For me, this university/course has been such a breath of fresh air! I previously attended a different university for my first year and quickly realised I was paying a lot of money for not a lot of outcome. I started fresh at The Northern School of Art and it was one of the best choices I've made. The lecturers so down to earth, easy to get along with but also professional. They're all eager to help students as much as they can, providing support and advice every step of the way and each lecturer has their own avenue that they specialise in so it means you can get a wide range of information from them. Although I'm an Illustration student, I've got to know lecturers and students from other courses which has been nice too, and there's always option for collaboration between courses. There are many ways you can feed your creativity here. The library offers a variety of topics for you to browse through (from starting your own business, to bugs and everything in between!) and the staff there are lovely to talk to. There's also so many things you have access to: various printing techniques/workshops and printers, 3D printing, life drawing, you name it! There's also Student Support who offer a wide range of support for anyone needing advice or struggling with their mental health or home life etc and there's also support for growing and making a name for yourself as a creative. Getting a degree is stressful but worth it so get support where you can/need. It's also worth mentioning that there's trips that happen a few times each year, which are a good option if you can afford it. ThoughtBubble is one of them (which is brilliant) as well as the trip to Aardman, there's also one big trip a year, which last year was Berlin, which was a lot of fun (however quite cold at that time of year!) Over the 3 years I've been here, I feel like I've grown so much as an individual but also as an artist/illustrator. I would really recommend the course but would advise that you get out what you put in, if you don't turn up or put any effort in, you're probably not going to get much out of it. I would highly recommend any that comes to this university to get involved with as many things as you can while you're here, whether that's workshops, societies, student nights, classes etc - the time flies by so quick and I can honestly say I'll be sad to leave!

The course is always in person, face-to-face meaning if you need to chat to a lecturer about something that you don't have time to email, someone is almost always there. You're scheduled in 2 and a half days a week, however you still have access to all the facilities and lecturers (if they're not teaching a class) on the other days that you're not in (bar weekends). The lecturers here are also usually very prompt with email/teams replies if you're not in and need to know something. You always have accessed to the slides that the lecturers create so if you didn't quite catch something the first time, you can access it later on. There isn't really an option for work placements or internships, however in second year there is an opportunity to work to a live brief, working with actual clients so you can get a feel for it. This provides you an opportunity to see how you interpret a brief and how you find working to it.

No

The university is very professional and friendly place, it has everything a student needs

The illustration course has allowed me to learn new skills in what I want to do and has challenged me to progress within illustration.

No