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uni of exeter

i’ve applied to Exeter for psychology next year, and i got a really nice reduced offer, so thinking about putting it as my insurance choice.

however ive become quite out off by the massive stereotype that the uni just consists of private school people and wondering how true this actually is?
i have a friend at the uni who says this isn’t really the case, however she did go to a private school so just wondering what the vibes are like

Reply 1

ExeterStudentRep

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

i’ve applied to Exeter for psychology next year, and i got a really nice reduced offer, so thinking about putting it as my insurance choice.
however ive become quite out off by the massive stereotype that the uni just consists of private school people and wondering how true this actually is?
i have a friend at the uni who says this isn’t really the case, however she did go to a private school so just wondering what the vibes are like

Hi anonymous,

Great to hear that you've received an offer to study at the University of Exeter - congratulations!

I can definitely relate to your question, as had some of the same concerns about stereotypes myself when I applied (for context, I'm from a state school in the midlands originally). I thought it'd be helpful to provide some actual data on the topic, collected from the Times University Guide for 2025 here. If you search by social inclusion metrics you can actually ranked universities by percentage of independent school admissions, and you'll see Exeter ranks 7th in the UK with 30% (ranking just between Oxford and UCL, and lower than Durham, Edinburgh and Imperial). This means pretty much 7/10 students you meet won't be private school students, so I'd agree your friend is probably right!

I think one of the really great things about university is the diversity of people who go there, and getting to learn alongside, and from, people with all sorts of different backgrounds, nationalities and perspectives. If you are concerned about making friends with like-minded people though, I'd definitely recommend looking at the list of sports and societies on the Guild website here. It's a great way to meet people with similar interests or hobbies to yourself, outside of those you'll already be meeting in lectures or practicals and student accommodation. You might also specifically be interested in being part of 93% Club which is a society at Exeter (and many other universities) focused specifically on experiences and community of state-educated students (although note some of the figures on their Guild profile are slightly out-of-date compared to my Times link above!).

I hope that's helpful and reassured you somewhat that Exeter really is a university for everyone, but if you've got any further questions, please don't hesitate to get back in touch.

Kingsley
University of Exeter Student Ambassador