 10 other people I know who go there and love it too.

I heard that it use to be terrible, but after what I've heard, it sounds excellent. I visited it for two days with my Year for a Residential, and it looked unfinished, but I'd have to agree about the accommodation, facilities, campus and the several Tutors I did meet were brilliant. The only think I can't comment on myself is the Courses.

But yeah, from the people I know who go there, each and every one loves it and didn't look back at all on any other Uni.

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