OVERALL UNIVERSITY RATING
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
Best: As part of the MPharm course, all of the lectures are incredibly well educated people and it is very interesting hearing them...
University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
Best: As part of the MPharm course, all of the lectures are incredibly well educated people and it is very interesting hearing them teach and trying to grasp the depth of their knowledge. The university has many many spaces which are quiet and are available for study time, chilling out, or just relaxing which I appreciate. The university recently made vast upgrades to the students union building and it is incredible.. situated at 1 Elmwood Avenue, it houses its own spar with a hot-food deli counter, a wide variety of seating options for students, multiple conference-type rooms which can be pre-booked to meet with societies / lab partners to work on projects etc, a wide variety of seating options situated around the building, multiple quiet areas for revision, water fountains to fill water bottles, ablutions, and the Union bar, where situates the night-life governed by the students. The union bar can seat large numbers of students, where it also serves pub foods, such as pizzas, burgers, dirty fries etc. The students union building is and will continue to be a great addition to the vast benefits of studying at QUB.
Worst: Exams can be stressful, but that's a given in any university. Another major problem I find in the area of QUB is the number of bins situated about the place, I can never find a bin unless in a building, and due to Queen's layout of there being sometimes 10/15 minute walks between buildings this is often unhelpful. The wifi at QUB can also be temperamental at times where the area is busy, often in the McClay library. I understand that not much can be done about this and it is already impressive that the wifi can keep up with the shear number of students using it, however at times I do find that this can drastically slow down my pace and previously has caused me to stay in my own home to study which can be more difficult due to the drastic increase in the number of distractions made readily available.
Facilities
How good are your university's facilities?
Location
Institution Location
Student support
How good is the support offered by the uni? Think both academic (tutors/feedback) and personal (counselling, etc).
Campus look and feel
Institution Campus look and feel
Student life
Institution Student life
Students' union
What do you think of your Students' Union in terms of student representation and facilities?
Course rating
Course rating
Best: I personally find the cause content really interesting, and I think that is a very important part of enjoying university. The interest I find in my course, due to it being majorly involved in chemistry and biology, really boosts my satisfaction, and motivation. It is so important for students to pursue a degree in which they will find interest in... I know I would certainly not have stuck the course if I wasn't interested, as it can be very busy at times in order to be efficient. The majority of the lecturers who give my lectures provide education to a superb standard, with the odd exception of course. It is very easy to tell that the lecturers are also interested in the field of teaching which adds to the experience. The MPharm degree provides me many resources to aid my studys, which if they weren't provided would put me in a major financial deficit. For example, the library service allows me to access the British pharmacopoeia whilst in the vicinity of queens which is a very important website related to my course. I also receive constant emails regarding placement opportunities with the likes of boots which I can apply to on my own accord, which is helpful as it doesn't require any research
Worst: As said above, a small number of lecturers are below standard, which can be very demotivating when it comes to studying as it is hard to concentrate, but this is not an regular occurrence.
Course content
Course content
Work placements and internships
Work placements and internships
Lecturers and teaching quality
What do you like most and least about the way your course(s) are taught?
Career prospects
How does your uni make efforts to increase your employability (careers department, work placements, transferable skills)?
Tutor contact time
Tutor contact time
Subject facilities
Subject facilities
University halls
What do you think about the safety, condition, location and cost of your accommodation?
Location: The halls I stayed in were around a 20/25 minute walk from my predominant building, which was unfortunate, however it did mean that the area I was living was much quieter, with only other occupants of the halls being in the vicinity.
Room allocation: My room was very spacious, with a large desk (I miss having a large desk now I have moved to a private flat), the only downside was that I shared a single toilet and shower with 8 other people, so I often found I was waking up much earlier than required to ensure I got a shower and was still fit to make it out in time. However, both the shower and toilet facilities were both kept very clean by the cleaning staff who were in regularly to clean my halls, which made a big difference. The kitchen was also very up to date which I was pleased with
Value for money: Whilst halls is much more expensive than most other options, this is accounted for by the accepting area, the security provided, the parking facilities (parking a car outside of halls is virtually impossible around city area), and the overall cleanliness.
Safety: Elms village is manned by a security team 24/7, being more lenient during daylight hours, and knuckling down on who comes in and out during the night. This helped keep disruptions to a minimum, and kept the environment very safe.
Internet/wifi: I had no problems with the internet/wifi once, it was always super fast, and never let me down. The different buildings also share the same wifi provider, so it was just a simple case of logging back on when visiting a friend which was very handy. If it ever did let me down the area had very good cellular service anyway, so I would have been able to just use 4g.
Property management; The above points really cover this, but there were regular fire safety inspections, every Wednesday morning at 9am which was unfortunate, regular cleaning staff in to ensure cleanliness in the building, and a very responsive maintenance team at the click of a few buttons... The bulb in my main light blew one afternoon and I submitted a maintenance request form and the issue was resolved in less than 20 minutes.
My halls also had a student area known as the treehouse,, I didn't visit this often however there was a study area, a computer lab, a coffee bar which served free coffee/tea during opening hours, and some games you could play with friends (pool table, air hockey etc). There were also regular events hosted here which I believe were popular, such as a free pizza night. As I said, I did not visit here often so I cannot really have a major opinion
Room allocation
Room allocation
Internet/wifi
Internet/wifi
Value for money
Value for money
Property management
Property management
Have you stayed in your Universty's hall?
Yes