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Thursday February 22nd, 2018
Happy Half-Term holidays everyone, whether you spend them in the snow of the Alps or in the sun of the Maldives!
Chinese New Year (year of the dog) celebrations started in London today with the exciting annual parade and events taking place in Trafalgar Square, Chinatown and the West End. 700,000 people will attend these celebrations in London over the next three days. I am planning to go tomorrow to China town.
Here are a few things you need to know about Chinese New Year celebrations:
University offers. Time to choose
In the next few weeks, pupils in their final year of
school, who have already applied to university in the UK, will have to decide on their short-list of two, from the offers they have received.
A quick reminder, university applications in the UK start in September of the year prior to beginning of studies and close in the first week of January (except for Medical schools and Oxbridge that close their applications on October). Up to 5 universities can be selected on the UCAS system. Offers are made between November and March and then candidates need to select and accept just two. This year the offers will be made by 31 March and acceptances need to be submitted by 2 May.
If the candidate has not received any offers or declines some of them, there is an opportunity to apply for Extra. On the 25 February application for Extra on UCAS portal will be open for those not holding any offers, where candidates can add more applications for their chosen courses.
In August, when the exam results become available, there will be another chance to either receive a better offer (if the results are better than expected) through the Adjustment process, or try and get one of the remaining places through Clearing, even if the candidate didn’t achieve the required results.
Even if your children are not at that stage yet and have a few years to decide on their long list of universities, we hope the next section will be useful in making those decisions.
Russell Group Universities. Part 1
There are 162 universities in the UK. We have put together an overview of the 24 universities of the famous Russell group. As it is a rather long list, we split it into two parts. This newsletter is Part 1, containing 12 Russell group universities.
Next month we will publish Part 2.
The Russell Group Universities (RGU) is an association of twenty-four Universities in the United Kingdom formed in 1994, when 17 universities got together to form a partnership. Widely considered the best universities in the UK, they receive around 70% money for research grants, have 30% of all foreign students studying in the UK and award 60% of doctorate degrees. Any level of the degree from a Russell group university increases the chances of an employment and a high flying career in the UK as the employers consider it a sign of candidate quality.
You will notice that some universities on the list have the “Red brick” note. Red Brick universities are the term used to describe the higher education establishments that have been set up with the view of educating students in more practical, as opposed to theoretical, skills, such as Medicine or Engineering.
England
RGU in England can be divided into London Universities, Oxford, and Cambridge and the rest of England. Another informal university group is “Golden Triangle” of universities in south-east England, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the University of London’s three colleges (UCL, King’s College London and London School of Economics & Political Science) plus ex-university college, now independent Imperial College London.
Oxford and Cambridge (Oxbridge)
The two 800 year old universities share many common features such as college structure, similar institutions and large endowments, high admittance criteria, individual approach to students. The admission is mutually exclusive – you cannot simultaneously apply to both.
University of Oxford
Oxford has no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096,making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest university in continuous operation. The university operates the world’s oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford is regularly ranked within the top 10 universities in the world and is currently ranked first in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, as well as the Forbes’s World University Rankings
Main campus: Oxford
Main faculties: Philosophy, Politics and Psychology, Computer Science, Medicine
Famous for: Humanities
Alumni: Oscar Wild, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton
Special Note: Application deadline for Oxford bursaries for next year (some of them cover 100% of tuition and living costs) is in two days’ time, 16 February 2018.
University of Cambridge
Founded in 1209 as an offshoot of Oxford University and granted a royal charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s fourth-oldest surviving university. As of September 2017, Cambridge is ranked the world’s second best university by Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings the world’s fourth best university by three other ranking tables, and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects.
Main campus: Cambridge
Main faculties: Biological Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Physical Sciences, Technology
Famous for: Natural Sciences, linked to high-tech business cluster “Silicon Fen”
Alumni: Lord Byron (poet), Ludwig Wittgenstein (philosopher), King George VI (studied History, Economics and Civics), Stewen Hawkins (physicist), Hugh Laurie (actor).
London
In medieval system still adhered to in Oxbridge, a university was subdivided into independent colleges. University of London consists of 18 colleges that each have their own admissions system, governance and exams, but remain connected in terms of sharing their resources and facilities. King’s College, University College London (UCL), London “School” of Economics and Political Science, City, Queen Mary are technically all part of London University.
Imperial College London (often called Imperial)
Founded in 1888 by Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert, Imperial consistently ranks as one of the top 10 universities in the world. In 2017, it ranked 8th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 8th in the QS World University Rankings.
Imperial College London was a college of the University of London from 1908, awarding University of London degrees, however, on 14 July 2006 Imperial College’s Council made the decision that Imperial should withdraw from the University of London and become an independent university, which it remains now.
Main campus: South Kensington in central London
Main faculties: Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Business
Famous for: Engineering focusing on emerging technology and its practical applications
Alumni: H.G. Wells (writer), Alexander Fleming (discoverer of penicillin), Norman Lockyer (discoverer of helium and founder of Nature magazine), Carl Djerassi (first contraception pill), Frederick Hopkins (vitamins).
King’s College London (or simply King’s College)
Established in 1829 by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington, possibly the fourth oldest university in England. It was ranked 23rd in the 2018 QS World University Rankings, 34th in the 2017 CWTS Leiden Ranking, 36th in the 2018 THE World University Rankings,
Main campus: Strand Campus in central London, 4 more across London
Main faculties: Nine faculties
Famous for: Biomedical research
Alumni: Peter Higgs (Higgs’ boson), Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel Prize in literature), Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize), Maurice Wilkins (DNA structure).
