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Lancaster University

Lancaster

Does Lancaster university have a good reputation?

I am planning to do an international relations degree however it doesn't seem as prestigious as it isn't a Russell group uni. And the uni seems more business orientated

Reply 1

Quick-use

Original post by ummbiz

I am planning to do an international relations degree however it doesn't seem as prestigious as it isn't a Russell group uni. And the uni seems more business orientated

First of all, it is an extremely prestigious university. You do know that 'Russel Group' is just a group that was formed years and years ago for research purposes? No-one can join the RG now and it doesn't have much significance anymore. Even St Andrews, one of the best universities of the UK, isn't part of the Russel Group.

Lancaster is better than many and most RG universities and it has an exceptional reputation.

Why do you think the university seems business orientated? Are you basing that off the comment someone gave to you on another thread? Please do your own research and don't simply believe what everyone else says as gospel.

Lancaster University

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Reply 2

MajorFader

I think Lancaster is consistently top 10/top 15 wi tbh a lot of their courses. Clearly a great uni.

Reply 3

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by ummbiz

I am planning to do an international relations degree however it doesn't seem as prestigious as it isn't a Russell group uni. And the uni seems more business orientated

Hello,
This is a good question! Lancaster isn't as well known as some other Russell Group unis but the league tables help to demonstrate that it still has quite high quality courses. My personal feeling is that over the years, Lancaster keeps improving and improving, mostly because it takes student feedback so seriously. The business school is very big here and a lot of students study degrees within but it's one of many faculties. I'd recommend coming to have a visit if you can (either on an applicant visit day after applying and if you get an offer, or you can try and organise a visit https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/open-days/campus-tours/). This way you can get a good idea of career prospects and the links to relevant industries. You can also talk to students via the website - it pops up in the bottom right hand corner on most pages.
Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions.
Charlotte :smile:

3rd year Biological Sciences with Biomedicine

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by Quick-use

First of all, it is an extremely prestigious university.

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Prestige is not measured by student satisfaction. Prestigious places are usually hard to get into. Lancaster, evidently, is not.

Lanc is better than a couple of RGs (Liverpool, Cardiff, QMUL, Queen's Belfast), but by no means many and especially not "most".

Reply 5

Quick-use

Original post by Anonymous

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Not sure who said prestige was measured by student satisfaction? And, since you're so clued up on the mechanics of 'prestige', please feel free to enlighten everyone how one goes about measuring prestige within the context of the current university meta.

I also really find it difficult to take someone using the guise of 'anon' seriously given that this isn't even a sensitive topic. For all I know, you're studying for your GCSEs and are parroting what your teachers have said...

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

Original post by Quick-use

Sorry if you perceived my post to be aggressive, I certainly didn't mean it that way.
My contention is just that Lanc gets ranked extraordinarily high because it has high rates of student satisfaction. Prestige is far too abstract to coherently whittle down to any particular metric/metrics. I suppose the closest we could come to assessing it would be by how hard it is to get in. That's why I brought up the numbers in relation to Lancaster's admissions. A highly prestigious university typically doesn't have an offer rate of 91% and an average tariff that roughly translates to BBB at A-level. The majority of RGs are harder to get into, have higher requirements and lower offer rates. That said, I never said Lancaster wasn't good.

To call it prestigious means you could only be going off the league tables, which place a large bearing on student satisfaction.

Posting as anon because I don't want people to see I'm actually getting involved in one of these "prestige" threads. :biggrin:

I find them fun.

Reply 7

Quick-use

Original post by Anonymous

I find them fun.

Your initial post was unnecessarily dismissive of Lancaster. I appreciate that that wasn't your intention even if it read as so.

The problem with prestige is that it's incredibly arbitrary. I wouldn't know how to measure it. Unless there's actual research done regarding university brands and prestige, we're unlikely to know how prestigious a university truly is.

Your point regarding a highly prestigious university giving out many offers is flawed given that you don't take into account changes and trends in prestige. For example, we can all agree that St Andrews is an extremely prestigious university in the present day; but, if we were to go back 20 years, it was considered rather terrible and wouldn't have even been in contention for a top 5 university in the UK, never-mind Scotland. So, what happened exactly? The Prince happened; funding happened; and, internationals happened.

