Best Universities for Physics

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice about which universities are top for Physics?
I have looked at league tables on various different websites, but they all seem to show universities in different orders and have no idea which one to go by.
Also, many say Cambridge is top but they only seem to have Physics as part of a natural sciences course, which really doesn't appeal to me?
Help would be much appreciated,
Thanks.

Reply 1

katiev73

Oxford I'm presuming, Southampton are meant to be good, Durham, Bristol, Exeter... they're all russell group unis :smile:

honestly the most important thing is to pick a university you love, visit as many as possible and see what campus/atmosphere/city you feel like you fit in with best. The courses will be very similar whichever university you pick so its most important you are happy with where you are.

Reply 2

Hoosierette

Original post by katiev73

Oxford I'm presuming, Southampton are meant to be good, Durham, Bristol, Exeter... they're all russell group unis :smile:

Thank you

Reply 3

pianofluteftw

League tables can give you some information, but take it with a pinch of salt. The results are based on sometimes fairly odd statistics that don't actually have any effect on you studying your degree, or relate to specific questionnaires given to current students, results of which are often extremely unreliable. They can give you an idea of the prestige of the university though which unfortunately you do have to consider.

As said before though - just go to a university you like. There's no point going somewhere you're going to hate living in or studying at. I applied to Oxford but actually preferred Durham and ended up here and am much much happier. Visit them if you can, ask questions, find current students and sift through the rubbish they present you with to find somewhere you feel happy. As said previously too, all Physics degrees have to be approved by the IoP anyway so you will learn much the same stuff, even if at the top universities you learn it at a much faster rate.

Any questions feel free to ask! :smile:

Reply 4

Manitude

It's hard to say which is best. Some departments are world leading in certain research areas, but overall don't perform too well. If you want to study something specific then go to the university that is best at that. In general this is not always Oxford or Durham (or similar universities which most people think are the best).

In addition to that (and if you're not interested in research), look at the satisfaction rates.

Most course are generally similar as the IOP requires all physics degrees to cover certain topics, which constitutes about half of the degree. The rest of the courses will generally cover the same types of things, but with a bias towards the research interests of the lecturers.