Accommodations are close to the university, extra support is advised and given when needed, downside is that some of the computers have no updated fully for us to do our films

The classes are great and get you motivated and give you an insight to the industry. However, I feel like there's lacking internships, apprenticeships etc for us

No

The facilities are fantastic with the only down-side being the 30hz monitors paired with 75hz monitors in the Henrion Building, as this can be distracting when working a duel-monitor workflow. The location of the Uni relative to public transport (Train, Bus) and general parking is fantastic, with several parking areas on the campus itself. Student Support is great in terms of getting you advice and pointing you in the right direction. Our classes have also had enthusiastic staff from the library help us with referencing and bibliography work. I am yet to go forward with my Personal Support/Learning Plan due to time constraints but according to others that have gone through the process, it is relatively straight forward. Each class volunteers student reps which is great. Certain areas of that campus look neat and refreshing with good ventilation, the Catalyst and Henrion building being prime examples of this. As the air doesn't circulate in the Beacon building without a climate control system, you can smell when someone hasn't had a shower, which really distracts from people's ability to focus on the lessons. I have no doubt the climate control system was a good investment, especially for winter, and a way of improving the classrooms would be pairing this system with openable windows. There is a large collection of societies within the university which is great to have access to. There is also an on-site gym with a £120 Yearly membership (£2.31 per week). I use this regularly and it's great to see some of my lecturers there also. I know there are clubs and other places for partying both on campus and off campus and from what others have told me, karaoke night at gobble is good fun. I haven't ran into trouble with the student's union yet. I would say other than a few improvements here and there, staffs is a good university to go to. The Lecturers are enthusiastic about their professions and the possibility to go on field trips to The Lake District and France (as far as Film Production goes) has been a fantastic experience! I can't wait to progress to the next year of my course.

Coming to staffs has really opened my eyes to what a University course should be. I spent my 1st year at another Uni and retook my 1st year here and the experience has been drastically different. Due to being on a practical course, the content is front-loaded. This way we can have all the necessary information on theory and practice before making a film. An example of this would be the first 4-weeks of the Film Production course were spent learning the fundamentals of narrative structure, camera composition, sound design and editing. On the 5th week, we travelled to the lake district and shot a short-documentary film in 4 days. This was free for students and the experience I would say is irreplaceable. This is the most intense course I have ever been on. I have learned and relearned a great deal and my career prospects far supersede that of what I previously thought possible. The contact-time with my tutor has slowly been decreasing as we become more independent and are left to do our own work. However - at any moment - we can send our tutor an email and he will either set-up a meeting time or meet us right away. They're always there if we need them. Not to mention the technical staff are also similar, allowing anyone to ask questions or get advice. The facilities are updating and the systems are incredibly quick now which is much better than the previous 5-10minute boot-up time. It's almost instant now. A new virtual studio will be opening soon which will let us further explore the technical side of the field and work with people on other creative courses (e.g. Film Production & VFX). Overall, the teaching, facilities and everything else is brilliant. I couldn't ask for more!

There are a lot of places to get food around the campus which are surprisingly cheap. This helps a lot of people I know have a better diet than just pot-noodles. Campus security is easy to access through the SafeZone app we downloaded at the beginning of the year. Small pockets of security also walk about the campus, making sure everyone is safe. Public transport is fantastic, there is a bus-stop just outside the beacon building and the university is opposite the train station. There are several cafés, restaurants and shops on campus, as well as exterior work opportunities which get directed to our course. There is a large pool of graduates always looking to hire people from our course. There is a lot of people from all around the world, including exchange students on the Erasmus program.

No