The Student Room Group

What uni are good for astrophysics?

Hello im in 6 form at the moment and i want to study astrophysics at degree level doing a 4 years integrated masters course ( preferably with a year in work placement on top of the four year course). Im realistically going to get an ABB but i should be able to get contextual offers based on my postcode. I currently study physics,maths and chemistry. I was just wondering if anyone on here studies this course and if there uni is a good choice for my desired course?
Reply 1
What type of universities appeal? Lancaster seems to get great feedback. Scottish universities also well worth looking into if you can face an extra year.
Reply 2
Original post by ajj2000
What type of universities appeal? Lancaster seems to get great feedback. Scottish universities also well worth looking into if you can face an extra year.


I prefer traditional universities to be honest currently im looking at bath(ik its not an older one) but thats out of my range grades wise. If not im looking at royal holloway currently since as its a more realistic target also its only 2 hours from home and i dont want to be that far since as i live in kent and scotland is quite a ways away. However overall what sort of uni it is doesn’t really bother me id just like somewhere there is a strong physics department.
Reply 3
Original post by Reggie240
I prefer traditional universities to be honest currently im looking at bath(ik its not an older one) but thats out of my range grades wise. If not im looking at royal holloway currently since as its a more realistic target also its only 2 hours from home and i dont want to be that far since as i live in kent and scotland is quite a ways away. However overall what sort of uni it is doesn’t really bother me id just like somewhere there is a strong physics department.

Might be worth checking out how Kents department is doing these days, and Queen Mary also if you fancy London. See if you can find any physics students at Cardiff to see how that might suit. Its a bit of a trek from Kent (most places are) but a wonderful place to live and very affordable.

Exeter another option to check out.
Reply 4
Original post by ajj2000
Might be worth checking out how Kents department is doing these days, and Queen Mary also if you fancy London. See if you can find any physics students at Cardiff to see how that might suit. Its a bit of a trek from Kent (most places are) but a wonderful place to live and very affordable.
Exeter another option to check out.


Thank you i will do i hear from my physics teacher that kent is supposed to have great facilities but im not sure if i wanna be that local😂(trying to find a goldilocks zone). But yeah idm 3/4 hours so i might have a look at cardiff and exeter as well as the queen marys thanks a bunch i means a lot!
Reply 5
Original post by Reggie240
Hello im in 6 form at the moment and i want to study astrophysics at degree level doing a 4 years integrated masters course ( preferably with a year in work placement on top of the four year course). Im realistically going to get an ABB but i should be able to get contextual offers based on my postcode. I currently study physics,maths and chemistry. I was just wondering if anyone on here studies this course and if there uni is a good choice for my desired course?

My eldest daughter studies physics particle physics and cosmology at Lancaster (4th year), and during the application process she also chose physics with astrophysics at the same uni. Its mainly under the umbrella of physics now on the website, but the pathways are the same, come 2nd year you do get to choose some modules you have an interest in (the rest are the core modules everyone does) then third/fourth year you get to specialise into those fields more. So, should your interest change a little bit and you like quantum, gauge theories, computer module etc etc you can. Lancaster has also been in the spotlight recently to their very popular website aurorawatch https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ after all the northern lights we saw in the UK recently. It is a great uni for physics, and she got a lot of support and help. She did a particle related internship twice with the uni and DUNE during the summer months.

Other unis she looked at was Oxford (she got as far as interview stage)
York - they have a great astrocampus Was AAA at the time.
Leicester- Leicester I believe is ABB still.
Reply 6
Original post by Ghostlady
My eldest daughter studies physics particle physics and cosmology at Lancaster (4th year), and during the application process she also chose physics with astrophysics at the same uni. Its mainly under the umbrella of physics now on the website, but the pathways are the same, come 2nd year you do get to choose some modules you have an interest in (the rest are the core modules everyone does) then third/fourth year you get to specialise into those fields more. So, should your interest change a little bit and you like quantum, gauge theories, computer module etc etc you can. Lancaster has also been in the spotlight recently to their very popular website aurorawatch https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ after all the northern lights we saw in the UK recently. It is a great uni for physics, and she got a lot of support and help. She did a particle related internship twice with the uni and DUNE during the summer months.
Other unis she looked at was Oxford (she got as far as interview stage)
York - they have a great astrocampus Was AAA at the time.
Leicester- Leicester I believe is ABB still.


Thanks a lot! Ive been looking at Lancaster and Leicester recently actually since as they were at a ucas convention in maidstone on tuesday and i was speaking to them. By the way what is DUNE i havent heard about that before and the internships sound great if its available because id like as much experience as i can get before i finish my degree. But ill give york a look if its got a good astrocampus as well since as thats my prefered course. Once again thanks a bunch!
Reply 7
Original post by Reggie240
Thanks a lot! Ive been looking at Lancaster and Leicester recently actually since as they were at a ucas convention in maidstone on tuesday and i was speaking to them. By the way what is DUNE i havent heard about that before and the internships sound great if its available because id like as much experience as i can get before i finish my degree. But ill give york a look if its got a good astrocampus as well since as thats my prefered course. Once again thanks a bunch!

Dune is a deep underground neutrino experiment https://www.dunescience.org/ . The first one was first year which was a voluntary one. Basically she kept on at her supervisor and said she would take anything voluntary, as getting a first year internship is pretty rare. He said he had some information on tau neutrinos and would like her to interpret the information, which she did and it was done online (was still covid restrictions back then to some degree). Then come second year she did a paid one on proton decay for 4 weeks in the summer. Leicester is definitely a city uni, although I did love the oadby student village which is about 15 mins on the bus. It was its own little community with a pub which had a murual of richard the third lol.
Reply 8
Original post by Ghostlady
Dune is a deep underground neutrino experiment https://www.dunescience.org/ . The first one was first year which was a voluntary one. Basically she kept on at her supervisor and said she would take anything voluntary, as getting a first year internship is pretty rare. He said he had some information on tau neutrinos and would like her to interpret the information, which she did and it was done online (was still covid restrictions back then to some degree). Then come second year she did a paid one on proton decay for 4 weeks in the summer. Leicester is definitely a city uni, although I did love the oadby student village which is about 15 mins on the bus. It was its own little community with a pub which had a murual of richard the third lol.


That sounds amazing i might have to keep a look out for it then because i think experience is so useful in a field like physics and that village sounds cool. Do you know the name of it by any chance so i can search it up?
Reply 9
Original post by Reggie240
That sounds amazing i might have to keep a look out for it then because i think experience is so useful in a field like physics and that village sounds cool. Do you know the name of it by any chance so i can search it up?

The village is called Oadby student village. https://le.ac.uk/study/accommodation/search This is the list of them including city accommodation.
She loved ashcroft house, bowder court, and the pavillions.Freemans common near the city is new. It used to be one of the old style cheap accommodation blocks which was a bit shabby, but its been torn down in the past 4 years since we have been and its all shiny and new buildings 🙂 .
Reply 10
Original post by Ghostlady
The village is called Oadby student village. https://le.ac.uk/study/accommodation/search This is the list of them including city accommodation.
She loved ashcroft house, bowder court, and the pavillions.Freemans common near the city is new. It used to be one of the old style cheap accommodation blocks which was a bit shabby, but its been torn down in the past 4 years since we have been and its all shiny and new buildings 🙂 .


Omg thank you so much! Ive been worried about accommodation and i love the rural look on some of the older buildings its really nice.

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