Exeter vs Lancaster

Hey everyone,
I'm an international student, never having lived in the UK. I've applied and have been offered places in Exeter and Lancaster for the following courses:
lancaster: Marketing Mangement Bsc Hons
exeter : BA Management with Marketing

I am also still waiting for a decision from Exeter involving flexible combined honours.
I don't know which one to settle with as my first choice!

I would like to know EVERYTHING you know about these two unis, and which one you think is the best choice.
Which out of those two universities is better?
which one is better at marketing out of those two uni's?



Student life, job prospects, reputation, accommodation, international students, course preference, weather, feeling, whatever. Anything would help!

Thank you for your help!

Hey everyone,
I'm an international student, never having lived in the UK. I've applied and have been offered places in Exeter and Lancaster for the following courses:
lancaster: Marketing Mangement Bsc Hons
exeter : BA Management with Marketing

I am also still waiting for a decision from Exeter involving flexible combined honours.
I don't know which one to settle with as my first choice!

I would like to know EVERYTHING you know about these two unis, and which one you think is the best choice.
Which out of those two universities is better?
which one is better at marketing out of those two uni's?



Student life, job prospects, reputation, accommodation, international students, course preference, weather, feeling, whatever. Anything would help!

Thank you for your help!

Anyway, time for my proper answer:

Student Life - Lancaster is a tiny, tiny city. When I left (2 years ago) I would say there was 1 club that was a decent shot for a good night out, a couple of dreadful ones and that was about it. Virtually no music scene, no variety, just boring. There's also virtually no nice areas of the city during the day, and the campus itself is not only a long way from the city but is also very dull in itself. Exeter isn't a huge place by any stretch, but it's far more busy than Lancaster is, there's far more to do, and overall it's a far more pleasant place. Another aspect which is radically different would be the extra-curricular side of things. Exeter has more active societies, a wider range of societies, far superior sporting facilities, and a much larger number of active sports clubs. - Winner: Exeter

Job Prospects - I can't speak for the prospects, but I can talk about the support given in terms of finding employment. Doing mathematics at Lancaster I had virtually no support whatsoever. The only advice that kept on being given to us was "you should all go into teaching". Now doing engineering at Exeter there is a hell of a lot more going on. Frequent careers fairs with representatives from dozens of companies attending each time, and a much more active careers office for my department. Last term I told them I was wanting to find an industrial placement for the summer between years 2 and 3, and within a few days they had come up with half a dozen options which suited exactly what I was after, helped me through the process of applying for them, and were overall incredibly useful. - Winner: Exeter

Reputation - Lancaster is one of those Universities that has seen it's reputation improve a lot in the last few years. They have risen up the league tables very quickly and most people are impressed by that, however league tables are virtually meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Exeter on the other hand has long held a reputation as being solidly in the tier of Universities just below Oxford/Cambridge/Warwick (in other words just below the handful of top, top Universities in this country). Amongst employers Exeter is also held in much higher regard. - Winner: Exeter

Accommodation - To be honest, it's virtually identical if you're living on campus. Both have completely rebuilt almost all of their accommodation over the last 4 or 5 years, and so it's all pretty new, in good condition and with a good variety from cheap to more premium rooms. Exeter is more expensive however than Lancaster is for on-campus accommodation. Once you move into second year though and are living in the city rather than on campus, Exeter is far superior. A much wider range of houses available, with more nice places to live, and because of the higher number of properties it's much less difficult for landlords to get away with poor practices. The vast majority of it is also much closer to campus than in Lancaster. - Winner: For on-campus - Lancaster, For off-campus - Exeter

Quality of Teaching - In my 2 years at Lancaster I had 9 different lecturers. I would say that 1 of them was very good, 2 were OK and the rest were poor at best. I even had one lecturer who taught us the wrong module for 8 weeks of the 10 week course, and then decided to set us an exam on the content that she hadn't even taught us. At Exeter, I'm currently a second year, and can honestly say that only 1 of my lecturers so far has been bad, the rest have either been perfectly fine or very good. Amongst my friends too, there were far more instances of them encountering bad lecturers at Lancaster than at Exeter. - Winner: Exeter

