Are you privileged, edgy and upper class?
If you attend the University of Bristol, then yes, apparently you are. After a quick Google search and a superficial ask around peers, it’s clear that the consensual impression is that students at the University of Bristol (UoB) are just that.
On typing ‘University of Bristol Student stereotypesâ into Google, I was taken instantly to The Tab magazine where an article had been uploaded about the stereotypes of students at various universities across the country. Under Bristol, as you might well guess, was a statement characterising us as party animals whose globetrotting, and various other opulent habits, are funded by our parents’ well stocked bank accounts. Similarly, on the âUni Freshersâ website, students of Bristol were described as âtypically well offâ, cigarette smoking and North Face puffer jacket wearers. It seems then, that the representation of UoB students, from themselves and others alike, is that we are financially flush, stylistically sustainable and zany, heavy on nightlife and characteristically middle and upper class.
As a student of UoB myself, I read these representations and involuntarily frowned in offence and disagreement. Though I’ve heard this narrative a multitude of times throughout my time attending and whilst applying to UoB (and it being exactly what I was expecting to be told), I was still somewhat shocked at the uncompromising tone of people’s depictions of the Bristol Uni student. Sitting, reflecting on my self-identity and my own personal impression of my closest friends and uni social group, I felt that the depiction of students at UoB as pretentious, with a careless desire to âget on itâ, was unforgiving and not completely accurate.
However, after impartial contemplation, I concluded that my disagreement might be just an instantaneous reaction borne out of my self-perception. I mean, I was not privately educated and am yet to travel through Southeast Asia with nothing but my Dadâs credit card (a girl can dreamâŠ.), so surely I do not fit the stereotype? Although, I will admit my partiality to a night out listening to either Jazz or Jungle and a day spent charity shopping on Gloucester Road.
Besides, if inaccurate then why is the commentary on the stereotypical UoB student so widely recognised and so commonly perceived to be true? Comments were made to me (and still are) when I told people that I was going to the University of Bristol, about how I would become âposh’ and start saying ârah, where’s my baccyâ as was the trending joke on Tiktok. If âin jest, there is truthâ, as Shakespeare once wrote, then the frequency at which jokes are made at the expense of UoBâs students’ financial and aesthetic habits, must surely be telling of the fairness of how we are represented.
When one puts aside the, arguably, negative connotations associated with the UoB stereotype, and objectively reflects on the general student population of the university, the ubiquitous characterisation does not seem so unjust. Recent statistics show that roughly a third of the undergraduate intake at the UoB come from private schools. For example, in the years 2019-2020, 34% of University of Bristol students were attendees of private schools. This number might not seem alarming on the surface, but when put in the context that roughly only 6% of the UKâs entire population attend private schools, the figure is shocking. Furthermore, the Epigram, the University’s own student newspaper reported that the Universityâs state school intake was around 20% below the national average.
It seems then that the representation of UoB students as being privileged and well off may be rooted in reality but that is not to say that the derogatory perception that all UoB students are posh and ostentatious is reasonable. There are those who do not fit the stereotype, and could reasonably take offence at the stereotypical representation. It also seems that the University is taking steps to redress the balance – in 2023, those privately educated comprised 24.6% according to The Tab.
So, is the stereotype of Bristol students fair?
Maybe it is. Maybe, the University of Bristol is âfull of clever people who just wanna partyâ, and whilst chances are if you are wandering through Senate or along Priory Road, you will pass by a student who has privilege, fits the ‘Bristol look’ in their second-hand garments, and is financially upper class, it’s just as likely youâll pass by someone who does not own a North Face puffer and does not quite fit into seemingly homogenous mould of the UoB student.