What are the best universities in the UK to study Physics?

Oxbridge, Imperial, Bath, Manchester, Durham, Warwick, etc.

Reply 5

OP

Original post by PythianLegume

The best universities are those that suit your needs the best. It's not as simple as looking at a league table and picking the top 5. You can find data on various courses at unistats and there are ranked data on this site.

I've heard that twenty times already.

It's not wrong to pick a couple of top unis THEN pick the one that suits my needs. They are said to be top for a reason usually from academic excellence.

Reply 6

username878045

17

Original post by C0balt

I've heard that twenty times already.

Maybe if so many people are telling you that, you ought to listen. Especially as most of the people who say that are far more experienced than you, or other teenagers on TSR.

Reply 7

kkboyk

Why not visit their open days and read some reviews of top physics unis like Durham, imperial, Birmingham and such?

Reply 8

ChaoticButterfly

20

As long as it is IOP accredited you will learn the standard stuff. I guess if you know you want to do something specific in physics you could look at what the university physics departments do research in.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by kkboyk

Why not visit their open days and read some reviews of top physics unis like Durham, imperial, Birmingham and such?

I live abroad and it's gonna cost hell a lot if I go to open days aimlessly. I need to select a few universities beforehand.

Reply 10

kkboyk

Original post by C0balt

I live abroad and it's gonna cost hell a lot if I go to open days aimlessly. I need to select a few universities beforehand.

Oh, well I'd say use unistats, read review and read the course contents to sew what you like. Don't go to university just because of prestige but also think about what they teach and give you in return.

Reply 11

OP

Original post by PythianLegume

Maybe if so many people are telling you that, you ought to listen. Especially as most of the people who say that are far more experienced than you, or other teenagers on TSR.

I didn't say I don't listen to them. If I didn't listen, I would've not posted anything on TSR and as you said I'd have gone to a league table and picked top five and apply to them already (precisely in a year)

I know my needs and I don't know how I can find such unis to suit my needs. I love my subject and I want to gain as much knowledge and skills as possible in the subject using as good facility as possible. I don't care too much about nightlife and I like calm cities.
I don't know how I can know these things so I am here. I went on official websites but every university makes themselves sound amazing and I can't truly know what they have and what they don't. They have course overview but I don't see details of the course in some uni websites and even if I do I don't know the depths they go into.

I didn't specify in the first post which lead to the confusion which I'm sorry about

Now I gained a good link from this thread though I didn't know about unistats, I saw some banner thing in some website but didn't bother to click.

Reply 12

TheBBQ

To be honest, any physical department open right now is a good one since very few have any left.. Although the top ones are the typical top unis tbhs, then the other Russel group unis.

Reply 13

flyyoufools

11

Original post by C0balt

Hi

If you could give me a list of the best unis to study Physics at that would be great.
Out of these, if you could also tell me which ones are in a huge busy city (obviously London but other than that) and which ones are in a relatively quiet city/town (I still count Oxford as quiet, as a person who lived in Tokyo and Paris). I don't really know cities in UK since I've only been to London and Oxford.

I don't really care if the uni is known worldwide, I just want as good education as possible in physics (but I'd assume they're often famous anyway).

Thanks.

My physics teacher told me to rate them through RAE :smile:

These are the ones I applied to:
Manchester - busy city obviously
Liverpool - didn't feel massive but it was dead pretty
Leeds - big city
Lancaster - I loved here! Small but excellent department. The city felt small and quiet but the students told me otherwise (has its own campus too)
Birmingham - never visited but big city

Reply 14

username878045

17

Original post by Mr...

Cambridge, Imperial, Durham, Oxford and St Andrews are all very good :yes:

You should research about them, specifically Oxford and Cambridge to see which you'd prefer :yep:

(open days are your best friend)

Only one of those is in a big city like the OP specified...

Reply 15

Nathanielle

15

Original post by C0balt

I've heard that twenty times already.

It's not wrong to pick a couple of top unis THEN pick the one that suits my needs. They are said to be top for a reason usually from academic excellence.

As not all Physic courses are general it may differ, which universities are top for you. It depends e.g. wether you would like to do Theoretical Physics and/or a lot of Math, or you want to go more into e.g. Biophysics or a course with the least amount of Math possible (although this is very unlikely, if you ask for the best course). It can vary quite a bit and it is important the university is good in your chosen field and not that is has a big Department for Theoretical Physics, when your interest lie in Material Sciences or Nuclear Science.

And if you then post where your interest lies and what you want, more experienced students or the ones already finished might either be able to give you advice for the specific question or give you hints, what would be important for them to look at. As your question so far have been very, very broad, it is a but difficult to give advice even for persons who know.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Nathanielle

As not all Physic courses are general it may differ, which universities are top for you. It depends e.g. wether you would like to do Theoretical Physics and/or a lot of Math, or you want to go more into e.g. Biophysics or a course with the least amount of Math possible (although this is very unlikely, if you ask for the best course). It can vary quite a bit and it is important the university is good in your chosen field and not that is has a big Department for Theoretical Physics, when your interest lie in Material Sciences or Nuclear Science.

It may change over next year but I am atm into particle physics. Not biophysics definitely not, never read about material sciences so I'm not sure about it but I'm more into understanding the universe and I don't think I will like material science (again haven't read at all so I don't know for sure though)

Reply 17

Nathanielle

15

Original post by C0balt

It may change over next year but I am atm into particle physics. Not biophysics definitely not, never read about material sciences so I'm not sure about it but I'm more into understanding the universe and I don't think I will like material science (again haven't read at all so I don't know for sure though)

Material Science is very broad and at the end it can allways happen you fall in love with a subject at university, you have never heard of before. (Material Science is between Chemistry and Physics, but is very interdisciplinary and can pop up in various fields.)

Sadly, I don't know that much about Particle Physics to give more than general advice.

Reply 18

OP

Original post by Mr...

Cambridge, Imperial, Durham, Oxford and St Andrews are all very good :yes:

You should research about them, specifically Oxford and Cambridge to see which you'd prefer :yep:

(open days are your best friend)

I don't want to live in London...I've had enough HUGE cities (having spent 16-3=13 years of my life in Tokyo and starting life in Paris...) but yeah Imperial course looks interesting. I heard student satisfaction is very low though :confused:

I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge unless I suddenly start flunking in sixthform lol. I feel it's more welcoming than Oxford (just my illusion ok I know it lol) and I am quite interested in Chemistry, CompSci, Geology, Biology of Cells modules they offer in the first year :smile:

Reply 19

OP