Just starting out on the university process with dd, and have some questions I'd appreciate help with.

Are the final exams the same for all universities? How does it work? Do Russell Group ones sit more challenging papers than non-Russell Group? Is the attraction of a RB uni the quality of the lecturers and you are therefore more likely to pass, or is it that the difficulty of the paper you have to pass makes you more valuable? Help!!!

Each university sits different exams - some have more coursework than others, some have variable amounts of earlier years scores included in the final grade.

Ultimately I think it comes down to what employers etc view of a 2:1 from university A compared with a first from University B or a 2:2 from University C.

No, each university sets its own exams for each course.

There are many variables that contribute to the quality and many ways of assessing that.

It is even more complex that choosing a secondary school.

There is also the factor of name dropping, for example saying you went to Oxbridge will impress some people with no further evidence required.

Each University sets its own exams independently so its not like A level's and GCSE's where everyone will sit the same exam regardless of which school they go to.

The attraction of a RG uni is that they are generally thought of offering a higher quality education although this will depend a lot on subject. For some subjects a non-RG may be a better choice.

You are not more likely to get a higher grade at a 'better' university. If that were the case you'd expect Oxford and Cambridge to have the highest percentage of firsts and I don't think that's the case. Like you suggest its probably harder to get a top grade at a top university but employers will be aware of that. For example, someone with a 2.1 in Maths from Oxford would probably be more highly regarded than someone with a 1st in Maths from Oxford Brookes. (no disrespect meant to Oxford Brookes but its probably fair to say its not regarded quite as highly as the 'other' university it shares a city with).

That might be true in Maths but certainly not in Engineering where Brookes graduates are actively sourced above Oxbridge by industry and F1.

RG is a self-selected club - it does not mean the teaching is better as the group are based around 'research'. Being a good researcher does not mean you can teach or that you are even interested in teaching. You might be surprised that Oxford Brookes asks all its academics to have lecturing qualification, Oxford does not.

RG means very little actually - you need to look at the subject you want to study and find out which unis are best for that and where the degree suits your career aspiration.

http://www.ey.com/uk/en/newsroom/news-releases/15-08-03---ey-transforms-its-recruitment-selection-process-for-graduates-undergraduates-and-school-leavers

For those who feel happier with the 'who you know, not what you know' way of recruiting, though, I understand from threads on another website that investment banking and 'big' law firms still only consider graduates of universities with whose name they feel comfortable .

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Thanks everyone - that was really helpful and answers everything .

It’s a lot more involved than I realised and the geography of it all doesn’t. I’m off for 4 hour round trip day out soon. Can’t wait!!

Much appreciated

Good luck.

For example, Maths at Bath is highly regarded - Bath is not RG.

Any tips on helping a young person who wants to specialize in aerospace or space engineering? ..we have got as far as working out maths, further maths, and physics a levels are the way ahead...any particular universities worth looking at in southern half of UK? DS ‘s wish list is Cambridge, Bristol or Warwick...not sure where he has his list from...

Cambridge only offers general Engineering and has no option of a year in industry ... I'd avoid for that reason alone.

In alphabetical order: Bath, Bristol, Leicester [near National space centre], Loughborough, Southampton, Surrey + some London ones [not everyone wants them though]

As for A levels - they are the right ones!