Sustainability degrees

It's very chill , in central london and the subjects are very interesting and decolonial. The lecturers are very good at what they do. It is lacking in huge university events and festivals with most being arranged by societies very rarely.

It has multiple different campus’s at different locations on london, which is great for when you want to study. The facilities are always clean and staff are generally very friendly. Majority of lectures I have had have been very helpful and you can learn a lot from them. There are also so many great opportunities to help your career development which is great. I think the social aspect of the university needs improving, there are many societies but a lot of these don’t host many events.

I love the scenery which is just by the River Thames. The accommodation is comfortable and peaceful. Worst experience is that students are made to search Placement opportunities themselves which can be quite exhausting.

This is not a typical university experience. Which I love. The teaching spaces most used by the degree are in an old Victorian school (recently upgraded/modernised to include 2 teaching spaces, staff offices and a small library) and farm building (converted to classrooms, these get quite cold in the winter but do have log fires!). Facilities are basic and alot smaller compared to other uni's but they try to improve access to things like classrooms outside of teaching time to make up for the lack of dedicated student space (there is supposed to be one but this has had many challenges so I would not feel comfortable saying there is one!). The campus is in a fairly isolated village on the edge of the Bannau Brycheiniog national park, this can make things like shopping difficult but there are lots of small businesses and a couple small supermarket stores. I love the access to the national park and local nature reserves (some can be assessed by foot) but some people find the isolation of the place challenging. This degree being the only degree at the BMC site and small class sizes also means that there are less people to socialise with - although the student society (led/managed entirely by students) connects people to NVQ and graduate students. Many students also participate in the wider Talgarth community planning, helping at and attending things like the food share, repair café and local markets. The degree students I've encountered have a wide range of ages and life experiences, not all from a traditional education background. The teaching includes different teaching methodologies (respecting/inviting peoples knowledge/skills, daily landings, embodied teaching methods and discussions etc.) although some people feel these aren't as radical as they may project in marketing materials e.g. most of our teaching is done inside (as apposed to outdoors - ''classrooms without walls!''). However, the teaching spaces allow you to be out in nature by simply walking out of each classroom so many people take their breaks outside. The teaching staff try to incorporate the class's wants/needs as much as they can, part of this has been increasingly doing things outside when appropriate. The student support has been disappointing compared to what I was expecting from my conversations with the college before starting the degree. Many conversations have been had about this since - the small degree team makes it easy to speak to the right people and they try to make themselves accessible - however no visible action was made on this through out my first year. I am aware of plans to improve this, so I hope this will become a problem of the past! The degree has still felt very 'under construction' as a whole, at the worst times this felt like being a guinea pig. There is frequent detailed student feedback at the end of every module in the first year, which will hopefully be improving things for future years. The degree is very broad, this can stray into a negative 'breadth over depth' but mostly I have found this really interesting and having reached the end of the first year I feel like I've completely expanded my ideas of what the world is/could be and how I see the world in my daily life. I've found my first year deeply challenging to my beliefs/lifestyle such as capitalist ideas of consumption but they do also try to include things to counter this such as discussing Joanna Macy's 'Active Hope'. However, I did not feel like despair/hope was well balanced at the start of the degree (worsened by the aforementioned lack of student support), so you may need to be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster if you choose this degree! Despite the mix of positives and negatives, I can't imagine choosing a different degree at this point. The pathway for careers are less clear for this degree but I feel like I'll be more prepared for the future and its jobs. I'm looking forward to my second year and seeing where this journey takes me!

Leeds Beckett is situated in a great location. Firstly city campus is situated around 10-15 minutes walk from the city centre meaning if you are in first year student halls this is very convenient as many of them are right in the city. Furthermore if you are at Headingley campus you able to hop on the free shuttle to the city centre or if your living in the Carnegie halls, then this is right on your doorstep. Otherwise you are 10 minutes walk from Headingley centre and around 20-25 minutes from Hyde Park which is where many 2nd year and 3rd year students live in student houses. Leeds Beckett has a variety of courses and a great selection of staff on each course, meaning you interact with different lecturers and leaders. Moreover, the societies and student events mean socialising is encouraged and can lead you to make unforgettable memories and lifelong friends. I would say this is probably the best uni for someone to attend due to the close knit community that is created by Leeds Beckett and its location as it is an easy city to find your way round and it very quickly becomes a home away from home that you will be sad to leave.

Great social life, good options for student societies, a lot of student support. A lot of professionals teaching on the course and it gave me exactly what I wanted for my career progression into genetics