Ergo, who knows how prestigious Lancaster is? All we can say is that it's consistently toppled many renowned universities within multifarious rankings, has recently accrued incredible amounts of funding, and has invested in world-class academics and facilities.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 8

AW_1983

Original post by ummbiz

I am planning to do an international relations degree however it doesn't seem as prestigious as it isn't a Russell group uni. And the uni seems more business orientated

Lancaster University isn't in the Russell Group because that group is for large, research intensive universities whereas Lancaster is a smaller institution that is in the top 10 in all three of the university league tables.

The Russell Group thing is a bit of a nonsense. It might matter if you're considering where to do a PhD and want to go to a larger research institution but the idea that as an undergraduate you'll get a better experience at a Russell Group university is nothing more than marketing bilge, and quite recent marketing bilge at that.

When I first went to university (Lancaster as it happens!) in 2001 people were using league tables but the Russell Group wasn't considered as prestigious in the way it is now. I never heard of it until long after I graduated and when I see some of the universities on the list of members now (it's grown over time as the benefits of membership as a marketing ploy has become apparent) I roll my eyes. Never in a million years would I have placed Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, or Queen Mary above Lancaster in my list of choices to study History because they just weren't as good at the time. Lancaster had some very big names in its History department at the time and my understanding is that it still does now.

Lancaster is one of several universities that are as good as Russell Group universities and will not do your CV any harm. Bath, Essex, Reading, Strathclyde, St. Andrews, Loughborough, East Anglia, Royal Holloway, SOAS and Leicester are some of the ones that spring to mind and there are others too. St. Andrews in particular is an important comparison because it is another excellent university that is too small to ever consider being a member of the Russell Group.

As to your chosen subject, International Relations is very good at Lancaster. I did some study in the Politics and International Relations department and apart from the memories of a thick cloud of pipe smoke (this was before the smoking ban!) there were some very big names in the department such as David Denver (now an Emeritus Professor). Admittedly at some ex-Polies none of the teachers are particularly known as leaders in their field but if you go to Lancaster, you will study under people who are the authority on their area of research just as surely as any academics working for a Russell Group institution.

Reply 9

AW_1983

Original post by Anonymous

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Your seem to labour under the illusion that it is possible to determine at any given time which universities outrank others. In reality, most universities tend to break into four groups:

1) Very prestigious universities that include Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews (not RG), Durham, and the LSE. People will try and suggest others (e.g. Imperial or Warwick) but no, this is the entire list. They are on the list because employers might consider someone with a 2:1 from these universities against someone with a first from others because the workload is known to be more intense than other places;

2) Universities that have leaders in their fields and authorities on particular areas of research. It is impossible at any given time to determine which of these are more prestigious and pointless trying. No matter which of these you go to, you stand a good chance of studying under people very well known in their fields. Some of them are in the Russell Group, others (like Lancaster or Bath) are not. However, as they're predominantly staffed by academics whose first love is research, the quality of teaching is pot luck.

3) Ex-Polytechnics. These institutions tend to have less well known academic staff but normally have excellent teaching. In my opinion they're better for vocational and conversion courses than academic courses. By which I mean great to go and study Accounting, Engineering or Management but you might want to try and aim higher for research intensive degrees like History or Politics. I'll be honest and admit in my experience they turn out the most career focused graduates, certainly in my workplace.

4) The Part Timers. This includes the Open University and Birkbeck. Arden are a new kid on the block. Other students often like to be disrespectful to these institutions because the entry requirements are normally low or non-existent but the brutal honest truth is that as an employer you want OU and Birkbeck graduates with a 2:1 or higher to apply because they turn out driven people who have exceptional organisational skills.

Reply 10

Anonymous #2

Original post by Quick-use

I wouldn’t say “extremely prestigious”, that’s just misleading.

Reply 11

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous

I find them fun.

Tbh I do agree with you. Looking at job prospects and salaries it seems like it has same value as a lower ranked institution's such as Aston or UAE. What ranking would you give this uni?