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Is University of Birmingham a 'top 15' Uni?

username2094811

I can't get a clear answer on this.

A few years ago people on here seemed to scoff at it a bit, but its reputation seems to be on the rise and it's doing pretty well in League Tables at the moment. I know it's not a 'top 10' university, but if it continues in this vein, do you reckon it could be in the same league as, say, Exeter or Bath in a few years time? Or is a university's reputation more or less set in stone?

Basically what I'm asking is, is it categorically a 'prestigious' university?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

Aspiring123

16

Original post by MaskOfKeaton

I can't get a clear answer on this.

A few years ago people on here seemed to scoff at it a bit, but its reputation seems to be on the rise and it's doing pretty well in League Tables at the moment. I know it's not a 'top 10' university, but if it continues in this vein, do you reckon it could be in the same league as, say, Exeter or Bath in a few years time? Or is a university's reputation more or less set in stone?

Basically what I'm asking is, is it a 'prestigious' university?

I wouldnt consider a prestigious univeristy, but it is decent I would say its a bit above the league of kent/leeds/lancaster

Reply 2

username2094811

OP

15

Original post by Samendra

I wouldnt consider a prestigious univeristy, but it is decent I would say its a bit above the league of kent/leeds/lancaster

Depends on what you mean by 'prestigious' though.

Most people would probably consider Bristol 'prestigious'. But is there really much difference between Bristol and Birmingham? I mean the entry requirements are more or less exactly the same. I don't understand why they can't be mentioned in the same sentence.

Reply 3

Aspiring123

16

Original post by MaskOfKeaton

Depends on what you mean by 'prestigious' though.

Most people would probably consider Bristol 'prestigious'. But is there really much difference between Bristol and Birmingham? I mean the entry requirements are more or less exactly the same. I don't understand why they can't be mentioned in the same sentence.

I personally dont find bristol prestigious and entry requirements mean **** all, for example Manchester's phyiscs entry requirements are A*A*A, while other courses are AAB. It depends on how high your aiming. Also the uni ranking tables dont mean anything, If you want 'prestige rankings' that would be more use for your case but I dont find birmingham particularly prestigious. Tbh the only uni's I find are prestigious are Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick , Manchester, UCL, durham etc.. so the top 10 ish uni's but even that is pushing it. If you ask an american who knows about british uni's what unis they find prestigious they would only say Oxbridge, and at the end of the day they are probably right.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

Len Goodman

3

I'd say it's sorely average. Not terrible by any means, but not fantastic either.

It's a top 20 uni

Well, for me, only G5 is undoubtedly prestigious. Some trailing unis like Warwick, Durham, St Andrews etc are pretty close to prestigious too.

Birmingham is in a slightly lower tier, it is still a great uni but I don't think prestigious is the correct adjective.

However according to OP's thread title, I do think it is ranked around 15-ish in the country.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

EC

18

Original post by ML8020

Well, for me, only G5 is undoubtedly prestigious. Some trailing unis like Warwick, Durham, St Andrews etc are pretty close to prestigious too.

Birmingham is in a slightly lower tier, it is still a great uni but I don't think prestigious is the correct adjective.

However according to OP's thread title, I do think it is ranked around 15-ish in the country.

Which one would you consider better from Birmingham vs Manchester vs Bath vs Liverpool vs Newcastle, purely based on the city and the university's reputation?

Reply 8

ML8020

11

Original post by EC

Which one would you consider better from Birmingham vs Manchester vs Bath vs Liverpool vs Newcastle, purely based on the city and the university's reputation?

Bath and Birmingham are in a similar tier... I would say Bath >= Birmingham as I heard that one of Bath's selling point is the relatively high employability of their graduates. However in terms of location, Birmingham is a big metropolis which beats Bath, a small town. Life is more fruitful in a splendid city.

I don't think Manchester is far behind from Bath and Birmingham either. They have a long tradition in several degrees (e.g. Chem Eng).

I won't consider Liverpool nor Newcastle though, they seem a bit - sorry if offensive - poor.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 9

EC

18

Original post by ML8020

Bath and Birmingham are in a similar tier... I would say Bath >= Birmingham as I heard that one of Bath's selling point is the relatively high employability of their graduates. However in terms of location, Birmingham is a big metropolis which beats Bath, a small town.