University College London (UCL)
UCL was the first university institution to be established in London in 1826 by a radical thinker Jeremy Bentham, and the first in England to be entirely secular admitting students regardless of their religion and the first to admit women. UCL ranks highly in national and international league tables and, according to Times Higher Education, its graduates rank among the most employable in the world.
Main campus: Bloomsbury (London)
Main faculties: Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Laws, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences,
Famous for: Humanities, Law
Alumni: Mahatma Gandhi, Jomo Kenyatta (first Prime Minister, first President of Kenya), Itō Hirobumi (first Prime Minister of Japan), Lord Woolf (Chief Justice of England).
London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)
Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members including playwright George Bernard Shaw, LSE joined the University of London in 1900. The LSE has awarded its own degrees since 2008. It is second in the world for social sciences in the QS Rankings, ranked in the top twenty in the THE Rankings and in the top fifty by all four major global rankings. To 2016, 27% (or 13 out of 48) of all the Nobel Prizes in Economics have been awarded awarded to LSE alumni, current or former staff. Out of all European universities, LSE has educated the most billionaires according to a 2014 global census of U.S dollar billionaires. LSE graduates earn higher incomes on average than those of any other British university.
Main campus: Westminster in central London
Main faculties: Department of Law, Department of Management, Department of Economics, Department of Finance
Famous for: Finance, Law, Social Sciences
Alumni: Clement Attlee (British Prime Minister), David Rockefeller (banker), George Soros (hedge fund manager), Stelios Haji-Ioannou (founder of EasyJet).
Queen Mary University of London (Queen Mary)
Queen Mary’s foundation dates back to the foundation of London Hospital Medical College in 1785. Times Higher Education ranks Queen Mary 48th in its 2018 ranking of European universities. In Times Higher Education Best universities in the UK 2017, it has been ranked 15th.
Main campus: Mile End (East London)
Main faculties: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Engineering, The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Famous for: Finance, Law
Alumni: Bill O’Reilly (American political commentator), Peter Hain ( British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), Sir Curtis Keeble (British ambassador to the USSR), Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (studied Political Science).
The rest of England
University of Birmingham – Red Brick
The result of merger to Queen’s College, Birmingham founded in 1828 as the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery and Mason Science College established in 1875. The first English civic or ‘red brick’ university to receive its own royal charter. The university was ranked 14th in the UK and 84th in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2018. In 2013, Birmingham was named ‘University of the Year 2014’ in the Times Higher Education awards.
Main campus: Birmingham
Main faculties: Arts and Law, Engineering and Physical Sciences, Life and Environmental Sciences, Medical and Dental Sciences, Social Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences
Famous for: Natural Sciences, Engineering
Alumni: Neville Chamberlain (British Prime MInister), Francis Aston (discoverer of isotopes), John Vane (inflammation), and Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine).
University of Bristol – Red Brick
The university started as the Merchant Venturers Navigation School in 1595. Its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol was founded in 1876. The University of Bristol is ranked 44th by the QS World University Rankings 2017 and amongst the top 10 of UK universities by THE. The university is taking a large proportion of its undergraduate students from non-state schools.
Main campus: Bristol
Main faculties: Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law
Famous for: Engineering
Alumni: Paul Dirac (Nobel Prize in Physics), Jonathan Evans (Head of MI5), Angela Carter (writer), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, (Chairperson of the African Union Commission)
University of Exeter
Its predecessor institutions, the Royal Albert Memorial College and the University College of the South West of England, were established in 1900 and 1922 respectively but the university was offcialy recognised in 1955. In the 2015/16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings the university placed 93rd.
Main campus: Streatham (Exeter in Devon)
Main faculties: College of Humanities, College of Social Sciences and International Studies, The Business School
Famous for: English, Humanities
Alumni: J.K. Rowling (writer), Abdullah Gül (President of Turkey), Thom Yorke (musician, Radiohead), Zara Phillips (daughter of Princess Royal, Olympic games medallist, studied physiotherapy)
University of Leeds (Leeds)
Established in 1831, the university is ranked as the 32nd best in Europe and globally ranked 93rd in the 2016-17 QS World University Rankings. Leeds was ranked top three in the UK and top 20 in the world for graduate employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2016), also ranked as the 5th most targeted British university by the UK’s top graduate employers in 2016-17.
Main campus: Leeds city centre
Main faculties: Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Cultures, Medicine and Health
Famous for: Engineering and Technology
Alumni: George Porter (Nobel Prize in Chemistry), Wole Soyinka (Nobel Prize in Literature), Piers Sellers (NASA astronaut), Jack Straw (British Secretary of State)
University of Liverpool – Red Brick
Founded as a college in 1881, it become a university in 1903. Liverpool is ranked 122nd in the world (and 15th in the UK) in the 2016 Round University Ranking. In 2006 the university became the first in the UK to establish an independent university in China, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, making it the world’s first Sino-British university.
Main campus: Liverpool city centre
Main faculties: Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Faculty of Science & Engineering
Famous for: Computer Science, Chemistry
Alumni: Philip Clarke (CEO Tesco) Carol Ann Duffy (Poet Laureate), Charles Glover Barkla (Nobel Prize in Physics), Robert Porter (Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine)
“ Regency Education helped all three of our boys get into a wonderful school where they now thrive. ”
“ REGENCY EDUCATION WAS ABLE TO HELP US WITH EVERY STEP OF THE SCHOOL APPLICATION PROCESS ENSURING THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OF OUR CHILDREN. AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. ”
“ REGENCY EDUCATION WAS ABLE TO HELP US WITH EVERY STEP OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS ENSURING THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OF OUR CHILDREN - AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. ”
