Marine Biology with a Year in Applied Research

Swansea University

There is a good variety of nightlife, sports clubs and societies, and other things to do. For marine biologists there is a great diving club that can provide training for scuba qualifications which you can use in the final year abroad trip. With the location theres so many options for getting outdoors from wild swimming, climbing, to surfing. However the university boasts about being an inclusive and diverse safe space but have now twice ignored the safety concerns for trans students by hosting TERFs to give their talks on campus, completely ignoring their staff, students, and SU that petitioned, protested against these events. Trans students had their social media profiles doxxed by the organisers of these talks and the university higher management did nothing. Swansea isn't the most queer friendly city, its generally safe however there isn't any truly queer spaces (theres a drag bar but its mainly frequented by locals and gay friends of mine have been made to feel very uncomfortable by older women here). There is a good LGBTQ+ society and staff network at the university that liase with the SU and do do really good work, but it's not the same as studying somewhere like London, or Brighton, Cardiff or really any other bigger UK cities. There is a useful disability support team in the faculty of science and engineering atleast but there are still lecturers that can create issues around required adjustments however most staff are very accepting and helpful. Whilst the university promotes itself as having lots of options for study abroad year when it comes to it the options are actually very limited. I know that for bioscience and pyschology the staff that organise this try to be helpful but commincation is vague and late, the information on finacial support is very limited given how expensive these can be, and so is the help regarding securing accomodation. My friend that is currently doing hers in Germany didn't manage to sort accom until two weeks after she arrived and had to stay in a hotel - the university was pretty much useless in helping. Overall the actual lectures and lower level staff like in the SU are generally really nice, informed and want to help students as much as they can. The marine biology department has a lot of great facilities and opportunities to development relevant skills for this field. The location and variety of studnet groups means that theres a great variety of things to do outside of your studies. However university higher management don't meaningfully care about their staff or students and will proiritise money over the quality of education they provide, which means there is on going issues.

The best aspects are my course specifically and the lecturers I have. The location is brilliant and the focus on supporting students has been really good. The worst would be that some of the university facilities are quite old and need some updates - like how they’ve updated the library and the Harbwr

I enjoy the campus lifestyle. And for my course having a boat is very unique. In an ideal world some of the building could be improved from and outside point of view but they are listed buildings so it can’t be changed.

The Stundent Union building really needs renovating and there needs to be more study spaces on campus especially during exam season

The location by the beach, with Singleton Park, and the Gower being so close by means student life is great. There’s opportunities for surfing, rock climbing, walking, kayaking and so much more, plus just lovely days out. However, the buses are very inconsistent which makes getting between campus and around the city frustrating and difficult. There are strong student feedback pathways and services like Unitu make feedback and the actions taken to remedy issues accountable to the student body. Mental health services at the university require serious improvement though and whilst there are a lot of very good and helpful lecturers, you can get unlucky with unhelpful and inactive personal tutors and lecturers in some modules.