York or Exeter Penryn for History and Politics?

I have been given offers for both unis (AAA for York) and (BBB) for Exeter with my predicted grades being A*AA (though that feels optimistic) however I am struggling to decide what to put as my firm and my insurance. I love both places but I am verging more towards Exeter, though it feels wrong to put my lowest offer as my firm though, even though I am pretty set on it.
I was just wondering if the standard of teaching at Penryn is at the same level as at actual Exeter and how well the courses are valued? I know at the end of the day a degree is a degree but with the grades needed being so much lower I wonder.
Many thanks

Hi maybe_nell,
Firstly, congratulations on receiving your offers for both York and Exeter, it's a very exciting time and I can definitely relate to the tough decisions you're weighing up right now from my own experiences back in Sixth Form.
I'm a current student at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, and have actually been studying here right through from my undergraduate, Masters and now PhD - if that isn't a vote of confidence then I'm not sure what is! From my almost 10 years at the campus I can reassure you that the standard of teaching is definitely just as good at Exeter's Streatham Campus, with the only main differences perhaps being smaller class sizes in Penryn. Personally I prefer that as I think it made it easier to get to know and bond with the rest of my degree cohort, and also meant the academics got to know you as an individual much more quickly which can lead to a lot of doors opening and extra opportunities. For example, my Masters research project came as a direct result of going to speak to a professor after a lecture in their office hours and building a relationship out of our shared research interests.
The main reason that the Penryn courses can sometimes have lower grade boundaries is mostly a result of marketing. Sometimes it can be a little harder to convince students to move to Cornwall to study as it's a bit further away from Exeter, and perhaps offers a slightly more alternative student lifestyle - think more beach BBQs and sea swims rather than multi-story nightclubs. I can assure you the quality of teaching and degree is the same across our campuses, as reflected in our annual student satisfaction surveys.
For some final advice, I'd encourage you to go with your gut about whichever course, campus and location you think will lead you to be happiest and have the best student experience. Offer grades, league tables and similar are only really imperfect proxies for how good or well-regarded a university might be, but often there can be compelling reasons to disregard them and go for whichever choice you feel is the right one for me. Personally I was in a similar situation and ended up rejecting an offer to study at Oxford (with higher entry requirements) to go to Exeter's Penryn Campus, because I loved the course, campus and location more and felt more at home in those surroundings. 10 years later I've not once regretted that decision.
Best of luck to you whatever you decide to do. Let me know if you have any other questions about Penryn that I might be able to help you with.
Kingsley
University of Exeter Student Ambassador

Thankyou very much for such a great response. Im glad to hear you think so highly and such a different student lifestyle sounds increadibly appealing. I think you have successfully convinced me. I have one last question, how easy is it to get jobs at a convienient distance to campus as that is something that is quite important to me? Thanks again