The University of Reading is a great place to study because of the number of facilities available. Such as the library, study rooms, social spots and places to eat! I primarily work at the Institute of Education on London Road Campus and the facilities there really help me especially during placement. For example, the Learning Hub allows me to loan items for free to use on placement, which is especially useful when school's do not have access to them. I also enjoy the community feel of the university; the number of societies to join, clubs and activities are endless. Most of my friends I have made are through these clubs and societies. Improvement wise there is only one thing I can think of and that is opening up more rooms to socialise in during lecture breaks at London Road. The common room is amazing however sometimes it can get a bit busy. Overall, I love studying at the University of Reading!!

Best: I love my course so much! There is so much to learn, although we have many contact hours I understand the reasoning as this is the level we will be in schools once we've qualified (if not more!). Our lecturers are very kind and helpful and always seek to support us when necessary. If I ever have a problem I know I could go to them or my academic tutor. Our course is mainly in person and I prefer it this way. Especially because we have less lectures in the big lecture halls it feels more personal and we can connect with others better. It also mirrors the classroom which is really nice for us to see how to lay out group work from our lecturers. Some improvements: Sometimes we have lectures for study Skills and although these are very important and useful I personally think it would be easier if they were online like webinars. This is to help commuters especially as it is not always possible for them to come in for a short session. Additionally, because we are a teacher training programme, more safeguarding sessions would be amazing. In my first year, I didn't feel as prepared to understand certain safeguarding situations. Although I am a student and I am not held responsible for doing so, I believe some more information and possibly a safeguarding course would be amazing to boost confidence and knowledge regarding safeguarding. Overall, as mentioned I love my course and the way it is taught!

What I liked! - Bills included (makes it so much easier and cheaper than what I am currently paying in 2nd year) - I loved the size of my room, it was bigger as it was in the corner but I thought it was great! - the storage space was so so good - bathroom and kitchen was cleaned every week (the cleaners were so lovely as well!) - I made some of my best friends in Halls so I'm very grateful for that!! - The halls hotline were so so helpful with any problems I had!! What wasn't so pleasant: - I applied for an all girls flat and I was lucky enough to have got that, however at the end of our flat there was a studio where a couple (man and woman) were living. This is absolutely fine however we were in a shared bathroom flat so we felt a little uncomfortable about that. Additionally we were the first flat at the top of the stairs so again feeling uncomfortable due to this. All girls flats I believe should be in the middle (if they are shared bathroom) to ensure safety and comfort. We had a few issues with this particular person living in the studio and luckily the Wardens did help us. Overall, I had a great halls experience!!

Love the lake. Wish there were more quiet spaces to study

Need to be more study spaces within the course buildings

Glide aren't very useful. Still have an ongoing ticket from 6months ago, limiting my ability to connect to to the internet