Covid so having to be stuck at home and the arts building being under reconstruction since I joined in the 2nd year of my study

Not a lot of access to facilities in the art and design building, not a lot of support in terms of work placements etc. not a lot of awareness of announcements

My university experience has made me feel like I am achieving something and has been largely enjoyable. Unfortunately the experience has been very disrupted due to covid-19, however I don’t feel that this reflects on the university and I am hopeful that I will be able to pick up where I left off in September.

In regards to the facilities for my course, I feel that there is a wide variety of services available - this includes a printing hub (with various types of printing such as products, 3D printing, etc), woodwork, Mac computer labs, embroidery etc. These facilities have inspired me to push myself to be as creative as possible on my course.

Academic support has been great so far - I have emailed tutors about academic issues as well as personal issues and they have been very helpful with their responses (particularly during the postponement due to covid-19). The university have also provided me with telephone counselling and practical therapy courses to help me complete the course to the best of my ability.

I have been to the students union a handful of times - there is a variety of food stalls available including Starbucks, Papa Johns, Greggs etc. The students union is also linked to the self-employed business support programme that I have signed up to, they are very helpful and accessible. It is also easy to access IT support, the library and the well-being centre at the students union. I am therefore impressed with the variety and quality of services on offer.

Can’t personally comment on the distance between the university and student accommodation, although I do know of other students who say that they live in accommodation that is very close to their classes. I commute from home via train, in this sense I would say that the university is easy to access via public transport as there is a bus from the train station that stops 5 minutes away from the university. There is a small Sainsbury’s nearby for anything you may need, otherwise you can catch the aforementioned bus into the town centre which is less than 10 minutes away.

Haven’t really engaged in either as I commute to the university on a part-time basis so I haven’t been in the area for long enough yet. I was eager to look at the societies, however I was only a few months into my course until it was postponed due to covid-19 - I am keen to look into societies when the university reopens.

The part-time schedule is very suitable for me, particularly as a commuter with other work commitments. There is a good balance between independent study and sharing ideas with other students on the course. However, I do sometimes feel like there is a lack of direction as they don’t want to disrupt our creative thought processes that they expect us to figure out ourselves.

9

As previously mentioned, their self-employed business support programme is free, very useful and relevant to my future career goals. They also offer online and in person workshops for all aspects of employability.