Enjoying my experience at Derby so far, love the law/criminology/policing campus. Great facilities.

Timetable is well organised and good communication with lecturers

No

The uni has loads of facilities like libraries, campuses and places to eat/drink on campus. There’s different zones in the library so you can go somewhere quiet to concentrate or just study in general with a bit of noise. I haven’t heard the greatest about student support from my friends, which isn’t ideal as they advocate a lot for support. The union seems decent, don’t really interact with them much but they have a lot of societies and clubs which are great to get to meet people. There’s a big sports centre on campus, and football, tennis and a rugby pitch. There’s a gym which is relatively cheap for students. The unibus to and from campus isn’t great, it wasn’t great in my first year and it has only improved slightly this year. There’s way too many people that rely on the bus and yet there isn’t room for them. The buses also drive off if they’re early, or don’t come at all, and you’re not informed if they’re is an issue with them. There should be trackers on the buses to track where they are or when they’re coming.

In first year, our course was taught through ‘blended learning’. In first term, I had one lecture that was in campus, and when you’re new to uni, it was difficult to make friends nd become familiar with the campus. So when it was next term, i didn’t know hardly anyone in my course, and I didn’t know where the rooms were. Now, all of my lectures are on campus and im familiar with where I’m going, and who’s on my course. The content is interesting, but the way it’s presented in 2/3 modules are boring. It doesn’t engage students, and attendance shows that. One of my lecturers doesn’t answer emails as frequently as they say, so students become disadvantaged. They can also be quite rude in some occasions, but majority of them are nice. We’ve been offered work placements in a volunteer basis, which for students isn’t ideal. How can you work a 40hr week volunteer placement and not have a job? It’s difficult. Internships/placements are rare, as it seems to be more difficult to obtain on my course specifically. Also, my timetable means I get 2 full days off a week, and the days I’m in uni are either all day or awkwardly timed. Meaning I can’t really work as often as I like. This can be more difficult for students that fully depend on their income.

There’s like 3 nightclubs, but one does a student night every week which is decent. They all have different allocated days to go which are the best. Theres a big shopping centre with loads of clothes, food and entertainment shops to go to and to work at. I struggled a bit getting a part time job as I didn’t have much experience. There’s loads of pubs too for work or leisure. There’s a few sports bars to watch games and eat at. There’s a few activities, an escape room, an ice rink at Christmas, cinema , bowling, mini golf. As it’s a uni city, there’s student offers everywhere. There’s a lidl, 2 aldis, Morrisons, 2 asdas, Tesco express, big Tesco, big Sainsbury’s and little local Sainsbury’s and co op too. They’re pretty spread out, there’s a Tesco and Sainsbury’s in town but to go to other places you’d have to taxi or walk quite far. There’s probably public buses, but I’m not sure. It’s relatively safe, you do get the few oddballs tho in every city.

I paid 141 a week for a single bed, small bedroom and tiny en-suite. The kitchen was a decent size, but that’s only because you share with 4 other people. There was a laundry room that was great, but I’ve heard some other uni halls had apps that would tell you if a machine was free. We didn’t have that, so you’d go down in hopes there was a machine free. They were big drums and took 1hr 20mjns to do a wash and a dry, but it cost 3.50 each time. The desk in my room was massive, but the floor space wasn’t really that big. There was a decent sized wardrobe and drawers. The carpet was a bit sharp, I always had to have socks on. The shower was tiny, I remember banging my elbows every time I turned in there. It was a powerful shower tho. Halls were always warm, especially in the rooms. I faced the courtyard, and I could hear everyone’s conversations and music when they were out there, sometimes till early morning. I think there should have been a bit more taught about that. Maintenance would just barge into your flat and room. They never knocked, they had keys and just let themselves in. The odd time they did knock, theyd knock and just open the door anyway. If you put a request in for maintenance, you were never told when they were coming or what time. So it was a surprise entry every single time, which was a violation of privacy I felt. The post office had scheduled hours to be opened, and 9/10 when I went in those hours, it was shut. I was told to go whenever in the day then, but was still frowned upon when going out of hours by staff. The post office was open 2 hours a day a week, and one hour on the weekends. So when you do down, you expect someone to be there, and there never was. Either have people in at allocated times, or just say it’s open all day in the first place