If you like… you might also like…
So, you’ve found a couple of universities you really like. Perhaps it’s the location, the campus, their approach to teaching? Or maybe it just felt right when you visited.
Now you want to find a couple more that are similar so that you can have a range of different options on your UCAS form (see Just how ambitious should you be with your initial five UCAS choices? for guidance on choosing aspirational, realistic and safety options).
You could look at the local universities in the same city, but chances are they won’t be similar at all.
You could look at those around the same place in the league tables, but again, they won’t necessarily have anything in common, and they might just be too similar in terms of entry grades.
So what about looking at universities with a similar history?
I know it might sound crazy, but history can tell you a lot about a university; its type of location, its architecture, its approach to teaching, its community feel, even its purpose; its very reason for existing!
And so, in this article I use my slightly geeky interest in university history, 30 years of university campus visits, plus a whole lot of knowledge absorbed from colleagues over the years, to come up with a super-useful guide.
If you like Manchester, you might also like…
The other big ‘civics’:
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
University of Leeds
University of Liverpool
Queen’s University Belfast
University of Sheffield.
Why? Manchester is of the original seven large English ‘civic’ universities.
What do I mean by ‘civic’? Well, these universities were established in the 1900s as non-religious, non-residential universities aimed at imparting ‘real-world skills’.
While they would now be regarded as rather more academic than was originally envisaged, they do still all have strength in science, engineering, medicine and law, and all retain their locations in the centres of some of our largest industrial cities.
And… you might also like the second round of ‘civics’, established half a century later. These started life as university colleges and became universities in the 50s. They include:
University of Exeter
University of Hull
University of Nottingham
University of Newcastle
These tend to have slightly more distinct campuses, rather than being quite so central in their respective cities, but they have very similar subject ranges to the older ‘civics’, plus a similar approach to teaching and research.
If you like Edinburgh, you might also like…
The other ancient Scottish universities:
University of Aberdeen
University of Glasgow
University of St Andrews
University of Dundee
Why? OK, I admit it, if you like Edinburgh you might also like any of the large civic universities listed above, but while Edinburgh is large and highly sought after (just like Manchester, Bristol etc.) it’s real character is defined by its Scottishness: a four year degree where you start your first year taking a range of subjects within your faculty.
This approach, and much else at Edinburgh, is shared by the three other ancient Scottish universities plus Dundee (which scrapes into the list by virtue of its structure, location and subject mix).
If you like Warwick, you might also like…
The other ‘plate glass’ universities:
University of East Anglia
University of Essex
University of Kent
Lancaster University
University of Sussex
University of York
Why? These universities were all established from scratch in the early 60s following decisions by the government in the late 50s.
They all have single-site campuses located outside of smaller cities, with accommodation located close to the academic buildings giving each of them a strong sense of community. They also all have solid reputations, predominanty academic courses and decent research profiles.
You can arguably add the University of Stirling to the list, as it was also established from scratch in the 60s (this time under recommendations from the Robbins report of 1963).
If you like Surrey, you might also like…
The other former Colleges of Advanced Technology:
University of Bath
University of Bradford
Brunel University
City, University of London
Herriot-Watt University
Loughborough University
Strathclyde University
Why? Well that Robbins report I just mentioned also proposed turning a whole bunch of Colleges of Advanced Technology into universities.
While Bath, Loughborough and Surrey may look very much like the ‘plate glass’ universities, with their single-site campus locations, in fact this group are far more vocational in their courses, both in what they teach and how they teach.
If you want a strong reputation accompanied by strong industrial links and work placement opportunities, look no further.
If you like Nottingham Trent, you might also like…
The other city-based former Polytechnics:
Birmingham City University
De Montfort University
Leeds Beckett University
Liverpool John Moores University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Northumbria University
Sheffield Hallam University
University of the West of England
Why? These are amongst the 40 or so ‘new’ universities created in 1992, and were all highly-regarded vocational polytechnics located in large cities across England.
To this day they continue to offer predominantly vocational and professional courses in areas such as business, engineering, health, and creative industries.
If you want something similar in London, have a look at:
University of East London
Kingston University
London Metropolitan University
Middlesex University
While the equivalents in Scotland would be:
Glasgow Caledonian University
Edinburgh Napier University
The Robert Gordon University
If you like Winchester, you might also like…
The other Cathedral Universities:
Canterbury Christchurch University
University of Chester
University of Chichester
University of Gloucestershire
University of Worcester
York St John University
Why? These are all small former teacher training colleges, with religious histories, located in some of England’s most beautiful small cities.
They now offer a wider range of courses, typically including most traditional school-taught subjects, plus business. They are all pretty small by modern standards and arguably offer the tightest community feel of any of the current universities.
They form half of the official “Cathedral Group”; a lobbying group of fourteen somewhat similar universities (though the others have very different locations and/or historical origins).
If you are looking for something similar, but in a larger city, have a look at:
Leeds Trinity University
Liverpool Hope University
Roehampton University
Any others?
Now, there are a hundred-and-one other ways to find similar universities.
You don’t need me to tell you that if you like UCL, you’ll probably want to look at Imperial College London, King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London.
Similarly if you like the Arts University Bournemouth you don’t need me to point you in the direction of the 10 or so other smaller Arts universities across England.
Also, a word of apology to the Welsh. Their university history is somewhat complex and would need a whole separate article. I could attempt to squeeze some of their universities into the categories above, but it would be at the risk of misrepresenting their histories and current attributes.
Never-the-less, I hope this has given you a few ideas that perhaps you wouldn’t have thought of; universities that are surprisingly similar to your favourite, but which you might have overlooked!
