Original post by 9876543211234Higher ed engages in international research, outlook, etc. (for example international research networks include the UK), but when we refer to 'international' things, by and large academics mean non-domestic (i.e. non-UK). For example, tuition fees are divided into Home/EU fees and International fees. Students are likewise Home/EU or International. Lots of universities have 'International Academies' where over the summer before starting a course, international students can get adjusted to UK higher ed and make sure they have an appropriate level of English for study (i.e. not only can they write essays in English, but are they able and comfortable enough to engage in discussions in seminars, effectively communicate with lecturers, etc.).
I have about four friends who are now working in recruitment in a variety of sectors, and I have met their colleagues through them. I was at the wedding of one of my friends recently, and was having a chat to several HR types about unis, and very few of them knew the actual composition of the RG. They knew Birmingham and Bristol, because they are the oldest two, and Edinburgh and UCL, but after that they didn't know about it. They assumed that most of hte Univeristy of London was in it, Manchester and Sheffield 'simply could not be', and Durham 'must be'.
Like you, I assumed that employers would, even if they couldn't list of the RG unis (I can't), have a fairly accurate mental list of which ones were in and which were RG-equivalent (like St andrews and durham), followed by almost-RG unis, like Swansea. Instead, they seemed to have very strange ideas, as the original poster of this thread seems to allude to. It reminded me somewhat of the 16yr olds on TSR making endless lists of uni rankings despite having relatively little info to back their assertions up. Obviously, this is anecdotal, but despite the fact that talking about this subject was obviously a favourite conversation for these HR types, from their reactions I was clearly the first person who they'd met who actually knew even a little about the RG.
With regards to the report, I tend to find TSR very easily becomes quite a bitter place. 1st: Helpful advice, 2nd: Swearing, 3rd: Threads being taken over by people engaging in personal insults. You (the plural 'you') probably wouldn't swear in front a random sixteen year old, so you (again, plural) should police your language online in a space for young people.