Not sure how much help it is, but have a look at www.thestudentroom.co.uk

Not really a discussion board, but the Times Good University Guide is always useful

It's probably worth mentioning to him that the quality often varies a lot by subject so when he looks at the tables (eg the Times ones DJ Billy points to) I'd suggest he pays at least as much attention to the subject tables as to the overall top 100. This is particularly important for vocational & professional courses such as medicine, law, architecture, computing, accounting, engineering, creative arts etc.

However, if the degree he's planning on doing isn't one that's going to be directly related to him getting a job then he may be best off focusing on the "good degree from a good university" side of things, and go for a university that has a good overall reputation even if it's not the best in the subject. This is often the better route for most humanities subjects, some social sciences, and underemployable hard sciences such as astronomy .

When I looked (a year or so ago) at thestudentroom.co.uk it seemed to mostly be A level students discussing the universities they were applying to, offers, halls of residence etc. So I suspect it may be what he's after, although the ummm... "quality" of the discussion isn't quite what it might be!

Anyway, UCL & Imperial are obviously the best universities in the land

It's funny, when i was looking at applying to uni i searched and searched for a good student guide online to give an independant view of uni's and stuff. I remember when my sister was applying 6 years ago she was able to find a few, which also kinda had interesting facts on like how much a pint of beer would cost at the student bars, that sorta thing.

But i couldn't find anything. And that kinda annoyed me because all i wanted was opinions from students that were unbiased in a website so i could compare the unis and stuff, just to give me a bit more knowledge than just the prospectuses and websites. I found a couple of student uninion websites which were useful but only for specific uni's. And the only other thing similar was for oxbridge where students could write about their interview experiences but that seems to have disappeared now

But anyway, in short: i'm useless and can't belp but it frustrated me lol!

This look like it might be what you're after:

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Decided what you're going to do after your A-Levels yet? RealUni is written by students already at Uni to help you if you're thinking about applying for Higher Education.

This site is full of helpful info plus the unique Alternative Prospectus should tell you what each Uni is actually like!

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http://www.realuni.com/index.php?page=main

If they're looking at a major uni, www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk is packed full of candidates' experience with interviews. (It says Oxbridge but in my own experience uni interviews are very much alike.) I went to my interview better prepared for my preconceptions than the reality, and it wasn't much fun, so the more help in that area the better. As the name suggests, www.collegeconfidential.com is American based, but the forums contain quite a bit on British unis, and the foreign perspective should be useful for someone applying from abroad.

Ultimately though nothing beats contacting the institutions directly. I believe all the major unis have some sort of outreach programme for foreign students, including contacting existing students.

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by Byron
If they're looking at a major uni, www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk is packed full of candidates' experience with interviews.

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Methinks that's the one i looked at (though they've changed the format) but the old link i used at first took my to a different site. soooo confused but woot it's been found

Yep they changed recently. For anyone seeking a break from the uni race, check out "Laura Spence's" entry.

Superb "entry"!

Thanks for all the responses, guys. Duly collated and forwarded to my cousin!

Universities in big cities are normally poor, the students are spead out over a large area and the campus atmosphere is almost dead.

Univerisities in small towns or small cities seem to be the best, the old red and grey brick with large campuses, good hall provision and old established rules meaning decent bars in the halls campus and students union. The newer the university the less bars and social life and the more control the university has over them.

Personally I would rate out of the 5 I have been to from best to worst.

Royal Holloway,
Southampton,
Newcastle University,
Northumbria University,
Birbeck

Loughborough and York also seem to be good.

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by Gopher
Universities in big cities are normally poor, the students are spead out over a large area and the campus atmosphere is almost dead.

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I'd certainly dispute "Universities in big cities are normally poor" on numerous grounds -- as generalisations go it's pretty damning of the universities in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Bristol & Liverpool which are among the best in the country. And Leeds is probably about the studentiest place on the planet!

Also, although student residences will often be more dispersed in non-campus universities this varies a lot from university to university, and many will have plenty of accommodation available close to the university sites, at least for first years.

Plus there are plenty of virtues to not living on campus, and the absolute need for a "campus atmosphere" is diminished when you've got the rest of the city available to you. If you're on a campus then your access to alternatives is greatly diminished, if you're in a city then the facilities are available if you want them.

Both of the universities I've attended have been in central London, and there was certainly no shortage of student life available if you wanted it. People I know who've attended other universities have concurred in general, but the key thing seems to be whether or not you're a "city person" -- some people aren't, both at university and in real life -- and react against either the hassle of being in a city or the less defined community structures.

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Royal Holloway,

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One of the best things about RH must be Founder's Building, you'll not find a finer student residence outside Oxbridge.
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/menass/fasec/founders.gif