Our collection of real, honest student reviews of unis and courses is the largest in the UK, and helps you make well-informed decisions about your future. Student reviews also form the basis of our annual Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs), which highlight great work carried out by institutions for their students.
I enjoy the the facilities and staff.
There’s a lot of opportunity to explore what you like and discover new things. Lecturers are always there to help and give support.
They host lots of fun events and competitions for the students to engage in. It’s a very relaxed environment. The tutors can be unreliable at times especially in my third year sometimes we only have two mornings a week timetabled to talk to them which they consistently miss. Still better than many unis where you can be waiting months to talk to your tutor
I remember being told there were way more opportunities to work on live briefs then we’ve actually gotten.
Obviously lockdown has impacted upon my HCA experience negatively but I have bounced back and HCA is doing everything possible to allow me to be the creative I want to be.
Excellent workshops with awesome technical demonstrators and spacious studios that we can make our own.
Amazing support networks are in place at HCA. The best support is always your fellow students though and the community at HCA is second to none.
I love the freedom we get to pursue our specific interests within the arts sector.
15
Placements
Very positive so far. I'm still pinching myself that I get to go to university every day, and I know I have support when I need it. It feels like a community.
We have amazing access to workshops with fantastic and helpful Technical Demonstrators, I feel really lucky to have such a wonderful support around me. The Library also has very knowledgeable staff who go above and beyond in their jobs. What the University lacks in size, it more than makes up for in openness and attitude.
I do feel that there could be more staff available for students with SEN, there are a higher number of creative people with some firm of SEN than in a normal University. That said, the staff are brilliant when you get to see them.
I feel very supported and my tutors are all very open and enthusiastic, it's great to be taught by people who are so open about their own practice, but also can appreciate other ways of working.
21
As I'm only in my first year, I couldn't say yet.
I could not be happier with my experience at HCA. There is an intimate and friendly commuting atmosphere at the university. Both students and lecturers alike are approachable and happy to share the wealth of knowledge that is on hand. There is a broad spectrum of students from varying backgrounds. Each bring with them their own experiences and skills which are of a huge benefit to the wider student community. The same can be said of the teaching staff, who all bring and share their unique skills.
The facilities at HCA are of an exceptional standard. Students have access to an entire wealth of resources an on a regular basis. Weather working with materials such as wood, metal and ceramics or more technologically based practices such as 3D printing, laser cutting or CAD modelling and rendering, HCA have it all. With knowledgeable, friendly and approachable technical demonstrators on hand to provide assistance when needed.
HCA offer an excellent Student Support facility. There is always somebody on hand to offer help and guidance on all aspects of student life. Weather this is how to approach a piece of academic writing, financial support, or simply to offer guidance on wellbeing. HCA also offer a variety of student and University lead activities to promote wellbeing. Such as Yoga and book clubs. Tutor feedback, group and one on one discussions feature regularly in the student timetable.
The course is delivered at a very mature level. HCA treats its students as adults, capable of learning and experimenting as competent individuals. Rather than restricting the student learning experience, HCA empowers students to question everything and provides students with the necessary support and guidance to seek out answers and solutions.
24
HCA provide many opportunities to work on live briefs, with both local and international clients. Giving students ample exposure to the wider art community and helping to grow each students’ network. The skills which are nurtured and honed throughout the duration of the course are invaluable tools which are transferable across many disciplines. Collaboration, communication, teamwork and respect are a huge part of the HCA culture.
I would highly recommend HCA they are dedicated to supporting educational, emotional & wellbeing needs of every student. I went to HCA as a top up student and was offered as much support as I needed by tutors, technicians, academic mentors and all other staff within HCA.
Facilities at HCA are amazing with access to both the College road & Folly Lane workshops. Unlimited Access to IT suite,library & various equipment when requested .
