The best features I would say are the resources, such as books, access to technology(laptops, computers, rooms to study, spaces to study) Also my course has very good tutors, highly qualified and experienced, so students can gain lots of value from them. The student union is great with the events and activities they organise, and the societies are also plenty to choose from, so students can find groups to find friends and socialise, or to express and follow their interests. The sports team has an extensive group of sports to choose from. There are other good services such as Sunderland Futures which provides career support, Digital Incubator which provides business support for starting a business. Also the transport is good, there are mini-buses that take you around the city. Some weak points are definetly the cafes and restaurants in the campuses. The quality is not that good and the options are quite limited, even though there are vegetarian options. Here it could definetly be improved. Also the fact that most cafes close after 4 Pm on campus, is a downside. The libraries are being upgraded from what I've seen, they are okay but could use modernisation ( St. PETERS and Murray ones). And the toilets I would say could use a modernisation as well everywhere on campus.

The course is all on campus, usually two or three times/week, 2-5 hours/day. It is quite good, because you get one or two days during the week free. But when placement comes, it is usually two days on placement, two on campus. The best aspects of the course are the fact that students are able to discuss their learning and experience in class. Usually we are a small cohort for this course ( around 10-15) students, which makes it easy to work in small groups, and for the tutors to provide an opportunity for every student to get their voice heard. The topic and its history and social impact is very interesting, and there are a lot of resources available to become more informed about these. The lecturers provide good reading lists and module resources such as books, articles, videos, journals. They are also all proffesionals with wide experience, so there is a lot to learn from them and to be moulded under their tutorship. Placement wise is a bit of hit and miss, especialally the first year. If you get a good organisation, it.s great , if not, it drags. For second year people get to choose their placement, so a good advice would be to start searching around June-July in the first academic year for an organisation you might like, so you have it prepared for November when you need to start the placement module. The assessments are interesting, mostly essays, group presentations and reports. But it gets progressively more demanding as the second year comes about. A good advice is to read a lot, use multiple resources(references)-minimum 4-5 per essay. Usually lecturers ask for reading a chapter every week, then discuss it in class, so it s good to make notes on that and reference them, then use them and put them together for the assessments. For placement keep an reflectice journal to keep track of progress and skills development. The contact with the lecturers is usually easy, they are open for support and tutorials. Also you get a personal academic tutor with which you can discuss your progress or wellbeing. All in all I recommend the course for its quality, for being part of the University of Sunderland, and for the future prospects that you would get by finishing this degree.

What s great is that Sunderland is quite a small city, you can get around quite fast even on foot. The public transport is good, and there are free minibuses that take students around the campuses and student halls. The shops are reasonable, you have a few supermarkets, and small shops around the city, with traditional food, like Eastern European, African, Asian shops. There are lots of small hidden cafes which have tasty sweets, cakes, sandwiches, vegan, gluten free options, you just need to explore. Lots of volunteering opportunities. There are some events in the city, theatre, music events, but again they need to be researched or to know people who attend them to find out. Weak points, shops close early, sometimes the central area feels very quiet, not vibrant, club life is quite poor.

No