OVERALL UNIVERSITY RATING
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
I loved my time at Ciren, it really was fantastic and I have made friends for life. Since graduating with a first, I have had a nightmare...
University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
I loved my time at Ciren, it really was fantastic and I have made friends for life. Since graduating with a first, I have had a nightmare finding a job (I am due to start a graduate position in November), I was applying for 30-40 jobs a week with indeed, there was little support from the uni and they had no contacts to help me other than the large corporate wanting students for grad schemes. I think recent graduates (let's say three years since graduating), should fill in a form telling the uni their position, salary, employment prospects, salary prospects and how long they have been in the job for to give Ciren and prospective students a realistic career prospective.
Facilities
How good are your university's facilities?
There could be more money spent on the gym and the sports hall could be used more but facilities were generally good.
Student support
How good is the support offered by the uni? Think both academic (tutors/feedback) and personal (counselling, etc).
Support from academic tutors is fantastic, I can't fault it. I've never needed to use personal support, I have heard they are helpful but under equipped.
Students' union
What do you think of your Students' Union in terms of student representation and facilities?
Good representation, sometimes not the most organised as it can appear to be a popularity contest rather than a competency contest. Balls were always well attended and supported.
Local life
Is your university in a good location in terms of distance to accommodation and local amenities?
RAU isn't famed for its social life, it's famed for being a countryside uni. I personally hate city life so the thought of being in a busy city is my worst nightmare, I'd rather be in a pub having some drinks with my mates. Yes there is one night club, but we still get drunk, have fun and live the uni lifestyle. I'd rather be too drunk in a small town with one club and most people know me and can take me home, than in a large city not knowing where I am. 15 minute walk into a well-stocked town.
Societies and Sports
How would you rate the variety of societies/sports?
Good variety of societies and sports, with the ability to start your own club if you feel there is enough interest.
Lecturers and teaching quality
What do you like most and least about the way your course(s) are taught?
Lectures were small so you could have a conversation with the lecturer. The more effort you put in, the more they are willing to help you. Can be quite powerpoint based. There are some drawbacks, the modules are old fashioned and not relevant to modern business. The uni is connected to the Chartered Management Institute, I have no idea what it is or what that means, the uni should be linked to the Chartered Institute of Marketing at least, so if students want a career in marketing and PR, at least they have completed some of the modules already.
How many contact hours per week do you have?
Career prospects
How does your uni make efforts to increase your employability (careers department, work placements, transferable skills)?
Where to start? If you study Real Estate or Land Management the Uni are renowned for it, it really is the best of the best and therefore, career opportunities are fantastic. Same for Agriculture or the farming courses, the University has fantastic links worldwide. There are some opportunities for Equine but I think they are over sold, meaning competition is high, certainly all the equine people I know have returned to the yards they were at before university poo picking...I personally don't think that's the best way to spend £27k but that's my opinion. As for business? The careers department is diabolical. The 99/98/95% employ-ability rating is falsely sold in the business course. There are no links with the outside world and there is no support as a graduate at all. The business' pulled together at career fairs may have graduate schemes and placements available but they are incredibly difficult to get on to. Why? Because if you compare the course to Harper Adams or Newcastle or Leeds or Birmingham, it comes right to the bottom. The course is old fashioned and the placement of 20 weeks is useless, it NEEDS to be one year in order to get your foot on some sort of ladder. If you want a career after Ciren when studying the business course, start applying for jobs EARLY and KEEP APPLYING.
University halls
What do you think about the safety, condition, location and cost of your accommodation?
I chose Bledisloe mainly for the price and the social life it offered. I lived in an all girls block (uni do try to have all males on the ground floors, there was an excess of females in my year), large private bedroom, excellent wardrobe space with a desk, bedside table, kettle, lamp and sink. The condition of the room was great and maintenance were fantastic if you had any issues. Hot water was always hot, cold was always cold. WiFi was generally very good, sometimes there were some issues but IT were really helpful and always on it. It was a shared shower room which I wasn't too bothered about but it was spacious and easy to use. There were 3 loos in the block too, so you were never caught short! The social life in Bledisloe is the main reason people live there, it has its own communal lawn which is used heavily as we don't have a common room (I think common rooms give the impression that only those who live in the flat can use the common room whereas the lawn was welcoming), the lawn made us go outside and be sociable rather than the more "flat" like accommodation can be insular, especially if you have a private bathroom and cook for yourself. Because Bledisloe is catered, we were a more sociable than other halls. Cost of Bledisloe is fine, heating can be expensive but you're in an old building which is understandable. Very safe accommodation allround at RAU, I never felt unsafe at all.