University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
My overall university experience has been incredible for so many reasons. This course has set me up for the future more than any other course ever could have. The academics on the course have allowed me to thrive and achieve things that I never expected to achieve and their ongoing research within the field is inspiring. I have loved the people on my course, I have loved living here and I have loved making the most of the opportunities that university life can offer such as time to pursue creative projects without the strain of having to work a full-time job to fund living. The placement scheme changed my life and has allowed me to find further employment for after I graduate. However, in the final weeks of my degree as GSA systematically pick apart the programme that I love and have invested four years of my life in, this sadly has tarnished my experience and will likely leave a lasting bitter taste in my mouth. I will not go into the creative industries promoting the school in any positive way.
Facilities
How good are your university's facilities?
The facilities are good but many are off-limits to our course such as the whole of the Ivy building, including its main theatre. Our course is severely under-valued within GSA sadly, hence why the programme is being cut over other courses which are financially less profitable and have smaller cohorts. This has resulted in a systematic removal of our access to facilities so even though the facilities there are of good standard, we are not able to access many of them.
Student support
How good is the support offered by the uni? Think both academic (tutors/feedback) and personal (counselling, etc).
Academic support is generally very good, however many confounding factors such as the school cutting the course and not being transparent about their reasons for doing so, have made contact with tutors a bit more difficult, though they do what they can. Support offered by the uni is good, as long as you know where to look for it. In the case of our course being cut, no support has been offered to current students, alumni or applicants who have had their offers revoked. The facilities that are there such as the centre for Wellbeing are very good facilities indeed, but they are oversubscribed.
Students' union
What do you think of your Students' Union in terms of student representation and facilities?
In the four years that I have been at the university, I have not seen much support from the Students' Union. Sadly I have only now seen the benefits of it as the Guildford School of Acting are closing our course. The SU's events have never been of any interest to me, they focus purely on club nights with some sub-par events on the side and don't cater for students who don't like clubbing barely at all. Saying that, student societies are generally very good such as the Theatre Society, though they are given significantly less support than sports clubs for some reason.
Local life
Is your university in a good location in terms of distance to accommodation and local amenities?
Guildford is safe, there are plenty of shops and it's easy to navigate, however there is little to do and you have to go to London to find any good forms of entertainment.
Societies and Sports
How would you rate the variety of societies/sports?
Pretty good, I did make use of a few societies during my time at uni which gave me some great experience and allowed me to find and make new friends in my first and second year at Uni. The sports clubs were much less accessible as I attended many open sessions in Freshers week and found that unless you were of a good standard in that sport already, you would generally not be made to feel like a valued member of their team. That is just my experience however and I know that sport is a huge part of Surrey that many, many people enjoy so it must have just been bad luck.
Lecturers and teaching quality
What do you like most and least about the way your course(s) are taught?
The world-leading academics who teach us are inspiring, treat us with respect and push us to become the best individuals, and professionals that we can be. Their teaching is unparalleled and we learn a very wide range of topics that cover every area of theatre, be that research, production, performance, business, technical etc.
What I like least would be that we are refused access to vital facilities, materials and adequate funding from the school where it is available to other courses under GSA's management.
How many contact hours per week do you have?
8
Career prospects
How does your uni make efforts to increase your employability (careers department, work placements, transferable skills)?
It is the best possible course to choose for job prospects, its integrated placement year is unique and extremely vital for students progression into the industry. During my placement year I managed to gain work within a professional theatre company where I worked my way up and eventually created a new department and produced a festival. I now have a potential job lined up for when I graduate, and none of this would have been possible without this course. If students decide to not take a placement, sadly they miss out on the amazing opportunity that is available to them.
University halls
What do you think about the safety, condition, location and cost of your accommodation?
University Halls are of nice quality and not too expensive, private housing is very competitive and quite expensive however
