OVERALL UNIVERSITY RATING
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
I am really enjoying it, it can be stressful at times and sometimes even a little boring but it gives me something to focus on and...
University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
I am really enjoying it, it can be stressful at times and sometimes even a little boring but it gives me something to focus on and to work towards, an end goal of becoming a teacher and getting my masters, with my qualified teacher status. I enjoy a night out every now and then as the night life is good around Derby and I've also made new friends, which I genuinely think will stay friends, so that is also nice as I like to get to know other people and to have a variety of friends who like a range of different things.
Facilities
How good are your university's facilities?
I think the facilities within the university are great, there is a range of food places to choose from or hot drinks places to choose from, they have a great library and book shop. I think the best bit is the health and wellbeing desk on site, with a doctors next door to that and the student union desk also being on site as I think this is a really great idea and helpful for students.
Student support
How good is the support offered by the uni? Think both academic (tutors/feedback) and personal (counselling, etc).
I think the support is up to a good standard, I regularly get personal tutor meetings, whether that be one to one or in a group and I think the student well being team within the university are very helpful as they supported me and gave me a support plan to help me throughout my studies if I needed it, I don't have to use it but it's there if I ever need it which I probably will find very useful at times.
I think the feedback on assignments is also good, they'll always have reasoning behind the grade you've been giving, starting with all the positive points and then move on to anything you could improve for future assignments.
Students' union
What do you think of your Students' Union in terms of student representation and facilities?
I have a job within the students union, working in the shops over the three campuses, but before I even got this job I felt like the union had a great deal to do with the university and helps students in a variety of ways. They also do provide a good range of facilties as they have there own desks that you can go to, to speak to someone, they have the shops which are ideal for students, especially on lunch breaks for meal deals, then blends, which is a small cafe as such, they provide hot drinks and a bit of hot food which is lovely and definitely well priced for students and then you have the academy bar, which is for hot food and alcoholic beverages which is also well priced and I think overall, a great idea.
Local life
Is your university in a good location in terms of distance to accommodation and local amenities?
I think the university is good, as its split over three campuses, however, I study at the main campus which is around a 20-30minute walk from my accommodation, but the uni provides a bus service 5 days a week, most weeks, so it does not take that long to get to and the main campus itself is near markeaton park, which is great for people who are commuting as they can park there and walk over which only takes around 5-10minutes.
Societies and Sports
How would you rate the variety of societies/sports?
Personally, I don't take a great deal in the sports or society's as I don't really have much time due to studying and working, however, from what I've seen throughout freshers week and in general at the uni, they have a great deal of society's and sports teams who all seem very welcoming and some are very interesting, so I may end up have a bit of a better look and taking part in some next year.
Lecturers and teaching quality
What do you like most and least about the way your course(s) are taught?
The best thing I like about my course is the variety of sessions, they also have a great variety of lecturers to cover each topic which I think is very helpful for us students.
The worst thing is sometimes some of the lecturers can go off on a tangent and then when it comes to an assignment we as a whole course don't know all that well, what we have to do which causes quite a lot of stress and we have to figure it out ourselves within a group chat.
How many contact hours per week do you have?
18
Career prospects
How does your uni make efforts to increase your employability (careers department, work placements, transferable skills)?
I am not 100% on this as I already have a job whilst at university so don't pay too much attention, but I know they do stands every so often and career days, within the uni, in which students can go down and speak to them, I also get emails weekly from the careers and employment team which just give general information and support, as well as some great ideas and tips to help students.