I could not speak more highly of my experience at this University. Having been here for over 3 years I can confidently say that there isn't much that I would improve on. Although my course is quite demanding, I have always felt that the University offer sufficient support and thus eliminates the feeling of being overwhelmed or as though I cannot cope. My personal tutor is greatly responsible for this as he frequently checks in, and can often point me in the right direction if I need further help. The majority of the students on my course are also excellent to turn to if there is anything small that I struggle to understand. One of my favourite aspects of the campus is easily the extensive choices of where to study. I have always struggled to work in my bedroom as I like to separate my work and leisure environment, but the University offers more places to work than I could have imagined, and after trialling a large selection of them, I have found my absolute ideal spots for uninterrupted revision, places for group work and also areas that have more of a "social" feel for working. Lastly, steering away from the academic side, my social life couldn't have been more perfect. This was through a combination of meeting some incredible people in my first year accommodation and in tennis society, and also through the nature of Nottingham's city night life. Having visited some friends at other Universities, I have found that their Student Union bar is considered more of a "hub" for everyone to naturally gravitate to, whereas ours is viewed slightly less like this, however, that hasn't felt like much of an issue for me.

One of the primary reasons that I applied to the University of Nottingham was because of the structure of the course, as it involves mandatory modules such as Engineering Management and offers Entrepreneurship for Engineers which encourage more of a rounded view on the industry and is more applicable to the real world, as opposed to teaching strictly Maths/Physics modules. There is definitely a lot of content which means having to stay on top of it all, however, I have found it manageable. Originally I was enrolled on the BEng course that included an Industrial year and began the process of applying and I was incredibly impressed with the support that the Careers department offer when improving your CV and Cover letter, however I decided to change onto the MEng course without the placement year instead. I really appreciate the level of contact time with the personal tutor, as the meetings in first year started off quite frequent (since everything was very new and a lot of guidance was initially needed), but I also found it very useful that they became less frequent as the years went on (and I became more busy with work!) while also still being available to go to if I ever sought help. Regarding the lectures and teaching quality, I have found the content excellent, however, unfortunately due to the nature of some lecturers not having English as their native language, it is sometimes harder to follow and requires looking over the recorded lecture again. The fact that most of our lectures are recorded though, is another aspect which I find invaluable as I often like to revisit content and rewind/pause the video etc.

When I first moved into these halls, I felt as though there was nothing that could be improved upon (except maybe the catered food on the odd occasion!), however later discovered that our halls was slightly less sociable than others, after visiting them. This was primarily due to our common room being vacant most of the time while other halls on University Park always had theirs as the "go-to place". Newark hall is situated on Jubilee Campus which is about a 20 minute walk from University Park, which originally felt inconvenient but I later really enjoyed this side to it as it meant that I could spend most of the day on campus working and at lectures, and then come back and relax in halls (separated work and leisure). I mentioned the lack of socialising in comparison to other halls, however, I enjoyed the fact that it was catered as it meant that dinner was a guaranteed amount of time spend with each other. Through this, I met two of my closest friends that I know that I will stay exceptionally close to after leaving uni. Regarding facilities, all rooms were en suites and were cleaned every fortnight which made things very easy especially in first year when you're adjusting to being away from home.

I really love the campus and the city. It's so wonderful having a green welcoming space with lots of places to eat whilst being only a short tram ride away from the city centre. The sports facilities are top tier. The study spaces are also wonderful - especially George Green which is a stunning library.

My lecturers are absolutely incredible and highly supportive. If I ever get confused about a topic I can always talk to them and get a better understanding. I really like the mix between getting to practically work on engineering problems by doing year-long projects and in-class taught theory each year. The practical projects are also very useful for getting a better understanding of the theory I'm being taught. I also love that they're involved with schemes like UKESF and the E3 Academy - excellent ways to get paid whilst studying and gain experience in the engineering workforce. The course, like every engineering course out there I'm sure, is intense with a 9-5 workload reflected by lecture/lab time and time spent on deadlines but with the support from the teaching staff and good time management skills it's manageable. The lab spaces are really incredible too. In first and second year a week is spent each month working on the project, so it's especially important to have good lab spaces. It's great fun ( and also very challenging with a lot of time spent asking Google and lecturers for help!). In third year for the masters course there are dedicated spaces that we can use to work on our group project which is great and I love that we design a prototype from the ground up ourselves. For the final year students there's also dedicated labs for those doing practical projects. The course is also accredited by the IET which is really important to me as this is our professional body. It shows that the quality of our course is very high. When there are concerns from the student body this is always listened to by the department and typically dealt with very promptly. The department also dealt with the pandemic very well providing excellent online teaching and now that we have returned to in-person teaching that standard is also very high.

I stayed in catered halls - for my entire time at university - and have enjoyed it. If your budget can stretch I'd opt for an en suite room as, whilst I didn't mind sharing a bathroom with a number of people in my first year, I definitely prefer the privacy that is afforded with an en suite. As a vegan the food has always been of good quality and nice tasting (the majority of time, of course there are occasional times when I haven't like the food but that's rare). I also love the meal card we get which covers our lunches Monday-Friday and can be used at any food places on campus.