If you're looking for a good student life and affordable rent/food/drink ect, then Aberystwyth is probably your best bet. They're top for student satisfaction and have the highest pub density in the country (or at least did pre-covid)

I mean you’re gonna have to list of unis you’re interested in first, because no one is can help without that kind of information.

The University of Sheffield has had the best rated Students Union consistently for at least 5 years, and is a fantastic university in a fairly cheap city. One of my friends is an American who loved Sheffield and the university so much he’s stayed here for his PhD!

any uni up north, or russell groups I’d say

Sheffield easily and it’s not close. It has the best balance of every aspect of uni life. Best rated student union for something like 6 years running, good nightlife for whatever takes ur fancy, russel group university, nice scenic city that isn’t a concrete jungle, the peak district is a 20 min bus ride away if you’re an outdoorsy person, it’s a northern uni so it’s cheaper to live there.

Other unis do stuff better like newcastle has a better nightlife etc. but nothing is as well rounded as sheffield

Any Russel group in a big city in the midlands or up north

I don’t know why Hallam gets so much hate, I went there and enjoyed it. Good teaching, facilities and student support. Only thing was that the student union wasn’t that great and the societies were basically non existent but all in all it wasn’t bad.

My GF went there, loved it.  Sheffield is a decent city in general too.

Any big northern city with a uni or two will be considerably cheaper than London and have good nightlife, plenty of accommodation to choose from etc

Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle

I’m in Nottingham, and I really do love the city. It has a bit of everything. Not the cheapest, but great food, great scenery and just overall really nice people.

In terms of bang for your buck in a city that’s bustling, Sheffield or Glasgow imo

Liverpool 100000000%

Cheaper accommodation, cheaper nights out, booming night life (best in U.K.) so much to do in the day time including free activities like bowling, loads and loads of shops, concerts and gigs all the time, great cheap transport

Undoubtedly Cambridge or Oxford. University of Greenwich is also a strong contender.

can someone list the places i I know first is UCL third is cambridge

get warwick out of there for the love of god. have you seen their humanities building.

https://preview.redd.it/m0embppphxne1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4bb1af3134414a10fa7d81acf40f06a822756fb

Universities in order

1. University College London (UCL)
2. University of Oxford
3. University of Cambridge
4. Royal Holloway, University of London
5. King's College London (KCL)
6. University of Glasgow
7. University of Warwick
8. Durham University
9. University of Edinburgh
10. University of Manchester

the university that gives me a place

haha, I just mentioned the names of the universities in the pictures for reference. There are a lot more unis that are beautiful !!

It depends what subject. For computer science Glasgow or Manchester would give the best balance imo. Nottingham and Newcastle are another two that are pretty solid.

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON!!!!

Leeds

O X F O R D

I've heard good things about Manchester nightlife. And I know that the uni is one of the best ones in the country.

Warwick has multiple RIBA award winning and nominated buildings.

Nice to include a non-Hogwarts university on the list.

I wouldn't say overall but Royal Holloway's main building is the prettiest to me

Cambridge imo

I wanna also say that KCL is one of the best looking. Strand and Guy’s Campus are beautiful. See Bush House, Maughan Library, the King’s Building, Somerset House (east wing part of KCL), the newly pedestrianised Strand… very overlooked and imo a standout uni in London in terms of its estate and being pretty

Cambridge.

There's not even a comparison. Because it's about the whole city, not just one or two uni buildings. Loads of unis have nice buildings/campuses in some parts, but Cambridge is just the whole city dominated by a 800 year old university with amazing buildings spanning over a river, with amazing bridges/parks, etc.

Oxford is similar in that sense but it's a bigget city so has less of this uni campus feeling.

Universities in order

1. University of Oxford
2. University of Cambridge
3. University College London
4. Royal Holloway, University of London
5. King's College London (KCL)
6. University of Glasgow
7. University of Warwick
8. Durham University
9. University of Edinburgh
10. University of Manchester's

That castle picture is clearly of Durham Castle, not Warwick Castle. Because that's where University College of Durham University is based.

KCL is actually on the left hand side of that picture shown. KCL’s law school is in Somerset House East Wing, so a good chunk of Somerset House is indeed KCL, KCL being the single biggest tenant

Well for starters I'm not American I'm indian I was confused between the UK and the US but I chose the UK since it feels more academic even though unis at the US are more competitive. The social life will be cool I believe if you choose london and idts you'll have any problem making friends, I've gotten offers from Edinburgh and KCL and bath and waiting on UCL, if we end up firming the same uni or even the same city(London) I'd love to be friends lmao!

I was in your shoes 3 years ago. I was accepted into top US colleges, but felt drawn to study humanities in the UK for similar reasons. When I asked people on how to decide, they gave me very diplomatic but general“pros & cons “ answers. I would’ve appreciated a strong/ decisive response so that’s why my answer might seem harsh.

In short, I regret it. The lack of contact hours means you’re paying international fees for 1 impersonal lecture and seminar a week. The style of assessments feels like I just teach myself everything in the final week which sounds convenient but ultimately backfires on you. Because you’re defined by one or two ‘bad’ weeks/essays rather than your engagement in seminars/ the work you’ve done throughout the semester.

