Warwick vs Nottingham? Law 2023/24

Hi guys!So I’ve received unconditional offers from Warwick and UON for law! However I’m conflicted on which one ? On one hand Warwick is higher up in terms of leagues by 1-3 positions for law and more internationally known (often for business tho) but it is often described as being a cult and that it’s very dead (the campus itself looks like a prison tbh?) however, UON has a more bigger reputation for law as its older and according to chamberstudents.com, it’s on level to Oxbridge for law firms most sought out universities, great campus and good balance apparently (work:life) BUT maybe not as prestige anymore? The people apparently Aswell aren’t all that serious too?So what do you guys think? Any one maybe researched into them more? What did you guys find? Also if anyone goes to them now and does the same course I would love to hear ur opinions .Thanks 🙏

Hi there, first of all, huge congrats for receiving unconditional offers from both of these prestigious institutions.

I would point out that Warwick and Nottingham are both fantastic, Russell Group universities and well-respected amongst city and international law firms. I think your decision should therefore boil down to YOUR OPINION of the institutions (not just hearsay).

What you really want to be doing is getting yourself along to some offer holder/open days at BOTH universities and judge the atmosphere, campus and so on for yourself. I would also be thinking about which area of law most interests you and which university offers the most opportunities for development in this area (i.e. by researching modules offered, any pro bono work, etc.).

Perhaps you should also give some consideration to modes of assessment and course structure, and think about which degree most reflects your preferred learning/assessment style. There is always accommodation and living costs to factor in too...

I hope this helps and don't be afraid to reach out to potential lecturers/tutors to help inform your decision!

Hello!

Thank you for commenting! , yea I plan to visit the campuses but Nottingham is holding offer holders day in feb and Warwick hasn’t said yet so far … so I can either wait till next year or maybe I should just plan a day on the weekends and just go check out the campuses?

Hi guys!So I’ve received unconditional offers from Warwick and UON for law! However I’m conflicted on which one ? On one hand Warwick is higher up in terms of leagues by 1-3 positions for law and more internationally known (often for business tho) but it is often described as being a cult and that it’s very dead (the campus itself looks like a prison tbh?) however, UON has a more bigger reputation for law as its older and according to chamberstudents.com, it’s on level to Oxbridge for law firms most sought out universities, great campus and good balance apparently (work:life) BUT maybe not as prestige anymore? The people apparently Aswell aren’t all that serious too?So what do you guys think? Any one maybe researched into them more? What did you guys find? Also if anyone goes to them now and does the same course I would love to hear ur opinions .Thanks 🙏

Hi guys!So I’ve received unconditional offers from Warwick and UON for law! However I’m conflicted on which one ? On one hand Warwick is higher up in terms of leagues by 1-3 positions for law and more internationally known (often for business tho) but it is often described as being a cult and that it’s very dead (the campus itself looks like a prison tbh?) however, UON has a more bigger reputation for law as its older and according to chamberstudents.com, it’s on level to Oxbridge for law firms most sought out universities, great campus and good balance apparently (work:life) BUT maybe not as prestige anymore? The people apparently Aswell aren’t all that serious too?So what do you guys think? Any one maybe researched into them more? What did you guys find? Also if anyone goes to them now and does the same course I would love to hear ur opinions .Thanks 🙏

Hi, I've applied to the same unis for this year, in my personal opinion which has a very little qualification. I'd say overall for career prospects and quality Warwick would be ahead from an academic angle but in turn, Nottingham would probably have the better uni experience.

As you said Warwick is slightly ahead for law uni rankings but I would also take into account that for prospects outside of law Warwick is more prestigious and would give you a better time at getting a job outside of the law as many do. Referring to the chamberstudents.com article I think I have seen the same one however whilst I can't remember the statistics exactly I do believe that is somewhat skewed by Nottingham having a much larger intake of students per year in comparison to many other law unis which would help to bump up their numbers due to having a greater volume of students. so I would imagine that Warwick has better prospects if you put it on a by-person scale but this is just my speculation.

For the university lives themselves, everyone knows that Warwick is a campus uni which can lead to a poor social life outside of the campus like having a night out. which Nottingham would have the edge on. I have also heard from people I know that Warwick has a much more rigorous program with you being expected to work very hard which I imagine would be a decent amount more than in Nottingham. However, this is once again subjective. and if it matters to you Nottingham has 30% international students and 60% female to Warwicks 36% and 68%.
Overall, you should probably do a campus visit and see where you would envision living fro 3 years and wether the increase in prospects and education standard is worth potentially worsening your uni experience. I personally would firmly go for warwick.

on a side note, I was wondering when you applied and if you received your offers based on predicted or already acquired grades and what you got if you do mind telling me because I applied 1 week ago and was curious how long it might take to get a response and how you managed to get an unconditinal which is pretty impressive if based of predicted grades.

Personally, I wouldn’t take notice of a few difference in rankings. Especially not with those two universities. If you were talking 5 to 20 then yes. But as a law professor said to me, the way they rank university courses is very broad. Lots of consideration of many things like how many face to face hours, quota of staff to students, student satisfaction & various other measures, some might not even really apply to you. As a result, you can be talking less than a % between adjacent rankings & not much more between 3-4 places.

It is more important to ensure you will be happy studying at either place. Also, investigate what modules outside of the mandatory ones are available. Do you want to do a third year dissertation, do they offer it, is it mandatory? And how are exams marked? Are there opportunities to do a year in industry or abroad etc? Again, if important to you.

