Why are polytechnic universitys seen as bad?

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Yes nice resurrection indeed...

But speaking about ranking tables while it is true that many ex-polytechnics such as Lincoln, Chichester, Coventry, Nottingham Trent, Oxford Brookes, Northumbria, West of England, Bristol (UWE) and Plymouth are usually ranked higher than some pre-1992 universities (such as Hull, Bangor, Brunel, Goldsmiths and Salford ) it is also true that roughly speaking overall rankings of universities are more or less divided into two groups. In the upper part one finds almost exclusively old pre-1992 unis while in the lower part one only really sees modern unis (post-1992).

For example if you refer to the Times good university guide or the Sunday Time Good university Guide (which are used frequently for overall ranking comparison of unis) one observes that although there is some overlap in the middle the top 25 institutions are all old universities (pre-1992) and the bottom 30 are all modern unis (post-1992).

Here is the link to the Sunday Times overall ranking from 2021:
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/smd/media/smd/documents/edi-amp-smd-connected-images/Sunday-Times-Good-University-Guide-2021.pdf

Also at the same time PhD candidates from modern unis (post-1992) are still discriminated as this recent article in the times higher education states:

A UK research council is to review its eligibility rules for postdoctoral funding following complaints that it was unfairly “closing the door” on PhD graduates from modern universities not affiliated to doctoral training partnerships....

In practice, it meant that PhD graduates from most post-92 universities could not apply for the fellowships as just 14 modern institutions belong to ESRC training networks – a rule branded “truly terrible” and “awful” by academics on Twitter.

The outcry over the rule follows concerns about the relatively low numbers of fellowships won by researchers at post-92 universities. According to ESRC figures, analysed by THE, only three out of 128 fellowships went to applicants based at modern universities in 2020-21, although there were just three applications. For the Arts and Humanities Research Council, nine out of 56 fellowships went to post-92 universities and none of the 67 fellowships awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council went to modern institutions.

Here is the link: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/review-promised-after-post-92-phds-excluded-uk-postdocs

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 101

mbless21

Original post by bahjat93

They are considered to be bad simply becasue they are generally lower down the league tables.
Also you do get the same degree and it is probably going to be accredited by the same people but you are going to cover more content at a Russell group university compared to a polytechnic. Also at a Russell group university you will be given more exposure to different types of softwares.
Generally speaking the people at a polytechnic aren't smart as the people in a Russell group university so if you decided to go to a polytechnic be prepared to meet "not so smart people"

Really!?

Reply 102

ppapanastasiou

I would not go so far to say that people in ex-polytechnics are "not so smart people" but other things being equal (ceteris paribus) your employment chances are better if you are from a Russell Group university.

Reply 103

phi04

I go to an ex-polytech and its the exact same ranking as the russell group at the city im in. its better to look at the ranking of the course rather than the uni. which uni is rated higher for neuroscience?