University and Non Russel Groups

I've been looking at a few russel groups and quite frankly im scared by the grade requirements.

Do non Russell Group graduates get good employment; specifically those graduating in English Literature or Psychology? I want to become a clinical psychologist when im older?

Im predicted ABB for my Alevels atm.Im doing AS levels.

What are some of the best unis i can go to with those grades?

Reply 1

em211997

18

Original post by scrawlx101

I've been looking at a few russel groups and quite frankly im scared by the grade requirements.

Do non Russell Group graduates get good employment; specifically those graduating in English Literature or Psychology? I want to become a clinical psychologist when im older?

Im predicted ABB for my Alevels atm.Im doing AS levels.

What are some of the best unis i can go to with those grades?

I'm also applying for psychology to start in September. I'm applying to Reading which isn't russel group but its very very good they offered me AAB but I've heard they'll accept ABB. Also Kent university.

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Reply 2

em211997

18

Also Loughborough, surrey and Portsmouth are good for psychology. BTW why aren't you applying to any Russell groups?

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Reply 3

poohat

18

Original post by scrawlx101

Do non Russell Group graduates get good employment; specifically those graduating in English Literature or Psychology? I want to become a clinical psychologist when im older?

Realistically no, psychology is one of the most oversubscribed courses in the country, and English Literature isnt a particularly employable degree unless you do it at Oxford or similar.

http://www.clinpsy.org.uk/wiki/article/how-hard-is-it-to-get-onto-clinical-psychology-training
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1701549
http://newcastle.tab.co.uk/2014/03/27/history-french-and-english-students-among-most-likely-to-be-unemployed-after-uni/

More rigoriously: http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Earnings-by-Degrees-REPORT.pdf

On average the top earning courses in terms of starting salary were medicine and dentistry; engineering and technology; economics; computer science; and education. The lowest earning courses were psychology; English; design and creative arts; biological sciences; and history and philosophy.

This pattern was also largely repeated for earnings 3.5 years after graduation, and for the likelihood of entering professional employment (both at six months and 3.5 years), with graduates from medical courses and from science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) courses having substantially better average outcomes than those from the arts, humanities, and social sciences

Previous studies have not tended to examine differences in subjects at this level of specificity. We are therefore able to see some interesting new findings among lower earning subjects. Particularly notable are the low average starting salaries of graduates from psychology; sport science (approximately £16,707); and hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism (approximately £16,981) degrees.

Psychology would typically be classified with the biological sciences. However, based on the above classification, psychology alone is the eleventh most popular degree subject in these data; behind law

(page 28)

Table 4 shows how the expected starting salaries varies based on how prestigious the university is.

Generally I would say that if you arent able to get into a prestigious university where the brand name alone will get you a good job, it makes sense to do something which gives you employable skills

Table 4 shows how the expected starting salaries varies based on how prestigious the university is (

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 4

scrawlx101

OP

20

Original post by poohat

Realistically no, psychology is one of the most oversubscribed courses in the country, and English Literature isnt a particularly employable degree unless you do it at Oxford or similar.

http://www.clinpsy.org.uk/wiki/article/how-hard-is-it-to-get-onto-clinical-psychology-training
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1701549
http://newcastle.tab.co.uk/2014/03/27/history-french-and-english-students-among-most-likely-to-be-unemployed-after-uni/

More rigoriously: http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Earnings-by-Degrees-REPORT.pdf

Generally I would say that if you arent able to get into a prestigious university where the brand name alone will get you a good job, it makes sense to do something which gives you employable skills

Table 4 shows how the expected starting salaries varies based on how prestigious the university is (

Careers adviser/personal adviser
Human Resources Officer
Counsellor
Psychotherapist
Retail Manager
Psychologist
which job here is likely to be the most well paid

OP

anyone?

If I were to guess, I'd say psychotherapist, psychologist and, possibly, counselor.

But in all honesty, do you really want to go forward in life making decisions about your future based on what may possibly be the highest paid job you can get? My advice would be to really think about what you want to do. I'm assuming you're 17-18 years old and can tell you, from experience, that if you go down that route you will very likely have some huge regrets in ten years time.

Reply 7

laurenfae95

If you're capable of getting into a Russell Group university then definitely try for it. Not because of the status, but because they will generally have better staff and their department will have a lot more funding - it will be especially beneficial in third year when a member of staff supervises you on your dissertation. I go to Sheffield Hallam (a non-russell group) while my boyfriend goes to the University of Manchester (russell group) for the exact same course (bsc psychology) and his course is definitely a lot better. He even got to take a physics module in second year, we don't have anything like that at Hallam :mad:

Definitely considering going to a 'better' university for my masters.

Reply 8

SlowlorisIncognito

16

Original post by scrawlx101

I've been looking at a few russel groups and quite frankly im scared by the grade requirements.

Do non Russell Group graduates get good employment; specifically those graduating in English Literature or Psychology? I want to become a clinical psychologist when im older?

Im predicted ABB for my Alevels atm.Im doing AS levels.

What are some of the best unis i can go to with those grades?

If you want to become a clinical psychologist, you need to be aware that achieving this will take you many years of study after completing your degree. The most important requirement would be taking a psychology course that is BPS accredited, I believe that at some Russell Group universities don't accredit their degrees, because it allows them more freedom in what they can teach.

The Russell Group is just a research grouping- some of the unis in it are good, some are not so good. Sometimes, you'll get better teaching at a more teaching focused uni. Often, if you're going on to post-grad study, where you do your post grad is more important than where you do your undergrad.

Instead of obsessing about uni rankings, look for somewhere where you'll enjoy the degree and enjoy living in that location for three years.