OVERALL UNIVERSITY RATING
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
Overall my college experience so far has been great! I really like my accommodation, flatmates, the facilities and services offered...
University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
Overall my college experience so far has been great! I really like my accommodation, flatmates, the facilities and services offered by the university and my course :) For being my first time away from home I can say I'm very pleased with the majority of things here. I really like Norwich despite the great amount of rain we've been having these last few weeks, and despite missing my family I don't terribly homesick all the time. Right now, I can just hope that everything continues going well and that I can make this my home away from home!
Facilities
How good are your university's facilities?
All the facilities are in good condition from what I've seen. The shops are always well-stocked and have the occasional deals, the different restaurants and cafes have acceptable prizes. Other buildings like the library are very well organized in my opinion and I love the fact that it's open 24/7 in case I forgot to take out a book or something during the weekend I can go in without worrying about when it closes.
Student support
How good is the support offered by the uni? Think both academic (tutors/feedback) and personal (counselling, etc).
My academic tutor seemed very nice and welcoming, I don't feel like I have many academic worries and I'm pretty confident with my own abilities but I appreciate the fact that there's someone I can go to in case I have any concerns about course work or presentations and things like that. Regarding personal support, I feel like the university has been very vocal and concerned with its students and they even thoroughly explained how the wellbeing team and learning enhancement teams work, so regarding information they've been pretty thorough and have covered all their bases.
Students' union
What do you think of your Students' Union in terms of student representation and facilities?
I feel like the Students' Union is very welcome and so far has done a pretty good job regarding student representation and facilities. There's plenty of activities and bulletins that we receive and that try to reach to students to get them more involved.
Local life
Is your university in a good location in terms of distance to accommodation and local amenities?
Yes, the 'center' of the university (the Square) is maximum 4 minutes by bike, and the SCVA center where I have all of my lectures and seminars is less than 10 minutes away by bike so it's very convenient and allows me to get more sleep. There's plenty of shops in the university, but there's also a nearby Aldi that's about 15 minutes by foot and it's cheaper. The university isn't terribly far from the city center, but it can take about 20 minutes or more by bike depending on your route and method of transport, so I would say that the university is in a good location.
Societies and Sports
How would you rate the variety of societies/sports?
They have a large variety of societies and sports, I was blown away by how many. I've joined many societies, however I haven't joined any sports because I didn't want to pay the SAM membership which was 50 pounds in addition to the membership for specific sports clubs. I'm not terribly competitive either so I prefer going to the Sportspark whenever I like rather than having to play a sport at a set time.
Lecturers and teaching quality
What do you like most and least about the way your course(s) are taught?
What I like the most about the way my course is taught is the fact that there's a lot of room for independent study and to pursue different interests, additionally I appreciate the fact that the lecturers are always open to questions and tend to answer relatively quickly when you have any doubts. What I like the least about the way my course is taught is the way the hours are distributed, I feel like I would rather have 2 contact hours for 4 days rather than having 1 hour on monday, 5 on tuesday, 1 on wednesday and 1 on friday. While it's not terrible i still feel like I would like it more if the course was taught in more regular intervals.
How many contact hours per week do you have?
8
Career prospects
How does your uni make efforts to increase your employability (careers department, work placements, transferable skills)?
They've been sending plenty of emails with opportunities and we've even had some fairs regarding careers and work placement and things like that. From what I've seen they're very involved and encourage students to participate in activities that can help with employability in the future.
University halls
What do you think about the safety, condition, location and cost of your accommodation?
The level of safety is very good, however there are some problems with the heating (the radiator in my room never turns on) but overall it's not the most horrible place to be in. The location is good, since it's close to campus and there's not much noise during the evenings (the cars aren't very noisy at night). The cost of the accommodation is alright and I have to pay more for an ensuite but I wish that with the amount I'm paying I could at least get a radiator that actually turns on every once in a while. However the room is in great condition and has plenty of space for my items, the desk is very big and I don't feel like I'm restricted. The kitchen is very nice and has plenty of room for all of us to sit and chat or cook.