Russell Group students need to get off their high horse

Just like the bitchy table at high school, nobody actually likes us

BCU birmingham Birmingham Uni hate rival Russell group students the tab birmingham

I go to the University of Birmingham, a member of the Russell Group of educational institutions.

Universities similar to Brum, such as other ‘Uni Of’s’ including Manchester and Nottingham also share a membership in this 24-school group. Even the big guns, like Oxford and LSE are in our club. We toast to being the creme de la creme of education in the UK, because of absolute research excellence.

Students at these institutions proudly view themselves as inherently superior to their once polytechnic counterparts (such as BCU, Manchester Met, Nottingham Trent etc). It goes beyond academic potential, apparently we’re just the better people for going o our university.

Unabashed snobbery towards ex-poly students is rife.

Common slurs include “Played Facebook’s basketball game and Man Met gave me a sports scholarship”. One of the worst uploaded to Ekho (an anonymous YikYak-like feed), “just ordered a takeaway and got a first in Chinese studies from BCU”. Vicious rhyming slurs are even made up and chanted by the drunken arrogant, including the famous Nottingham’s “T-R-E-N-T, you’re going to get a shit degree”.

This is coming from people who literally used to ask “is it Stupid Tuesdays” on a Wednesday :/

The shocking revelation is that Russell Group students are not cleverer than those attending ex-polys so these claims are unfounded. Our choice of institution isn’t necessarily superior either. Perhaps in research excellence, or the volume of academic research conducted this may be the case, but in no way does that indicate the quality of our teaching is superior.

I LOVE my uni, but I do not have to shit on other institutions to prove this

In fact, there is an argument that because ex-polytechnics do not have academic research as their first priority, more resources and attention are given to teaching. Ex-poly friends of mine certainly claim that they get more supervision over their work than I do.

The Complete University Guide also gives some backing to this. The university ranked best for student satisfaction in 2016 was Coventry, with a score of 4.27 out of 5. Second was Buckingham, with a score of 4.26. Neither of these universities belong in the Russell Group thus would generally be considered of lesser prestige.

In comparison, Birmingham’s score was 4.08 out of 5. The bastions of prestigious education, Oxford and Cambridge, came in below less esteemed universities too, with scores of 4.17 and 4.18 respectively.

Hardly grounds to accuse a Uni of being “shit”. Such claims can only be testament to what a bunch of conceited snobs we’ve become.

Snobs aiming their fire at not just the institution, but the students themselves. They treat ex-poly students as if they’re a gaggle of plebs.

It’s assumed that ex- poly students obviously wanted to go to a Russell Group, but obviously failed to get the grades to do so, yet seeing the results I’ve given above, what indicates that students would inherently want to be a member of our club?

But look at how pwetty their campus is!

‘University of’ establishments are notoriously traditional so if you’re looking at illustration or video game design, for which BCU has excellent facilities, our prestigious club is useless. Studying Plato at our stellar Classics and Archeology department, or knuckling down at our Law school isn’t going to be of any use if you want a career in nursing. Maybe you even preferred an academic degree at a Russell rival, you’re no worse off.

Clearly it’s actually the bullies from Russell groups, cowering behind anonymous platforms, who have insecurities about their academic capabilities and feel a need to perpetually compare themselves to others.

Did the rejection letter from Oxford put that massive chip on your shoulder, Spencer?

The quality of student life for those attending Russell Groups get in comparison to their counterparts looks pretty grim. Ex-polys tend to have less emphasis on the student union in social activities, as many students  are local and will already be acquainted with better clubs and bars out in the city.

You’ll never have this much fun in the SU

My student union gives me a vomit congested FAB and a range of alcohol that I could get cheaper if I headed into the city. Which, if I attended BCU, I wouldn’t have to pay £10 in taxi fare to do?

I don’t regret attending a Russell group. However, I’m now aware that my time spent at university wouldn’t have been any worse if I had decided to go to BCU, both in terms of academic support and student life.

One difference, though is that I probably wouldn’t have had to deal with the vicious arrogance of Russell Group students. Not all of you are like it, but I’ve met far too many who are.