the location is good, it’s close to me and easy to get to. it’s also connected to the millennium point which is fun when i want to go into that building. the building looks pretty modern and clean. student support is accessible and easy to find. the uni sends a lot of emails which keep you informed on everything going on. i will say that my course isn’t what i thought it was going to be and i do wish that we had more materials in class like paints and paintbrushes and pencils etc. i also dislike that i only have one day a week, it does feel like a waste of money in that sense.

tutors are friendly, helpful and easy to contact, the course is straightforward and does have guidelines but it is a shame i only have one day a week because when im busy on that day, i have no uni that week.

the uni is in a convenient location, it’s very easy to get to. i wouldn’t say birmingham is the safest place but i have not had or seen any issues in the three years i’ve been here. public transport is easy to navigate and there’s always a bus that’ll take u to most places you need to go. part time jobs are very hard to get into in my personal experience but that may just be because i need to volunteer to fill out my cv first, of which there are a good few opportunities. lastly, the area and the uni is very diverse.

No

Being able to communicate with my tutors and access facilities to try new things has been great. The facilities are easy access and have helped improve my work significantly when trying new opportunities. I do think it would be useful for students to get a better idea of work experience by getting a more thorough presentation/explanation within their first year (if that is what their course offers). It would be a great opportunity for those students to look into the types of companies expectations, type of work they would need, and help fill gaps in their knowledge that they didn't know existed. You meet a wide range of people throughout university, their own stories and their own skills that have been passed through to others through friendship. I have found out so much more not only about myself but my passions. The campus is great, especially with the cafeteria offering the best hash brown squares imaginable.

All of my tutors are diverse, but still are under the same bubble of Illustration. It is great to know their own prospects when approaching work, client work and how to work it alongside teaching. Being able to see that you don't need to be constantly drawing (unless you feel like that works for you), but rather finding a piece of work that brings out your passion and finding different areas to work into. Sometimes it can be confusing getting conflicting advice from tutors, but that is an easy workaround if you communicate with them about being given ideas that conflict. Through the years, the PowerPoints have become less and less jam packed with information as we begin to grow as people, but keeping the breakdowns of information, key points/targets to hit is really important and helps a lot of students. I do believe there should be more 'courses'/teachings accessible for teaching some basics of Adobe software, as when given the opportunity to create with After Effects (for example), some students struggled as they didn't know how to use the software. Offering a day just to experiment with Adobe, Cinema4D/Blender, I think will help students a lot with not only furthering their grade but finding their new passion for a different part of Illustration. I absolutely love the guest speakers that have come into the studio space to tell their stories, explain their skillsets and how to get to the places you want to be. Being able to see people successful in their area of work, as well as knowing they were in the same place as us, is comforting in a way. Within reason, we can contact our tutors whenever, and they do reply back; sometimes you can be lucky to message at the God awful hours of the morning and get a response. I think it's also great with the group crits we have (especially small ones), as everyone's diverse knowledge of art and their own ideas for the work, can spark inspiration for new pieces, for new ways to narrow down ideas and to see your work from a different perspective (that is usually needed). I'm a huge fan of the third years having only 1 day for university, but it is understandable as we need to be independent doing our work and encourages students to come into university on other days to either take full use of the facilities offered, or to come in to just see tutors, etc. With a piece of work I did in my second year where we worked with real clients, I was able to get a work placement with the company itself, which has been an awesome opportunity. This was helped by my tutor Ian having contact with a graduated student who worked at the company.