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The overall ranking is decided by students from this institution rating them in a 2026 Whatuni review. This forms the basis of the Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs for short).
3.03.03.121 Student reviews
Sort:Latest reviewsGreat Underrated University with flexible learning; nice, smiling and positive staff. From the admission was straight forward, very efficient and not time wasters, I'm glad I could join and start my learning journey with them (I'm enrolled for BSc Computing). The programme compared with other universities is very comprehensive of blended content both for practical and theory. The lecturers are qualified, clean english speakers and many of them with PHDS done in multiple countries, making the content for learners to stimulate positively. I wish I could have same treatment and quality of contents from the previous university! Suggestions: some workshops for quantum programming, robotics with arduino and raspberry. PS. they got already java, python and maths workshops which are very nice and additional to get confidence into the subject. Everything is great anyways from my point of view!
Low quality of education. Teachers lack academic skills and expertise in the field of knowledge, and with poor knowledge, most are unable to provide you with the right resources and skills for academic success. Some of them speak extremely bad English and then evaluate your work in... English. Most tutors just read PowerPoint slides without proper and deep explanations.
This university is awful, and don’t listen to students needs. Most of the teachers are terrible, and give you no guidance or help during the module. Student support is no better all they do is dismiss your needs, and lack to do their job properly. Once you fall behind with the work they stop caring and push you to the side, overall had a awful experience here and encountered with some manipulative teachers who like to belittle their students within the classroom setting. AVOID AT ALL COSTS, this uni costed me my mental health.
As a first-year student, I do not have a lot of experience with the academic atmosphere, but after two months of study at Arden University, I can tell that I truly enjoy it. The learning materials and the lecturer's teaching manner are outstanding. I would recommend Arden to anybody seeking new challenges in their lives!
No problems, i get everything as a student and they have good support staff
It's great that Arden offer the distance learning courses for students who also have full time jobs. The downside to this is the "student life" aspect of the university as it is more difficult to connect and communicate with fellow students, many of whom have different schedules. Motivation is also a challenge when studying virtually alone.
I wanted to go to university at a time where COIVD was a threat globally, so instead of physically going to a university which would require distance learning at home at times anyways, i chose this a s a full time option. The fees have also been lower than standard university fees but this doesn't impact the learning in any way, for me in fact I feel as I have learnt a lot more than I would have done if I went to a standard university as distance learning constantly encourages you to find out techniques and tools online and apply them through tutorials either with the module or on YouTube. It does entail self learning however those doing a course they are passionate about will find this to be hugely encouraging and a big plus. Communicating with other students is not difficult to do as we are constantly communicating and giving feedback and often asked to be a part of group chats to discuss the course overall, however I would say for Arden to further promote collaboration with other students not just on the same module but on the course as a whole would be even more beneficial. Aside from this one recommendation Arden overall is a fantastic university to get the best degree for you and you won't have to think twice about doing a distance learning course as the support will always be there and you will learn just as much (if not more) than any other university.
45-54 years
Facilities, campus look and feel: We are currently studying on the second floor of Lock 14, Birmingham. Because all of the equipment is new, the new campus is supposed to be better than City Centre, though Lock 14 lacks comfort and IT support. In the chill zone and kitchen, there is almost always a bad odour; poor quality water; lifts are never working; in the classrooms, big flat screens and PCs are all new but sometimes not working properly due to some connection problem; as a result, students must go and find another classroom where we can study, causing confusion for other colleagues who arrive later and can't find the room where we take the lessons. These kinds of things, in my opinion, cannot happen in a globally recognised university. Student life and students' union: I'm not sure if we have something similar there. Student support: Since we moved to a new campus, I've noticed that Student Support sometimes responds too slowly. In fact, I sent an email 2 weeks ago requesting some information about train ticket discounts for students, but I have not received an answer so far.
