Classics and Ancient History PhD

University of Birmingham

The university itself is lovely being a nice campus university a short train journey from the centre of Birmingham, a nice historic campus. The facilities are impressive with some buildings being slightly older and tired but for the most part great. The student support from lecturers is great but as it is a very large university sometimes the administration support can take a little while. The student life is great with a lot to do around the city. The student union is always there to help if there is ever any issues.

UOB has an amazing campus with great facilities. It has loads of really good workspaces to do independent research and work, and has amazing sports facilities. Its campus is really its main selling point. However, the student accommodation in first year is really good too. The Vale was such a great place to live in first year. I amde so many friends and it was fairly affordable. The fact we all lived close together was great, and we now still live close to each other in Selly Oak. My course is fantastic. I feel like I am stretched enough in my degree but could maybe have some more contact hours, as it has dropped year on year. However, I make sure to utilise my office hours in order to maintain a high amount of contact with my professors. The standard of teaching is high though, and I recieve a good amount of feedback on my work which makes me feel like I am always improving. There are some aspects to the university which could be improved though. I think the price of some things is especially high considering we pay a student loan. For example, the cost of memberships to sports teams is really high, meaning many students cannot afford to play sports, or cannot afford to be a part of a team when I know many more would. There are also a lot of costs that come with joining the teams and memberships to different societies which makes it impossible to do as a student. For example, the price of booking a pitch is really high for students. Furthermore, the gym prices are too high for what you get. I have enjoyed the student life though. The Guild of Students is great and represents students really well. I also enjoy the events they put on for students.

The best things are the campus environment and culture as well as the course itself. It could be improved with more compassionate and helpful student wellbeing services.

Campus and facilities are great, especially for independent study. But little things like the fourth floor of arts is still in repair and blocked off for 3-4 years. Social opportunities are extensive and place to do so are great. But the amount of emails we get for random stuff is too much.

Great library and solid academic resources. I really love my course and the lecturers are all great. Student life is great and I have things that actually get me out the house and socialising every week, which I appreciate. The location is slightly tedious because it's so hill-y and I have mild mobility issues, but that's my own fault for coming here to be honest and nothing can be done in particular. That said, I have got noticeably stronger since coming to uni which is nice. Wellbeing for my course/department isn't particularly good. In second year I had some medical issues that affected my attendance; I followed all the advice that Wellbeing gave me about absences and attendance issues and still got in trouble because Wellbeing and Attendance apparently don't communicate. Wellbeing were also more interested in telling me off for (apparently incorrectly) saying they were responsible for assisting with a particular issue than they were in helping me fix said issue.