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Is the Russell Group still relevant?

Interesting srticle in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/10/is-the-russell-group-still-relevant

"The prestigious cabal of top universities want you to think they will always be on top. But in the real world, things may be changing"

So much hype and myths around RG which arenot helpful. Things have been changing in my school for a while wiht fewer chooisng RG and actually looking at course content and how relevant the course is to their career.
hm... a student could value what a Russell Group university has or value what is offered by another type of university
Reply 2
Avatar for Notnek
Notnek
20
It is relevant but mainly due to the brand. Students, parents and lots of employers are attracted to “Russell Group” universities, independent of how good they actually are for the individual student and course. It’s similar to how luxury brands are more expensive because of their name but their build quality can be similar or worse than cheaper brands. The Oxbridge brand is similar.

So in a weird way there is some advantage for students to attend these universities but I still think choosing a university based on the course is the best idea.
(edited 2 months ago)
Original post by Notnek
It is relevant but mainly due to the brand. Students, parents and lots of employers are attracted to “Russell Group” universities, independent of how good they actually are for the individual student and course. It’s similar to how luxury brands are more expensive because of their name but their build quality can be similar or worse than cheaper brands. The Oxbridge brand is similar.

So in a weird way there is some advantage for students to attend these universities but I still think choosing a university based on the course is the best way to choose a university.


The problem is the Russell Group is meaningless but many students, parents and teachers fall for its hype. There are universities outside the RG that are better in many cases but people foolishly follow the hype
Original post by Muttley79
Interesting srticle in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/10/is-the-russell-group-still-relevant

"The prestigious cabal of top universities want you to think they will always be on top. But in the real world, things may be changing"

So much hype and myths around RG which arenot helpful. Things have been changing in my school for a while wiht fewer chooisng RG and actually looking at course content and how relevant the course is to their career.

There was another article in the Guardian recently that was interesting alongside this, about St Andrews (which isn't a RG uni) being rated as top by them for student outcomes, satisfaction etc (I think it said they don't factor research into their evaluation) ie. over Oxbridge and RG unis.

As an aside, it also said that St Andrews students had higher grades across the board in each intake than Oxbridge students so I wondered if St Andrews gives many contextual offers?

I think the reality is probably shifting away from 'name' and 'prestige' and more towards specific course choices.
Relevant from a marketing POV, yes.
Relevant for what the student should be looking at, no.

People equate Russell Group with being high status/good unis. Isn't always the case. They are generally the most competitive unis, generally.
Reply 7
Avatar for Cote1
Cote1
20
In the non-TSR student world and the non-academic world many employers don't care whether your degree is from a Russell Group university. For example, I work for a very large employer and HR certainly don't go looking up whether the university an applicant attended was a Russell Group one or not, when recruiting.
Original post by sailhorsegirl
There was another article in the Guardian recently that was interesting alongside this, about St Andrews (which isn't a RG uni) being rated as top by them for student outcomes, satisfaction etc (I think it said they don't factor research into their evaluation) ie. over Oxbridge and RG unis.

As an aside, it also said that St Andrews students had higher grades across the board in each intake than Oxbridge students so I wondered if St Andrews gives many contextual offers?

I think the reality is probably shifting away from 'name' and 'prestige' and more towards specific course choices.


The Times has also ranked St Andrews first twice in recent years (and its the 2nd time The Guardian has ranked St Andrews first).

Although rankings should never be the deciding factor for anything and have clear flaws, St Andrews is clearly one of the best unis in the country, yet not in the Russell Group. It isn't the only example of a good uni not in the Russell Group either.

I think the Russell Group has just done a brilliant job at marketing and essentially tricking people into thinking they are automatically the best of the best.
(edited 2 months ago)
Nah probably not, maybe general university ranking still is to some extent but RG? Nah.

I think that TSR, Schools and the Government need to stop caring about this kind of thing, just go to a good quality university that you enjoy where reasonably possible, forget about general rankings (with some exceptions).
Reply 10
Avatar for hotpud
hotpud
18
Original post by beautifulworld
hm... a student could value what a Russell Group university has or value what is offered by another type of university

Of course they can. But the point being made is that Russell Group universities aren't better simply because they are Russell group.
They suck because they are full of the suckers who attend them. I was listening to a students mum who was bigging up her daughter's place at Durham. Jesus, what a load of rubbish that came out of her mouth, it is not even that hard to get an offer from there.
(edited 2 months ago)

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