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The annual Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs) highlight the incredible work carried out by institutions for their students. This year’s awards were based on reviews from over 30,000 students across the UK.
2022 WUSCA winners
Cardiff University has a great community of students, the facilities have everything to offer and the Student Union and Center for Student Life have so many resources and are easily accessible for students. The Center for Student Life could be opened 24/7 for a better studying environment compared to the ASSL for students. The city itself is quite nice, but could be improved especially in Cathays where most students live although students themselves need to be more responsible. Overall the university is great with each university building offering its own benefits and a unique environment for students to study and work.
The course is quite new and offers insight into a field that is rapidly developing. The course has many unique projects with the 4th year offering the most applications into engineering and has a lot of practical work. Blended learning has occurred due to COVID but it works quite well and is slowly transitioning to in person for the majority which greatly increases learning.
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Cardiff is a very student oriented city, meaning it's super cheap to live here in terms of food, housing, and there's an abundance of things to do for all types of people. It's also a really beautiful city that's not too big and overcrowded, but big enough that you're never bored. Cardiff and surrounding area is really pretty, with lots of great hikes and the Brecon Beacons just outside the city. The school does a great job of keeping costs low as well by providing all the books we need for classes in the library, and we can access most articles and reading online with the option to order it for free if it's not already accessible to us. What could be improved is the support for students in terms of mental health and wellbeing. I was going through a really hard time as an international student and was told I could only speak to a therapist if I was suicidal. Eventually I went through a traumatic experience and was allocated a therapist, but was limited to only 6 sessions with this person. It helped, but wasn't enough, and someone shouldn't have to go through a traumatic experience or be suicidal to get help. There's also not a ton of quiet study spaces, and the campus itself doesn't feel very connected.
There is a to of support on Biomed: there is always someone you can contact with questions and they typically respond quickly with a helpful response. We can also access all of our reading for free through the library and the digital library. There's even something you can install through the university that automatically accesses articles that you've clicked on without having to search it in the digital library. The subjects taught are typically really interesting and in depth, although about half the lecturers are clearly there just to research and have no real interest in teaching which can make certain topics very dry and hard to follow. But the other half are very passionate about what they teach and because they are experts in the fields they teach it can be really exciting and insightful, especially with all the current and novel research we get to learn about. There are also a lot of workshops and stats clinics, especially in first year, which can be helpful to discuss certain topics more in depth with peers and lecturers. Unfortunately there's not really a lot of bioscience specific study spaces besides the main building sciences library, which is very nice to be fair, but nowhere to really study quietly in the bioscience building. We also don't get a ton of lab time, and when we do it's often very simple and/or irrelevant to what we are learning.
Cardiff is the perfect size, with tons of things to do so you'll never be bored while not being so big that you are overwhelmed. There are also a couple beautiful parks when you need to take a break from the city and enjoy some outdoor time, and it's easy to get out of town to go hiking in the Brecon Beacons. There's lots of great places to eat and shop, with awesome student deals and prices. It's insanely cheap to live here and quality isn't necessarily sacrificed.
Senghennydd Court was much better than people make it out to be. It is the best location to live because it's closest to the main and bioscience buildings as well as the engineering building, and closest to the city center as well as the SU. So you're perfectly distanced from everything you could possibly need in first year. On top of that maintenance is done quickly after being called, it's super safe, and there's a wide range of students living there so you're not stuck with people from your degree. It's also a shared bathroom with 4 other people which isn't that bad because everyone tends to have different schedules, and it leaves more space in the rooms so you're not so cramped, as is often the case in ensuite rooms. On top of that, when you move into private accommodation in second and third year you're guaranteed to have to share a bathroom with your housemates unless you can afford a super expensive place, so you might as well get used to it in first year.
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Best aspects are the student union, so much is taking place for students with a variety of interests. From sports to standard activities. The campus is lovely with nice buildings (assl aside). This is cancelled out by the csl and student union however, two great buildings for study and other activities. I enjoy cardiff as a city. Issues are student support, I have an issue with my loan that I’m waiting on the university to sort out. It’s been two weeks since my last email and I’m still yet to hear back. Also the majority of my assignments have been returned late. The course itself feels lacking in terms of new material compared to what I learned at undergrad.
I appreciate how much of it is in person. Some modules (strategy, finance) are taught brilliantly by people who clearly understand the topic and have an interest in it. However, other modules (managing people, marketing) are taught by people who don’t seem to care at all. In assignments they change their mind on what they want on a weekly basis and leave students unsure on what we’re expected to do. Also, the majority of assignments I’ve had have been returned late and the feedback has been a single sentence at most, how can I improve without knowing where to improve?
In terms of safety it seems the same issues as every big city. I’ve not experienced any issues but there are certain places to avoid at night, and sticking to main, well lit routes. Cardiff is quite removed from some places and as such can be expensive to get to on the train, however the city itself is a great location with the Brecon Beacons and the coast so close by.
It’s a great halls with a lot of amenities and friendly staff. However you pay a premium for this and I’m not sure if the amenities justify the price.
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The best part of the uni is it’s always there when you need any help. The environment and the staff is very positive to be around. This is my first international experience and it couldn’t be better than this. Cardiff uni will always have my heart.
Academically the course had all the modules which i wanted to study and no university had it. The way of teaching is really good and the professors here are actually for you. I wish the course was fully on campus would’ve got more experience and better learning options
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SU is definitely the best, it’s got so many activities going on and feels like a family Cons are student support - counselling wait time is long
Great course that is so accessible in terms of learning and teaching
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Academic Support and facilities are great. The pace of study is quite fast. One needs to put in a lot of efforts if one is choosing a conversion course.
You get to learn a lot of new things. The pace of module delivery is fast.
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Students are all super friendly - especially student led societies as they’re very forward thinking and open to everyone. However, most of my uni experience has been during the lockdown so a lot of the younger years are extremely immature. Despite this, the actual degree is very interesting and there’s always the sense of camaraderie whenever it gets tough. Medical engineering has a good support for their students.
Online uni was appalling and there was very few support for mental health. However, the actual accommodation for remote learning was good, covered most things that needed to be considered, plus at the end of the year, they listened to student feedback to try and make the new learning as “normal” as possible.
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Transport and accomodation could be better but otherwise love it's integration with the city and how we have so many spaces to do anything/everything we want to do.
Italian is amazing, lots of contact time and individual support but English Literature has hardly any contact time and everything feels rushed. Hard to keep up with sometimes.
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The students here have the best supports, complementing the professional lecturers and tutors. This innovates the student's creativity and confident, bringing out the best of all students. Maybe the university can work on renewing some old classrooms, but to be fair, the people in cardiff makes up for it. So hands down the best uni !
Blended learning at the moment, but it was completely online from the beginning. Should host more in class lectures instead of online lectures. because that's when you are motivated.
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Studnets' UNion is bloody brilliant!
Relevant and practial
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