Will the Russell Group invite more unis?

Margaret Thatcher

11

Do you think they will ever invite more unis to join? If so, which one(s)?

Reply 1

miike1234

14

Nah, they've got enough friends already.

Reply 2

TheSownRose

16

No, I don't think they will.

Reply 3

James10000

no they wont, the word is elitism

which sad bastard negged me ? so pathetic go and suck some russel group cock

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

Margaret Thatcher

OP

11

Original post by James10000

no they wont, the word is elitism

A few of the 1994 group unis are more 'elite' and better-ranked than some of the unis within the Russell Group.

Reply 5

cybergrad

2

One thing is for sure, if they do invite more universities to join them, it certainly won't be ex-polytechnics. Universities in the Russell Group contact extensive research, something that the ex-polytechnics cannot do. Then you have the 1994 with really good universities that carry out good research, but I do not think they will abandon their group just to go to another one. I've studied in universities from both groups, the one from the 1994 group was far better.

(edited 13 years ago)

Nope.

No, although it's irrelivent. If a university is good, it doesn't/shouldn't need the russell group there to prove how good it is, as it has proved that by it's own merit. The Russell Group in general gets too much focus. Although I probably am a little biased, only one of my choices is a russell group uni, three are 1994 group and one has no group =P.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

swift464

warwick was in the 1994 group until they changed to russell ....

Reply 9

ilickbatteries

15

What's the criteria for Russell Group membership? Large (15,000+) student body and world-leading research?

Durham, St. Andrews and Bath are better universities than Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast, IMO, yet Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast are in the Russell Group and Durham, St. Andrews and Bath aren't...

Russell Group membership is not the be all and end all of everything, though undoubtedly the majority of Russell Group institutions are fantastic universities.

Reply 10

Warrior King

17

Well they invited Queen's Belfast into the RG a couple of years ago so yes they well could. Exeter (no bias) would be a prime candidate now that has a fully established medical and dental school and big research output. Because the RG bases membership on research funding/output the universities most likely to be invited will be those with medical schools.

Durham wouldn't be eligible because technically it's medical school is Newcastle's. Dundee and Aberdeen would be good candidates.

But York and Exeter are two very well regarded universities, even more so than a lot of the RG members so there's no reason why one day they won't be invited into the group.

I would say if any, Exeter would be a prime candidate for membership.

Reply 11

Benammieh

prehaps Sussex university

Reply 12

danny111

3

They should kick some out.

Reply 13

cybergrad

2

Original post by ilickbatteries

What's the criteria for Russell Group membership? Large (15,000+) student body and world-leading research?

Durham, St. Andrews and Bath are better universities than Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast, IMO, yet Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast are in the Russell Group and Durham, St. Andrews and Bath aren't...

Russell Group membership is not the be all and end all of everything, though undoubtedly the majority of Russell Group institutions are fantastic universities.

I totally agree with you, I've studied in Birmingham and York. York was far superior in teaching quality, more organized etc etc.

SOAS maybe?

Original post by ilickbatteries

What's the criteria for Russell Group membership? Large (15,000+) student body and world-leading research?

Durham, St. Andrews and Bath are better universities than Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast, IMO, yet Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast are in the Russell Group and Durham, St. Andrews and Bath aren't...

Russell Group membership is not the be all and end all of everything, though undoubtedly the majority of Russell Group institutions are fantastic universities.

RG membership is based more on research output and funding as opposed to the standard of undergraduate education. There are plenty of 1994 group universities who are better than RG members like Liverpool or Manchester or QUB at the standard of undergraduate education it offers. Manchester may have a high world ranking but this is again based on research rather than undergraduate education and entry standards hence why it performs so poorly in national rankings.

Exeter had always been a good university but it hasn't been until the last 10 years that it's research output has skyrocketed dramatically due to the foundation of the medical and dental school a lot of the research being rated as world class.

Exeter has now made gains well inside the top 15-10 in the UK and now well into the top 200 in the world (and may well in the next year or two jump into the top 100) so if any university has staked a claim to being considered for RG membership then it should be Exeter. Not that the RG makes a huge world of difference. It would just simply cement Exeter's position amongst the UK's elite universities.

Reply 16

Joinedup

20

What happened when Warwick joined? did it suddenly get a load more g'ment research money or what?

Anyhoo it's basically a trade union for universities and it's dedicated to screwing maximum taxpayer money out of the state for it's members, it's not some benchmark of teaching quality despite what most people on TSR seem to think - if the real Maggie were in power she'd be demanding the police smash it tbh.

Reply 17

ilickbatteries

15

Original post by Joinedup

What happened when Warwick joined? did it suddenly get a load more g'ment research money or what?

Anyhoo it's basically a trade union for universities and it's dedicated to screwing maximum taxpayer money out of the state for it's members, it's not some benchmark of teaching quality despite what most people on TSR seem to think - if the real Maggie were in power she'd be demanding the police smash it tbh.

Some of the claims on TSR are a bit ridiculous like.

"If you don't go to a russell group university then your degree is worthless" being one that really sticks in my mind...

Reply 18

Margaret Thatcher

OP

11

Original post by Warrior King

Exeter had always been a good university but it hasn't been until the last 10 years that it's research output has skyrocketed dramatically due to the foundation of the medical and dental school a lot of the research being rated as world class.

Exeter has now made gains well inside the top 15-10 in the UK and now well into the top 200 in the world (and may well in the next year or two jump into the top 100) so if any university has staked a claim to being considered for RG membership then it should be Exeter. Not that the RG makes a huge world of difference. It would just simply cement Exeter's position amongst the UK's elite universities.

No bias there, eh?

It's cute that you're showing some university patriotism, but there are other unis that certainly stand out as better contenders, i.e. Durham and York.