University rating
Tell us about your overall university experience so far.
The University of Bradford has benefitted in recent years from a comprehensive "overhaul" across it's faculties and departments, stemming from the appointment of a new leadership team that have helped the University climb both the domestic rankings and international.
The Business School is one of the universities most prestigious faculties, bolstering an impressive set of accolades including the revered Triple Crown Accreditation from EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA - a staple of quality management education. More recent achievements include the Small Business Charter and Times Higher Education Best Business School for 2021. Beyond the scope of their awards however, the business school has invested in a restructuring program - culling outdated courses and recruiting new experts to support evolving fields such as data science, strategic marketing and international MBAs. Many academic staff hail from London institutions, alma mater or others abroad, providing the university with a very diverse and professional team.
The passion and commitment of the faculty is evidenced by programs such as their Career Booster Week - a weekly session in which teaching is suspended and students have the choice of selecting their own timetable from a list of extracurricular sessions that apply to the real world. They are often delivered by senior managers, academics and other business specialists. Actual teaching is guided by contemporary and informed research, while the student experience is delivered through constant feedback, the chance to go abroad on amazing business trips (I went to Qatar for a week!), or go on field days to explore your discipline directly. For business courses, expect to hear a lot about sustainability, holistic business operations and the encouragement of critical thinking - they want you to understand the world of business from numerous perspectives, rather than just your own discipline.
If you are considering a placement year as I did, the university is excellent in supporting your application from day one, from conception to submission. This is through their Careers and Employability Service, which has expanded the breadth of their operations to provide full job-seeking or personal employability services to every student through appointments and in-person visits, while maintaining contact with huge corporations, government organisations and local businesses to cater to your own portfolio and area of study.
For international students and domestic, the Students Union organises a huge plethora of events including trips to famous locations, bang-up nights out with famous names and societies - the latter of which have witnessed a great resurgence due to increasing student numbers. The library is modern, automated and comprehensive, and language/academic skills support are available around the clock if you are nervous about fitting in. The "My Bradford" spirit permeates across campus, with most students being respectful of each other and their tutors.
Downsides include the visible lack of funding in some faculties like Health Studies where they struggle to compete with much larger universities on a budget-driven basis - but this is remedied by the recent improvement works to exterior and interior buildings. Unfortunately though, I feel as if the university has done little to remedy the effects felt by students from the cost-of-living crisis - on-campus shops are not good value and very expensive. Additionally, some students (even at Master's level) can be consistently disruptive and many lecturers do not intervene to shut down this behaviour, having a direct effect on the learning experience. Regardless, it goes without saying that these could be characteristic of any university, but crime on-campus is increasing.
Unfortunately, the stigma to the city is justified as Bradford remains dangerous. As a local who has lived here all my life, I would advise prospective students to be careful and live on-campus if you are moving
Course rating
Course rating
Course content is taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and selective simulation modules depending on context. Like every other university, your learning correlates to the time you put in - and hence what you get out.
For the primary dissertation module, you do not begin research preparation and idea brainstorming until the start of the second semester, and they are taught online for the students convenience and to cater to the larger class sizes. This is to allow students to settle into their studies and begin to learn the foundational material without the foreboding stress of your project. Our access to Academic Skills, Library Services and specialist Subject Librarians is unbridled, as an additional form of support beyond the lecturer. Either way, lecturers are still at the forefront of their research interests and regularly contribute their own experience beyond the traditional syllabus.
For other modules, reading lists are prepared in advance and course materials disseminated regularly through the online 'Canvas' learning platform that some students may be familiar with. It has an intuitive system and easy interface, but the experience is assisted through the passion lecturers display in individually designing their course pages for student engagement - this makes it easier to digest the content and structure your learning accordingly.
Regular case studies, advanced journals and practical examples are posted for you to read, while the course material is structured around the key text book in a methodical way. In this way, you can compartmentalise your learning and not have to worry about stressful back-and-forth or getting lost!
Lectures help teach the core concepts and consolidate your learning, whereas seminars are more interactive and team-based to apply the principles picked up. In the event of a business simulation, these are normally taken within the tutorials as well, within the big computer labs on campus. At Master's level, you get to partake in far more simulation work to prepare you for life in work.
For most modules, there will be an invited guest speaker at least once in the semester. In the past, they have been from big corporate names such as Coca-Cola, Prudential, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
Luckily, strike action does not affect the faculty adversely unlike it's contemporaries - so you shouldn't expect much disruption to your learning in the academic year.
Downsides include the progression from Bachelor's - while at Master's level the content is more advanced, it still follows the same pathway as similar modules undertaken at Bachelor's level if your degree is the same, or can be completely identical. Unless you're very self-motivated, it could be very repetitive and boring, thus you may find value pursuing a different subject field.
Other downsides include disruptive students regularly and some lecturers not taking a stern approach to quell the behaviour. However, some lecturers are more than capable of controlling the noise levels - it just depends who you're stuck with.
Finally, the course was supported brilliantly by the on-campus book store but this has now closed - a massive inconvenience for acquiring your own textbooks. Often, the library only has limited copies and competition to get your hands on one is tough!
