Exeter is a really lovely place, although if you want a big city with a very active nightlife, it probably won't be for you. The campus is really beautiful and it's great that the city centre is within walking distance. I love being so close to the beaches and the moors as it makes for great days out. I was in catered accommodation in 1st year and would highly recommend, especially if you find the idea of cooking for yourself daunting. You can meet people more easily with a corridor set up than in self catered flats. Exeter has a reputation for being posh and there are definitely a lot of people from well off families and private schools, but that doesn't mean they are bad people and I expect most Russel Group unis would be the same. It is fairly expensive to live in Exeter but there are definitely more affordable student houses available, especially if you're willing to live in a bit of a different area from the main places. As it's a fairly small city you can never go anywhere without seeing someone you recognise but I don't think that's a bad thing! Overall I have had a very positive experience here so far but would advise people to pick a university based on the course first, and everything else second.

I have been very happy with my choice of degree. The Classics and Ancient History department at Exeter is fairly small and so you always know someone in your lectures and lots of the professors know your name. I do both Latin and Greek which are taught more like school lessons with smaller classes and more interaction, especially at the higher levels where the groups are smaller. Other modules might have 100 or so people so lectures are fairly big and aren't very interactive but I find the lecturers really engaging. I have found the small group seminars really useful too for looking at some topics in more depth. Assessment depends from module to module - it's mostly coursework essays and online written exams, but language modules tend to have more in person exams. No matter what you study uni is fewer contact hours than school so you do have to be more motivated to get work done, so I think finding the things you study interesting is so important.

Personally I really like Exeter as a place to live. It is a fairly small city but there is plenty going on. I like being near the sea and the moors, there are good options for days out. The city centre has a good range of shops and food places, and it has cinema, museum etc. It's not renowned for the nightlife so if that's what you're looking for it might not be the place for you. It is also a fairly expensive place to live, and not a particularly diverse area. But the weather is pretty good compared to the rest of the UK! The location of the campus in relation to the city centre is also a bonus as everything is really walkable.

I cannot speak more highly of my first year halls experience. I was in a small catered hall with shared bathrooms and a corridor set up. Catered was perfect for me as I didn't want to cook and the food provided was pretty good - they had a lot of options for breakfasts and also usually four options for dinners. We didn't have lunches provided and my main criticism would be the lack of kitchen facilities for making food - we only had kettles and toasters. My hall had shared bathrooms but I never had a problem with people making a mess or all the showers being in use, and we had sinks in our rooms anyway. The rooms were actually really big and we also had good communal spaces with a common room with a pool table and TV. I felt it was a lot easier to make friends because of the communal space and also because everyone would socialise at meals, we weren't confined to a flat of 5 or so people. It seemed like really good value for money as I spent very little money on food for lunches. Overall I would say you don't need a double bed or an en suite in 1st year halls and if you are considering catered it is so worth it! My hall was also so close to the centre of campus which was so nice.

The uni has excellent and modern facilities, with good teaching and a strong student union who support student as nuch as possible. However there does seem to be difficult to integrate easily and form connections if you are a minority group and perhaps isolated (e.g based off-campus).

I've only been here a week so cannot say much about tutor contact time or facilities. However most lecturers seem to be very invested in their subjects and workload is a stimulating amount. Content is rich and always interesting.