Media and Communication MA

University of Portsmouth

Portsmouth is a great place to study because of the location, faculty and students. I've found the lecturers to be enjoyable, however I think having specs would help with revising more and mock tests from previous years would be helpful too. I love how close it is to the beach, and it's an easy city to get around in public transport or just walking. Everything is within walking distance. The faculty are a great help and are predominantly very quick in answering queries and questions. Accommodation is affordable and nice, i havent had any problems thus far. However, the nightlife isn't as good as the other unis I visited, but there are still 2-3 wetherspoons so that's a bonus. I've found everyone I've met to be really pleasant and polite, and the student nights are great fun. I love my course and chose the university because I fell in love with it, but the university itself feels like home and really helped me settle into living independently. The University itself is very on it when it comes to checking up, newsletters and hearing new tips and tricks for living on a tight budget. however weren't very helpful when choosing the 2nd year housing, but that's definitely because i didn't look for any help lmao, they have game rooms, cafes ( not cheap) and the societies are amazing! I've interacted with a wide array of students since I started in September, and they've all been welcoming and just really nice in general. I do suggest not signing up for every society and sticking with it because it's hard to juggle. I'm managing three at the moment, and it's always hard deciding who to go out with on Varsity Wednesdays. improvements wise I have two qualms. The timetables are difficult to access on phones, and I have yet to figure out how to save them to my calendar. Late lesson cancellations are inevitable, just aggravating so that's not really a fault, just something I find annoying. The same goes for 9ams they are the bane of my existence, but again can't change that, and secondly, PowerPoint presentations... at least half of my lectures are just reading off a powerpoint and at that point its got me questioning why I woke up at 7:30 to get to said lecture when i could've learned it by looking at the powerpoint which does deter you and I speak for myself but make you rarely go to 9 am lectures. I'm locking in, though even if 'learning' means listening to SOME lecturers read from a powerpoint thats older than me. Most of my lecturers are great fun, though. I have heard the same complaint from basically everyone ( including students from other universities). I've talked too there's always a few PowerPoint fiends i guess. Other than those things, Portsmouth is great fun, the beach is awesome, you can literally see battle boats from my windows and mega cruise ships, which is awesome. historically relatively interesting, Portsmouth is technically an island, so every day is an island adventure. Food is good, shops are close, but the nearest 24/7 Maccies is a solid 30min walk. The university itself is helpful and very GO GO GO! So your inbox will always have unopened emails, but most of the time, they are pretty useful. washing is so expensive... The university itself though are great, students are awesome, and the view can't get better.

The worst thing about mine and anyone I have spoken to is trying to find a part-time job around here because no matter how many jobs you apply for, the chances of you hearing back from any are 1 in 10. The best thing is how many things you can do outside of your academic life. whether its going to the beach, shopping, the nightlife, and festive things around Christmas and other holidays.

The best things about the uni is that everything you need is such a short distance from most student accommodation and also the support that is given to you throughout the course by both the lecturers and the uni is really helpful. The only part that I think could be improved is that some of the classes that are one after another are on different sides of campus so it would be amazing to save lecture time if they were closer together but it is still only a small walk so not too far.

Portsmouth is a great place to study as it is cheap, close to the sea, good nightlife, good student support. It is also multicultural, with multiple societies to choose from. I feel represented and welcomed in Portsmouth. It encouraged me to come out of my shell and interact with people from my culture.

Best: the people, the lecturers genuinely care about the students as people, they go out of their way to place us at the forefront of our education, the student events team are amazing at always having free activities for students to take part in, the student body is welcoming and the union and all the clubs under it are accommodating and friendly Downside would be the timetabling, sometimes classes will be scheduled back to back, on different campuses with no time to get between. I’ve had many lessons have to be cut down to half hour instead of 50 minutes so we had enough time to get between classes. The timetable is also 5 days a week despite claiming to aim for 3