I don't think Manchester is far behind from Bath and Birmingham either. They have a long tradition in several degrees (e.g. Chem Eng).

I won't consider Liverpool nor Newcastle though, they seem a bit - sorry if offensive - poor.

Thank you for sharing your opinion.

Reply 10

username2094811

OP

15

Original post by ML8020

Well, for me, only G5 is undoubtedly prestigious. Some trailing unis like Warwick, Durham, St Andrews etc are pretty close to prestigious too.

Birmingham is in a slightly lower tier, it is still a great uni but I don't think prestigious is the correct adjective.

However according to OP's thread title, I do think it is ranked around 15-ish in the country.

I always assumed the differences between universities inside the top 20-or-so (excluding Oxbridge and the top London ones) was basically nothing. I know some are considered a bit better than others, but I didn't know the difference between them was particularly meaningful. I thought your career prospects were more or less the same if you did well at one of those.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

thatapanydude

14

Mid to Low Russel Group in my opinion, not top 15. I mean they are handing out unconditional offers??

Reply 12

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Mr Moon Man

It's a top 20 uni

Can't you compromise and say it is in the top seventeen and a half?

Reply 13

username738914

21

It's one of the above average RG unis. Does pretty well in a range of subjects and garner's a decent amount of employer interest.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 14

lgsd99

4

People on here are so snobby... It's ranked 16th in the country currently ABOVE both Bristol and Manchester, it is widely considered prestigious among those in the know

Reply 15

Notoriety

22

Original post by lgsd99

People on here are so snobby... It's ranked 16th in the country currently ABOVE both Bristol and Manchester, it is widely considered prestigious among those in the know

Should it be considered prestigious because it has higher student satisfaction than Bristol?

Also the thread is a year old; don't bump.

Reply 16

lgsd99

4

Original post by Notoriety

Should it be considered prestigious because it has higher student satisfaction than Bristol?

Also the thread is a year old; don't bump.

League tables take more than simply student satisfaction into account, but whatever

Reply 17

username2094811

OP

15

Original post by Notoriety

Should it be considered prestigious because it has higher student satisfaction than Bristol?

Also the thread is a year old; don't bump.

Student satisfaction at Birmingham is relatively low actually.

Reply 18

username2094811

OP

15

Original post by lgsd99

People on here are so snobby... It's ranked 16th in the country currently ABOVE both Bristol and Manchester, it is widely considered prestigious among those in the know

People on TSR don't think much of it because it's not a 'target uni' for anything in particular (which is only a big deal for a few very specific jobs that most people even at 'target unis' aren't interested in) and it's not known for anything outstanding (like Warwick Maths), even though it is pretty amazing for things like Medicine/Dentistry/Chemical Engineering/Physics.

Also because its entry tariff isn't as high as some other in the Russell Group, which is a fairly trivial point that seems to be widely misunderstood. All that tells us is the A-Level grades the students who get in end up with, not the difficulty of getting in. Birmingham's a big university so not everyone is going to have A*A*A* for courses that ask for AAA/AAB.

For the past 10-12 years it hasn't ranked particularly highly on league tables either (it has usually ranked outside the top 20) so that probably hasn't helped on the perception front for some people (again, also fairly trivial) although it seems to have performed better in recent years under the new Vice Chancellor. From an internal UK point of view, being in Birmingham probably doesn't help either thanks to the attitudes of ignorant people inside the UK who've never even visited the city, but in terms of global recognition I'd imagine being located in the UK's 2nd biggest city poses quite an advantage for international reputation, which is perhaps more important.

It's worth noting that TSR mostly consists of applicants (not employers or even actual students) and for some reason there's a strong bias for 'target unis' and Maths/Economics/IB on this forum, which Birmingham isn't particularly known for (still good though) compared to universities like Warwick which get much more attention here. In the real world most employers would not pick a Warwick graduate over a Birmingham graduate, outside TSR they're pretty much held in the same regard.

Reply 19

Notoriety

22

Original post by MaskOfKeaton

Student satisfaction at Birmingham is relatively low actually.

I never said it was high. It is higher than Bristol's, was my point. It is the sole reason, beyond also nonsensically inaccurate grad prospects, that Birmingham is higher than Bristol. Good interjection though, actually.

Is University of Birmingham a 'top 15' Uni?

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