More student support, especially because 1st year a lot of uncertainty

Good

I think the location makes Queen's a great place to study. Locally there is always something going on for students to participate in regardless of your personality and interests, either on or off-campus. There are historic locations, beaches, and more to explore just outside of the Queen's neighbourhood. The cost of living is also significantly less in comparison to other UK university cities. On top of that, Belfast is also in a great position relative to the rest of Europe, which makes it easy for students to travel while on a budget. As a university, Queen's has some great and accessible facilities and faculty members within the School of Law. There are always places to study or grab quick meals, coffees, or groceries within the vicinity of the school. The newly built student union is great for this as it is just across the street from the main building and acts as a hub or one-stop shop for student resources or necessities. My main criticism of Queen's would be that sometimes there is so much going on and such a chaotic schedule of events that it can also be a little overwhelming for students. I have discussed with other students how sometimes you can feel a little lost or like you are missing out on opportunities or events because you just cannot fit them all into your schedule. Sometimes, it can also be difficult to access resources or gain clarification from staff members, many of us international students have had difficulties dealing with various finance and international departments at the university with some members of staff not being the most forthcoming or sensitive to our respective situations.

My course is taught in person, although many of students' working hours are done outside of the university on their own time. However, most assignments and exams are submitted and completed online. The course is basically a full-time job and is quite time-consuming when you have to attend lectures and tutorials, but still end up teaching yourself most of the material at home. The best part of my course is not only the future career opportunities and transferability to other jurisdictions and areas of law but also the fact that you do get to engage with the professors or lecturers in tutorials. Although it can be quite nerve-wracking, it is really a setting for you to enhance your learning and ask questions to experts. Whereas at my previous university, you did not get to actively engage with your professors as often. The worst part of my course is probably that as we are such a small group, it can feel like we are forgotten and are just grouped in with the regular LLB students. Our course content is exactly the same as the regular LLB students, bar a few assignments where we have a higher word count to complete, and it can feel like the university has not put as much thought into emphasizing us and including our learning within the program. Certain processes also have not always been made clear to us and how we stand as Senior Status students. For example, attendance, our type of studies (undergraduate/graduate), lack of financial aid, extension policy procedures, etc.

The location of ELMS BT1 was great as, although it is about a 20-30 minute walk from Queen's, it is on a bus route and is also super close to the city centre for all of your entertainment needs and necessities. The staff at ELMS BT1 were all very nice and helpful if you had any issues. Things like collecting mail are made easy. There are many amenities to use such as study rooms, a games and entertainment room and more. My room itself was also a studio which had everything that I needed such as a kitchen area, TV, desk, bed, and an en-suite bathroom, although it was on the smaller side. My main criticisms would be the lack of control surrounding the actions and loudness of other students, and the fact that the fire alarms went off all the time, which disrupted students trying to study, added anxiety for students and decreased prompt reactions from students if there was a real incident. Additionally, the quality and quantity of the Circuit laundry machines were not great relative to how much it cost to do your laundry. However, that may be a reflection of Circuit Laundry rather than ELMS BT1 or Queen's, but it is something to consider for students on a budget or who do not fancy communal laundry.