Location - At Lancaster you're about an hour away from Manchester & Liverpool, 90 minutes from Leeds, and just under an hour from Blackpool. Exeter you've got Bristol and Plymouth just under an hour away, and are 30 minutes from Exmouth. So which you prefer depends on what you're after. If you're the kind of person that wants to go into a big city regularly then Lancaster is probably better, however at Exeter you don't feel the need to travel to a big city so often because it's a much bigger place than Lancaster is and you've got two places on the coast much nicer than Blackpool easily accessible. - Winner - Personally Exeter, but depends on what you're after

Any other specific questions, just ask away.

Anyway, time for my proper answer:

Student Life - Lancaster is a tiny, tiny city. When I left (2 years ago) I would say there was 1 club that was a decent shot for a good night out, a couple of dreadful ones and that was about it. Virtually no music scene, no variety, just boring. There's also virtually no nice areas of the city during the day, and the campus itself is not only a long way from the city but is also very dull in itself. Exeter isn't a huge place by any stretch, but it's far more busy than Lancaster is, there's far more to do, and overall it's a far more pleasant place. Another aspect which is radically different would be the extra-curricular side of things. Exeter has more active societies, a wider range of societies, far superior sporting facilities, and a much larger number of active sports clubs. - Winner: Exeter

Job Prospects - I can't speak for the prospects, but I can talk about the support given in terms of finding employment. Doing mathematics at Lancaster I had virtually no support whatsoever. The only advice that kept on being given to us was "you should all go into teaching". Now doing engineering at Exeter there is a hell of a lot more going on. Frequent careers fairs with representatives from dozens of companies attending each time, and a much more active careers office for my department. Last term I told them I was wanting to find an industrial placement for the summer between years 2 and 3, and within a few days they had come up with half a dozen options which suited exactly what I was after, helped me through the process of applying for them, and were overall incredibly useful. - Winner: Exeter

Reputation - Lancaster is one of those Universities that has seen it's reputation improve a lot in the last few years. They have risen up the league tables very quickly and most people are impressed by that, however league tables are virtually meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Exeter on the other hand has long held a reputation as being solidly in the tier of Universities just below Oxford/Cambridge/Warwick (in other words just below the handful of top, top Universities in this country). Amongst employers Exeter is also held in much higher regard. - Winner: Exeter

Accommodation - To be honest, it's virtually identical if you're living on campus. Both have completely rebuilt almost all of their accommodation over the last 4 or 5 years, and so it's all pretty new, in good condition and with a good variety from cheap to more premium rooms. Exeter is more expensive however than Lancaster is for on-campus accommodation. Once you move into second year though and are living in the city rather than on campus, Exeter is far superior. A much wider range of houses available, with more nice places to live, and because of the higher number of properties it's much less difficult for landlords to get away with poor practices. The vast majority of it is also much closer to campus than in Lancaster. - Winner: For on-campus - Lancaster, For off-campus - Exeter

Quality of Teaching - In my 2 years at Lancaster I had 9 different lecturers. I would say that 1 of them was very good, 2 were OK and the rest were poor at best. I even had one lecturer who taught us the wrong module for 8 weeks of the 10 week course, and then decided to set us an exam on the content that she hadn't even taught us. At Exeter, I'm currently a second year, and can honestly say that only 1 of my lecturers so far has been bad, the rest have either been perfectly fine or very good. Amongst my friends too, there were far more instances of them encountering bad lecturers at Lancaster than at Exeter. - Winner: Exeter

Location - At Lancaster you're about an hour away from Manchester & Liverpool, 90 minutes from Leeds, and just under an hour from Blackpool. Exeter you've got Bristol and Plymouth just under an hour away, and are 30 minutes from Exmouth. So which you prefer depends on what you're after. If you're the kind of person that wants to go into a big city regularly then Lancaster is probably better, however at Exeter you don't feel the need to travel to a big city so often because it's a much bigger place than Lancaster is and you've got two places on the coast much nicer than Blackpool easily accessible. - Winner - Personally Exeter, but depends on what you're after

Any other specific questions, just ask away.