Worst student journey. Forget lack of support, how about 'no support. The Student support team are not doing their job and ive been chasing them regarding various issues for 2 years, now. Finally, been withdrawn after months of receiving invoices. Thats the only time they get in touch. They have hindered my progression as i cant get access to my transcripts and loat out on a place at another institution. Therefore, i have to join another intake now. In-correct grades/ fail to submitt marks, marking incorrect uploads on Turnitin, not being able to upload work, work not being sent to assessment team to be marked for months, incorrect fees for enrolment, incorrect invoices when im not doing L5, lack of disability support, being spoken to rudely from support staff and administration, nobody gets back to me, failed to put reasinable adjustments in place followoing hospital letters, the list goes on. Up to you if you'd like to try you LUCK!
Lecturers are quite responsive and their teaching is helpful
The only thing is that there is no gym or any sports facility in our campus but overall there is great learning atmosphere.
Dont bother wastimg your time or money!!! Ive had the worst studnet experience as a disabled student. Nobody replies to my queries and ive had incorrect fees added to my record twice, failed assignments I have deffered and now I cant get my transcript because of lack of communication and not being withdrawn by the support team. Im shocked that I cant email the Course Leader to complain as nobody gives me their email address. Its shocking how they are getting away with treating me this way. They have exacerbated my health and made it difficult for me to study during Covid. Why are you called student support? I
18-24 years
Having a blended learning opportunity was the first thing I considered great at Arden. But throughout my module I noticed the willingness of the tutors to help me in my assignments. One thing, I would like to have is more students in one class( when the students are studying the same module). This will improve lesson engagement.
35-44 years
Very good University, rich in support and various workshops with loads of information. I study in Ealing, great location but expensive in parking
my overall experience of arden UNIVERSITY has been great, im just happy as a mature student and single mother that i was giving another chance to get through UNIVERSITY and gain the degree iv always wanted for the job opportunities. a fantastic place with great and very understanding lecturers and staff i would recommend to anyone its very much worth the money and Experience
Do not bother to even try with them, surely flexible but it is a game of luck with the tutor that happens to follow your module. Out of the 8 modules that I have studied, 4 of them were lead by a person who was not able to answer the class questions or hold a class, just a waste of time. Moreover, if you try to contact the support for any kind of reason well... good luck with it! Wait time of over 7 working days for the reply to your email, if they ever reply. No chance to speak on the phone with them. Absolutely gutted about my experience with them which is also why I decided to quit my studies. No support and no profesionalism.
The overall experience at Arden is rubbish, I am a current second year student and I do not feel like I have been given a proper university experience! There is no support in anything at all, no support in the lectures as they are pre planned, no student support, all student across the UK have been given laptops and I have been given nothing at all, when I had contacted the university about this they said that it doesn’t apply to distance learning students which is unfair. I wouldn’t recommend this university to anyone at all, it’s not with your money and you will develop depression from going to it! I would recommend a proper university who can take care of their students and give th m proper support in order to finish their course!
I chose arden over the OU because of the flexbility and they had the course closer to what I wanted to do. There are well-meaning and engaged people in the support, which you need, as the notes are riddled with errors (english as well as factual) and you have to organise your own exam venues, which in my case I was informed of a week before the exam. Unfortunately cannot at all compare to my experience at bricks-and-mortar university of Bristol. Update 2020: The pandemic, if anything, has unfortunately made service and support at arden worse, despite being a university specialised in distance learning. Tutors switch during courses, without students being informed, feedback on drafts is not given and grading guidelines applied inconsistently as the tutor sees fit. Feedback from students does not appear welcome. 1 extra star for those tutors who do try very hard, but are in the minority.
3.2
Be aware the Tower Hill facility is not legally compliant and do not meet the required building standards. The building does not have any ventilation and both staff and students are subject to the spread of viruses (covid and other) Students and staff are forced to do face to face classes so that student loans can be applied for. Students and staff tend to lack energy and have headaches due to the lack of fresh air. On a positive, the student support team do a great job in tough study centre.
The standard of lecturers vary.