PPE at York VS Pol&Econ at Nottingham Uni

So basically I have offers from both of these universities with AAA offers, but I have been labouring over the decision for months. I have 2 days to decide on UCAS track so I was hoping some of you may be able to help me out
I'm thinking of the prestige of the course, graduate prospects, standard of teaching, links with foreign Universities, student life, international standing, league tables etc. So please vote!
Thank you!

I have no idea about the other course but I know something of the PPE course at York so I will answer that for you.

The course at York is very much an integrated course - in that lots of the modules are designed specifically to interact together for PPEists. I know the various departments have been quick to react to cases of student dissatisfaction - e.g. there was some dissatisfaction at how economics was being taught last year and that's been totally overhauled this year. I know two PPEists who went abroad - one to Singapore and one to Canada and a few others I know went abroad to Berkely or UC Davis from different courses.

As for student life, there's lots going on campus - there's a collegiate system and tons of societies and sports teams to get involved in - they're building a brand new sports centre for next year so that should be awesome. York has a high % of international students and a pretty busy international society. In league tables it's usually top 15/20 depending and has been top 10 and I think it's highly regarded for PPE as it was the second university to start teaching it or something. Most of this you'd be able to find with a quick Google search.


As for career prospects I know plenty of PPE students who've got jobs with 'the big 4', political think tanks, other graduate schemes etc. Most PPE students I know are sorted for next year.

They're both very good universities and the difference between going to them, I think, is negligible.

Thank you for replying, your insight is invaluable! Yeah I was a little concerned with the economics department teaching debacle, but it does seem to have blown over, and York seems to be rising on the league tables too. Ahhhh such an annoying decision to make!

Could you possibly visit both universities before you make the decision. Both are campus unis but Nottingham is bigger. York is a sleepy medieval Northern city. A lot of people I know love the campus (especially the new Hes East) but some people are less enamoured of it. I'm sure the same could be said for Nottingham. A visit really could help.

Yes, I've actually already been to both! I definitely prefer the Nottingham campus as I see myself fitting into the bigger city sort of lifestyle. But York was rather pretty, and I know that wherever I go I'll have a good time, so location is probably one of the less important aspects for me . Thank you for the advice though!

On York university website, it says applicants must have A*AA or "AAA including maths". The website also states that PPE only requires an A in GCSE Maths but they advise AS Maths to be taken. I would like clarification as to this point- If you do A level Maths and Get a B, and you are doing 4 A levels, do you need to get A*AA in the other 3, or is it downgraded to AAA even if you don't get an A in A2 maths? York PPEists input welcomed.