Journalism Studies - BA (Hons)

University of Stirling

I like Stirling as the campus is beautiful as well as the support and teachers there are extremely good and help with workload.

The location of the campus is amazing such nice scenery and it’s right next to a loch with lots of wildlife nearby, therefore you can go on walks and relax in between classes. Also a lot of food options on offer (I haven’t used them yet though). My critique would be that society’s don’t have a lot of sober events so if you don’t drink or haven’t turned 18 yet it’s quite hard to meet people. I can also never seem to find any toilets, not sure if that’s just me but I feel they should be signposted better!

The campus is beautiful, full of nature and opportunities to enjoy the setting. It feels safe and welcoming. The on-campus facilities are fantastic and varied, from cafes to shops. Nothing is lacking. Student life is very good, the only downside is the lack of student-aimed businesses in the city of Stirling, and the lack of reliability of Unilink into the city after around 6 pm.

The best aspect of the University of Stirling is the location, the university is surrounded by nature with a gorgeous small loch, forests, wildlife, and it's just on the edge of iconic mountain ranges that can be walked if you're up for it. The university atmosphere is comfortable and energetic, as Stirling lives up to its name as the School of Sport with a wide range of sports societies and facilities available for exercise, as well as the campus itself being good for running or walking. University accommodations are also nice, as someone who has been in accommodations both on and off campus for three years and hopes to be in them again next year until my course is finished. I've been in Alexander Court, H.H. Donnelly House, Muirhead Court, and am currently in Union Street Flats, which has been my favourite accommodation out of all of them. The flatmates I've had have always been surprises and it's fun to get to know a wide range of people from a wide range of places. Most of the teachers are very friendly and are usually up for a chat. A lot of them care a lot about their teaching and can show compassion for their students while also holding them to high expectations, which encourages students to do their best. However, some of the worst aspects of the university are as such: If you're not sporty, there is little for you to do. You can join discussion or creation societies, which are great in theory, but in practice are unfortunately very disorganised given that most of them are run by otherwise-occupied students. As I mentioned before, the campus and surrounding areas are very walkable, but students who rely on the bus services to get to classes or back to off-campus accommodations are significantly let down. I've had to wait for over 45 minutes for a single bus to show up before, despite the UniLink's brag about trips to the university 'every 8 minutes'. Last year so much of our learning was disrupted by teacher strikes, some of us didn't even get our spring semester results until the start of the autumn semester, which meant we didn't know whether we'd passed our classes and could even apply to our autumn classes. It was a mess, and despite no strikes this semester, the learning from the start of the semester (the most important point in starting a course/class) was disrupted and so was our learning thereafter. Additionally, take note my use of "mostly" above in referring to the teachers on campus. I'm right in that most of them are lovely and dedicated to their teaching and students, but some teachers have such a genuinely huge ego and look down on students. This is especially common with journalism teachers, who think that working for a big name company matters to the students who are just struggling to pass their class. More attention needs paid to students, please just teach your class and engage with your students. Accommodations, as I stated before, have been great, but the laundry charges feel like daylight robbery. I hope this review offers a thorough and personal opinion and insight into the university lifestyle and experience, I've been here for three years and feel very strongly about it all. I'm proud of my university, and enjoy living here very much, despite any flaws I've pointed out. I understand that university poses plenty of scenarios and issues and is expensive, I knew all of that before enrolling. But the question of how the university could be improved prodded these smaller issues to be discussed, and I'm grateful for the chance to do so! I moved here in first year from the North Ayrshire countryside and so it was a huge change, but I found comfort in studying and made friends who have made me feel very at home in Stirling. The University of Stirling has beautiful surroundings, accompanied with a calm and opportunistic atmosphere, and I think there's a place for anyone here.

I think the University has a lot of key positives, such as the learning environment and the professors. The teaching is helpful towards the degree we want to achieve which is fundamental. The campus is beautiful, and the location is great- close to Stirling town but also to other towns too. The only issue I have is that as a Journalism and media student, the facilities for our faculty are limited. The equipment is outdated, we don't have proper designated editing rooms when needed, or other facilities such as those for better radio news, etc. I just think more money needs to be invested in the studies' facilities rather than in the sports facilities, which we have seen in the past as receiving the most amount of funding opportunities.