For years, the UK’s prestigious universities have been infiltrated by a particular breed of student—the “rah”. Hailing from wealthy backgrounds, often privately educated and blissfully unaware of the privilege they wield, these individuals descend upon traditionally working-class university towns with an air of entitlement, condescension, and cultural blindness. Their presence isn’t just annoying; it actively damages the communities they pretend to ‘slum it’ in for three years before scurrying back to Daddy’s estate.
A Tale as Old as Time
From Durham to Newcastle, Leeds to Liverpool, and even as far as Glasgow and Manchester, the pattern is the same. Rahs flood into working-class towns, treating them like safari parks, wide-eyed and fascinated by their ‘gritty’ surroundings. They’ll feign interest in the local culture—just enough to craft a quirky anecdote for future dinner parties in Kensington.
They sneer at the accents, mock the nightlife, and dismiss the local population as “a bit rough” while simultaneously gentrifying neighbourhoods and inflating rent prices. The working-class people who actually built and sustain these communities are shoved aside, their pubs turned into soulless artisan gin bars, their independent cafés replaced by overpriced sourdough bakeries.
Looking Down Their Noses
Let’s be clear: rah culture is inherently classist. These students swan into towns with the same arrogance their ancestors probably had while surveying colonial territories. They come for an ‘authentic experience’, but only on their own terms. A night out in the local pub is an ironic exercise in people-watching. The local takeaways are treated as meme material.
They say things like:
“Oh my God, the locals actually go clubbing here. Imagine living here forever!”
“I swear, everyone in this town just has kids at 19 and works in a chippy.”
“The housing here is so cheap! Can’t believe people live like this though.”
Never mind the fact that most of these ‘locals’ work gruelling jobs to keep the economy of these towns alive while rah students leech off parental trust funds.
Economic and Cultural Damage
Rahs don’t just bring their sneering attitudes—they bring economic destruction.
They artificially inflate rent prices, as landlords hike up costs to capitalise on students willing to pay whatever their parents will cover.
They push out local businesses, favouring posh cafés serving oat-milk matcha lattes over family-run greasy spoons that have existed for generations.
Their partying and anti-social behaviour give students a bad name, reinforcing the belief that universities are detached from the realities of local life.
By the time they leave (inevitably for a London finance job secured through nepotism), they’ve left their mark: unaffordable rent, a sanitised high street, and a growing divide between students and locals.
Universities Need to Act
Frankly, it’s time universities took responsibility for the class divide they perpetuate. There needs to be active support for working-class students, from financial aid to ensuring student accommodation doesn’t price locals out of housing. Moreover, universities must address the blatant classism that runs through their student bodies, from societies to social circles.
If these rahs truly want to ‘experience’ working-class life, let them try surviving on a minimum wage job, without Daddy’s money cushioning every fall. Until then, their patronising attitude towards the communities they invade needs to be called out for what it is—modern-day class tourism, with all the arrogance and none of the self-awareness.
It’s time we made our universities truly inclusive, not playgrounds for the posh elite to gawk at the working class from a safe distance.
