I'm currently set to go to the university of Northampton in September and everything is in place with the finance and accommodation but I looked at the new university league tables for 2013 and Northampton dropped a lot of places this year. I was hoping it would stay mid table but it dropped about 30 places which concerns me because I was hoping to go to Northampton while they are building a good reputation which doesn't seem likely in the next few years now. I've recently completed a BTEC Diploma in IT in which I achieved D*D*D* which is equivalent to 420 UCAS points for those wondering. To get into Northampton I needed DMM which is kind of low but I liked it there on the tours and I am currently living 9 miles away from Northampton so I am familiar with the surroundings. A lot of my friends in my class are going off to university to study computer science which is what I am enrolled for but they are going to universities like Nottingham which are a lot higher then Northampton and they are getting the same grades as me. I am wondering whether I made a big mistake accepting Northampton and whether I should make a change because I know the cost of a degree went up considerably this year and I'm not sure if I want to pay all of that money just to be scrutinised for going to a university like Northampton even if I achieve a first overall. If I decide not to go to Northampton I know I will lose the £200 deposit but that's a small price to pay compared to the £1000's of debt I will be in when I get my degree.

Does anybody have any advice for me regarding this because I'm not sure clearing is an option now as I have a place but I'm not sure about this and also will it affect when I get my money.
The other option is to take a year out but I don't want to take a year out and forget most of the things I have been taught at college during my diploma because university will be a lot harder.

One last thing, does anybody know about switching universities and staying on the same course because I am open to going to Northampton and then switching to another university I know that I would need to get a good grade from the first year and arrange it myself but is it possible and does anybody know what the success rate of this is?


Thanks for any advice.