The social life is “what you make of it” but it’s extremely challenging even if you’re an extrovert. This is because big cities are expensive, your friends live far, and there’s a serious lack of third spaces on campus where you can hang out or even bump into people compared to living in a US college town (I did an exchange in Berkeley). People usually make friends in their first year then stick together/ close themselves off. Even if you meet people all the time at societies, you rarely see them again even if you reach out (which gets draining). Also I’ve noticed that British people (usually posh ones) literally only socialise with people they already know from boarding school/similar circles. I’ve also attended UCL and the academic quality and social life was similarly bad.

Also the sun sets at 3pm in winter which is depressing AF and makes people want to stay indoors/isolate more. When people say that it builds character, they usually mean they SURVIVED numerous hardships brought on by KCL and London in general. But as an undergrad student, you deserve to THRIVE. All your energy goes towards surviving rather than pursuing interests, creating projects, volunteering etc (Even if you did these easily in high school). There are so many smart, talented students at kings who would’ve excelled in US colleges that take accountability for student academic and social success. People in the UK are conditioned to accept the bare minimum when it comes to universities so they never complain. The university couldn’t care less if you drop out. That said, my Instagram definitely romanticises London and my CV’s stacked, but it’s cost me my mental health and ‘true potential’.

I’m an American student currently at KCL, studying IR. I can comfortably say the UK uni experience is definitely worth experiencing and character building, I’ve studied at 2 unis in the UK now, and King’s is not a good uni for anyone looking to extend their uni experience. While it is a very flashy uni, the student experience, administration for Department of War Studies, as well as how poorly the school scheduling and accountability system functions, it adds more stress to you. I seriously recommend going to another uni in the UK, it’s more worth the money and the experience, along with a well structured curriculum, is more beneficial to you as a student and person in the long run.

I can’t speak for the American experience but I’d probably be confident in saying that the English uni experience can be a little bit lonely if you don’t actively reach out. I didn’t bother with any sorts of societies or events and so my only friends are people I met in my classes (and even then I don’t particularly talk to them on the daily outside of uni). My only proper friend who I talk to constantly I actually met on the KCL facebook freshers group, and we met up + became good friends before classes actually started, so make of that what you will lol.

Depending on the society though, a lot of them do advertise a lot of events and it is definitely easy to make friends that way.

Going out is definitely easy, if not just expensive. KCL is really in the heart of London so there is an abundance of fun activities to do. I can’t speak for dorm life because I commute from home, but my friends definitely got on well with their flat mates. It helps that most of you are all looking for friends and so living in the same building helps bring you together and find common interests.

Manchester is a great student city. Kings if you have money.

I’m going Durham because it’s quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. You have Newcastle nearby if you want a night out, also plenty things to see, and not too far from other cities to explore em on a day out, too.

Im staying in Josephine Butler which is right next to the Botanic Gardens, which is free to visit for students:

https://www.durham.ac.uk/things-to-do/venues/botanic-garden/

Everyone’s told me the uni has a poshness problem, but with who I’ve managed to get in touch with that doesn’t seem to be such an issue. Or atleast, it’s mostly the same as any other h I you listed.

So it depends what you want. I can’t comment on Durham affordability but I’d imagine same as Manchester.

Good luck!

Jumping in for the original commenter here but:

• Has a good reputation as party / going out city uni.

• relative to other RG unis (such as LSE and Warwick from this list), will be less workload and also less of a grind culture for internships etc

• Both of these theoretically mean you will be happier at Manchester.

Of course I don’t actually go but that is the general consensus as far as I’ve heard

Birmingham, best campus. Manchester, best city.

I find it to be a smaller London. There's something for everyone but things are more affordable and much closer. You don't have to take a 40 min tube ride just to meet a friend in the city centre.

Student life is great, plenty of clubs/nightlife if you're into that. There's also many church communities around if you're religious. You got the curry mile and china town pretty close by for a different vibe. Loads of quirky cafes and shops in the northern quarter to browse with a friend for a weekend. Almost always, there's a live gig somewhere and an active arts/creative community that meets up on a weekly basis. If you're a much quieter person, the museums and libraries in the city are really nice and worth a stroll around.

It’s very overblown in the media. It’s the same as any other city in terms of crime really. Manchester’s probably less safe than London if anything, but both are safe in general. My dad went to Manchester and loved it so I can vouch for Manchester as a student city. As a Londoner I can also vouch for London’s safety. Never been mugged or stabbed or seen anything like that in my 22 years of life.

I went to Lancaster, if you’re considering it. It’s a good uni as well, but much quieter and more relaxed. It’s got a nice campus, but the town itself doesn’t have a huge amount going on. It’s near Liverpool and Manchester though

Most of the replies will probably be people recommending wherever they went to uni. In truth, any big city (Manchester, Leeds, London etc.) will have the best nightlife whilst any ‘studenty’ small city (Exeter, York, Norwich, etc.) will have less but enough. If any city bucks the trend it will almost certainly come up as you do some research into it.

The unis to avoid are those in the countryside (e.g. Falmouth, Royal Holloway, etc.).

Nottingham is full of fun

Newcastle, Bristol and Nottingham.

Not London

Newcastle