Global Religions and Philosophy (Study Abroad) - BA (Hons)

Lancaster University

SU is in a constant battle against the uni VC and council, cuts are everywhere and the university is ran like a business, not an education hub.

I think that the facilities at Lancaster are very impressive, particularly the library, which is extremely spacious, bright, well-designed, and a useful academic resource for finding textbooks, making it an enjoyable place to study. The tree, Norma, is a nice addition to the bottom floor as well! The bus services are particularly efficient, as there is always a bus running into the city at least every fifteen minutes, making the system easy to navigate, and the fact that there are several buses running back to the university every hour means that it is highly reliable as well. The university offers many opportunities for students to develop their employability, such as experience days (I recently went on a civil service experience day based around policy development at Lancaster University, which I found very enjoyable and rewarding,) and internships at the Richardson Institute nearby, which I hope to be successful in applying for next year. I particularly appreciate the location of the university, as the city is located close by, making it easily accessible via bus, and the city is a great place to shop and browse too, as there are many independent gifts retailers as well as larger brands, which makes for a brilliant experience there. The city also holds Light up Lancaster each year, which was a fantastic experience, and has an ice rink and Christmas markets too, which is great for getting into the festive spirit. The student services have also been valuable where I have needed to use them, and it is good to know that there is a range of support available where necessary. A couple of potential improvements which could be made, however, are improving the disparity in the rooms on the different sides of the campus, as my room, in Pendle College, is an en-suite wet room, whilst one of my friends in Bowland College, has a shower cubicle, although I understand that these are improvements which need to be made over a sustained period of time. Also, I find that some of the outlets on campus, such as the Costa, are quite expensive, so it would be worth seeing if anything could be done to reduce the prices charged by these venues to help the cost of living. As well, the number of college events hosted by Pendle could be improved, as at present there are very few hosted by the college, and as these provide good opportunities to make friends, it would be good if the number of these could be improved. Additionally, I believe it would be useful for students if all set texts could be made available by the library in online form, as for my course, a textbook on moral philosophy was a set reading with only nine physical copies available in the library for around fifty students and only a few chapters available online, and as this reading was the set texts for around five weeks of the course, this inevitably became problematic for many students, including myself. Therefore, I feel it would be worth asking lecturers if they would refrain from setting readings which aren't readily available to all students on future to avoid the issues associated with this.

It's a lovely campus in which everything is connected which makes it easy to find everything and also feel connected with the other students

In terms of accessibility, the university could be a lot better. Stuff is frequently broken/damaged ranging from lifts, to automatic doors, to steps on campus. But the community is really nice, and the faculty are supportive. So it is a good place to study, but if you require additional accommodations it can be a struggle, as you find yourself constantly having to manage things on your own.

I love uni, I have loved my time here and think it is well worth it, despite every bad thing I've written here. I love Lancaster and its campus. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.