Mathematics with Economics - BSc (Hons)

Aston University, Birmingham

Students union and available facilities are great, library is convenient and there are lots of areas to study on campus. Also close to the city centre so you'll never get bored. Bad: lecture rooms could be better and safety in the surrounding areas is questionable

The community is really nice. A lot of support from older students, from lecturers, from student ambassadors and staff in general. Can rent laptops, lots of nice study areas. Nice people. Diverse. Lecturers are engaging and get you involved in lectures by making you participate and not just a boring powerpoint. Thought an improvement would be that it could have more clubs and socities since it doesn't feel as there are many options, especially for new first years who don't have friends yet so won't have anyone to ask if they wanted to make their own.

The library and learning development team there is great for help with everything maths and professional academic writing related. There is lots of support for academics but also personal development and there are always new opportunities and events emailed out to join - typically for career and placement help but sometimes special visits by members of a big company. The best way to get to know people and establish a few friendships is by joining one or a few of the various clubs and societies, the SU is a good place to go with friends to hang out and play board games or pool or just have something to eat. Inside of the university are study spaces on almost every floor and meeting rooms which you can book for teacher appointments or for group meetings. Getting to lesson on time does require some planning though since the elevators are often full and kind of stressful.

The university is too small for the amount of students however the student life is spectacular and the help you get is better than any university. University’s are meant to be an independent experience however a lot of students struggle with independence and Aston helps a lot with that and I think that’s what makes studying at lot easier and motivates students to do well and enjoy themselves.

There's not much support for estranged or care leaving students without parental support. Aston doesn't have it's own student accomodation, they have a partnership with unite, so when students have issues with accomodation it's hard to know who to ask for help. Unite does not respond to emails and there's no clear contact details online. When trying to get to lectures, it's hard to get around University, some parts of corridoors are blocked off and you don't know it till you get there and end up stuck, especially if you get off the lifts. Also the lifts are always really busy, I'm not sure how they could amend this but when you have multiple classes on the upper floors, it makes you late waiting to take the lift up. The lifts don't stop on all floors either which I think makes it even more inconvenient.

It makes a great place to study because of the facilities the university has and how the lectures and seminars are well structured. I would recommend have a guide book or video, explaining to international students how to use all the University websites like, my map, and so on.