It has gone well but is extremely stressful. Knowledge of the performance of previous year puts huge amounts of pressure on the course but lectures are happy to help with problems. There is little time to relax and not be worried about something is should be doing but finding time to do sports of exercise has helped, which the university advise and help set up. There is a huge variety of people so finding friends isn't to hard but enjoyment of the content helps with the general experience.

As a university there is a whole module dedicated to professional practice which helps to improve work place skills, interview and CV writing abilities as well as helping on how to look for and apply for jobs. The employability department has a huge variety of people within it who can help with specific schools or problems you may be having, with walk in sessions available as well as bookable meeting and mock interviews. They run steps-to-success sessions for a variety of skills and problems that are bookable. They run placement lectures at the start of the year to give everyone an idea of the possibilities and options as well as bringing employers in the university so that students can meet and discuss with them what the job will contain and what the employers are like. The university has its own job website with all available placements and the links to the original job post. Once a placement is secured they are also in talks with the company about health and safety and the contract being used to ensure students are happy. They have people within the department who are available throughout the placement to talk with if they dont feel happy or safe.

I am a huge fan of the laboratory section of my course, learning to use all the correct scientific methods and specialised equipment makes understanding the theory behind them much easier. The fact that a large percentage of the grade is also contributed by course work is also very important to me meaning that even if i struggle with exams and can get a decent grade through my success in course work. My course seems to have a lot of temporary lectures which are sometime not very good at getting the material across. Especially with the difficulty of the material being taught having a lecture who isn't experienced or who doesn't specialise in that area makes it difficult to grasp even the key concepts. The fact that some lecture are put onto the university work page before lectures also helps so that the material can be reviewed before the lecture to aid in understanding or even taking to the lecture so that note are more easily recorded.

21

Both SU's are very good facilities with a good quality and decent value for money food. The have sports available to watch but also have the capabilities to set up as club environments on specifically occasions. I don't hear a lot about what they are doing to represent students but the election for positions within it is always widely publicised.

The Clifton campus facilities are excellent. Lots of recent building means that all facilities are very up to date and contain the best equipment for both student and lecturer use. They are kept clean and are monitored often for wear and tear with rooms available for all lectures without it having to feeling squished or cramped.

The Clifton campus of which I am on is close to local shops but has very little university housing or large student accommodation surrounding it. Most people who are not in second year have to live at least a bus journey away requiring more money to be spent on travel cost's. There are no clubs or entertainment in the close surrounding so travel to the city is required for those.

There is a huge amount of society's available with a wide range of sports. There is anything from the cocktail society to the chemistry society with competitive and intramural sports following it as well.

Most academic feedback is good and timely, every now and then things slip behind or are rushed but this is few and far between. In most cases non graded work is asked for first so that feedback can be received before official work is handed in so that we can have a better idea of how to complete things properly. Most lectures are more than wiling to help with anything you are struggling with and have office hours or you can make appointments to ask for their help or for further explanation towards what you are struggling with. As in the rest of the country there is not enough resources to handle the demand for personal counselling. The university will set you up for a few sessions with someone but then you will have to look privately or try with the NHS to get any further. They try and help with individual problems but there is a lack of cohesion to passing problems along to other people who are suppost to help so constant explaining it required.

Lots of contact hours but transport to lectures is long

Career related projects

Content is good, lecturers aren't always methodical

Don't really use the SU

Gill Street North - nice but not good value for money

Facilities aren't available everywhere

Always soemthing to do

Not in a society

Support is there but not easy to find