One other point about rankings, they can change in quite a short space of time. Last year QMUL was top 10, now it’s dropped. York has risen but did drop etc. Not saying it’ll happen but you’re best off looking at a Uni which has been consistently good over time imo over one just because it’s in the top 10 now (unless you’re looking at 1-5 places as they tend not to move much). Hth

Hey,

I am a current 4th year at the uni of Nottingham.

I think that like others have said if you can visit and see the campus and city then that will probably help.
Sometimes you just get a feeling when you walk onto campus and if you can interact with the professors then you can get a feel as to whether you would want to study and learn from them.

I think as well as the course it is also to feel like you could be happy in whatever city you are in. I don't know much about Warwick but from my experience at Nottingham it is a really student friendly city with lots to do. If you like going out there is a student night at a club across the city each night, bars with discounts, live music etc. As well as there there is lots of independent restaurants, cafes, the castle, caves, and shops to have a look at.
The uni also has so many sports clubs and societies to join so whatever your interests or if you want to try something new then there will be something for you.

On the course front one thing I would recommend is looking through each year and making sure that for the full 3/4 years there are modules that you think you will enjoy. I know of some people that have looked at first year and thought that it was perfect but later down the line there was only a couple of modules that were actually of interest.

I hope this helps but if you have any questions about Nottingham just let me know,
Emily

No problem at all. It depends, have you got a deadline to accept your offer? If not, you can go along next year. Maybe it's worth messaging Warwick too to ask when they plan on hosting their offer holder day.

HI!

sorry for the late response i forgot the log in XD, I appliedddddd like 20th september (add 3-4 days extra maybe) but around that time. i am a gap year haha, I got better grades than expected A*A*AA but had kent as my firm and my heart wasn't there. I am now undertaking work exp in London and some at courts and barrister chambers! in february I'm going Dubai for some international work exp at a firm too. can I know what other unis u applied too? i also did QMUL but its not my desired place heard very bad stuff and campus itself was not good tbh it'll be my last choice.

Hi Emily!
Thanks for your response.
Yea Nottignham is quite reputable tbh (UoN) and I like that the city is close and accoms r nearby and even the ones further r just a 10-20min bus. the campus online looks amazing whereas warwicks looks kinda bland hahaha. Why did u choose notts over ur other choices if u don't mind me asking?

on the topic of modules. I like the modules tbh traditional and some interesting ones in year 2/3 however, I did notice that Warwick has a lot more fluidity and modernist approach in their modules. some modules that others don't do so that was cool. but at the end of the day along as the uni is good enough to help me get into my career path and offer good opportunities ill be fine.
Guess the only thing left to do is check the campuses and finalise then

I'm very intrigued by all the Warwick slander lmao. The campus is not "bland" or "like a prison", and the social scene is very vibrant. There's plenty to do on campus, but there is always Leamington if you want to get away.

im a first year student at UON for law so id say nottingham definetly but I may be a bit bias
but if you do have any questions of Nottingham whether it be the city, course or campus please do ask.

Actually it would help alot! how is the law course treating you? are the students there nice to like do they exchange notes and also help by giving good insight to essays? or do they keep to themselves and have more of a "dog eat dog" vibe going on? city is nice right? good social places, accoms and restaurants? also is the campus for law nice as it looks in pics hahah

thx

So, the law course so far has been going really well, the begnning was a bit tough as everything is quite overwhelming but it got a lot better once you know what to do, and what to focus on. There is a lot of reading in Law, which isnt too bad (im literallty talking a break from reading)
all the students are friendly I remeber the first week everyone was really socialble and thus its the best time to make friends etc.
So my friendship group do exchange notes and help each other out but then again im not sure of others do, im sure if you make a good group of law friends itll be the same. there isn't really a 'dog eat dog' vibe rn but im sure once we get into 2nd year and third year it may get a bit more competitive and 'braggy' but for now its quite chill.
I like the city, its a 15 minute tram/bus ride from campus, it has everything you really need whether that be clubs, pubs, mini golf etc. The campus is very big, a lot of upword walking, but its very nice as it feels more of a family as everything is within one area. the Law building is ok nothing special, has a nice little cafe inside though which is good for me as I need coffee in the morning.
so accoms, i'd suggest get accoms only near Nottingham uni campus. catered is more of a family vibe but self-catered can be but is very dependent on your roomates, im in self catered in Broadgate park and my roomates are great.
But yeah overall im really enjoying notts, if i were to critique it i would say that one lecturer isnt the greatest at speaking loud or talking in generel (he has a very strong accent) but other than that its great.

Hi,
I see why you got unconditional those are pretty good grades and getting work experience in Dubai is pretty crazy. I applied to bristol, Warwick, manchester, Nottingham and york. on a*aa (predicted) with a London internship at a law firm. it will be pretty difficult to meet the entry requirements as i have no safety but when looking at unis at aab I was uninspired and figured that I had other options I would rather do than potentially go to one of those unis. I also felt similarly about QMUL didn't really appeal to me and would only increase the pressure on me for the a level exams. fingers cross i get an offer, but its only been 2 weeks so im not too worried.

Thats AMAZING too! bristol looked good too aswell as york and even considered durham but they're more far than I hoped tbh... manchester looked cool too but wasn't that high up for law when I checked any offers yet? and yea dodged a bullet with QMUL also whats ur first choice?