Support amazing I received weekly academic mentoring for writing my dissertation as I had no previous experience before attending top up year at HCA
I have no complaints about how my course was taught. I received weekly tutorials, group discussions, formal presentations, live briefs, we had several visiting lectures, seminars and numerous practical workshops including the option of any additional ones that I wanted to participate in.
15
Careers advice from CV to starting up your own business. Advice on how to promote yourself through online platforms, social media, blogs, portfolio etc Live briefs with employers who offer internship opportunities Promote societies to get involved with that are relevant to Textiles
It’s a nice college, there is freedom but of course there are rules and guidelines to follow - like any other course you want to get a qualification in. Door open policy from everyone where everyone is happy to help and support you if you want it. Be honest and they will help or support. I got the freedom to explore my own style. This is why I went to Hereford. If you DONT want one of these teacher led programs where you get told when you can breathe then Hereford is for you, you are encouraged to explore and challenge yourself and the medium of textiles.
Amazing parts were the library, 3D, IT, printers including the sub and digital printers, studios, laser cutter, heat press, print binders, print colours, fabric store, yarn store, screens, domestic knitting machines.
Personal issues are taken seriously and time is allowed to be taken out of college when needed. Understanding. Feedback can be tricky, you may get multiple opinions from various tutors but this is the nature of the beast with any art course. You do get delegated one towards fmp. Culture of the college in general is lovely- everyone is very nice.
I liked the way we got to independently develop our work. We all have different areas of interest and we were allowed to investigate this. We got our own studio. The technicians were amazing and always happy to help ! Some collaborations projects were ok too. PIC for dissertation was amazing with specialist tutors who really knew their stuff - AMAZING!! IT were also great with good facilities in printing papers and fabrics and the library was extensive. Least like has to be favourites chosen in terms of material or processes. I needed more support for the work I was specialising in. To figure it all out myself made my life 10x harder and longer than others who had the specialist tutors and support from the get go.
3
Visiting lecturers, live briefs, visiting places of interest, Instagram
It was a brilliant experience! It was really difficult to choose the right university to go to, but I'm so glad I chose HCA! University can get quite stressful, but being at a smaller uni felt more relaxed and less intimidating. I honestly think I wouldnt of enjoyed it as much if I had been at another uni. The staff, workshops, studio, and peers made it such an enjoyable experience.
For a smaller Univerisity, the facilities are really surprising. There are workshops and libraries based over two campuses, which is really handy especially if one of the workshops is quite busy you can just head over to the other one. There are no restrictions at all, I was a textiles student and worked in , 3D, Textiles, Photography, library, IT
The support at HCA is one of the best things about it! The tutors offer an incredable amount of support. I got feedback on projects every week! The feedback really pushed and motivated me, and there're office door was always open If I was stuck or wasn't sure about something. They would also put us forward for opportunities and competitions. Also when it came to dissertation I was given a lot of help from both my tutor and the academic team, and they really helped me get through it.
I really liked that we had a lot of opportunities to present our work to a mix of industry professionals, our peers and one to one with tutors, this helps increase your confidence. I liked that we also got one to one tutorials with tutors every week! Which is very rare to find in most universities.
A module is specifically dedicated to professional application and includes a work placement opportunity. HCA also encourages you to learn many different skills across the college which makes you unique to employers.
The best 3 years of my life. All staff is friendly and make you feel welcomed into all areas of design regardless of you degree subject. As the uni is quite small there aren’t hundreds of students trying to see one tutor so you get much more contact time with your tutors and have much more personal relationships with them which makes studying much easier
We had two campuses (a college level campus and a university level campus) that provided a variety of workshops and and lot of tools and technologies that allowed us to be experimental. Workshops in both campuses were open to all HCA students of all levels
I loved how we were given the freedom to explore other areas of art and design and apply it to textiles and that the workshops were open to all students who wanted to learn new skills. There wasn’t anything I disliked
The uni gives us live briefs with many textile company’s which gives us plenty of opportunities to make contacts for future work opportunities. We also completed a module that encouraged us to research possible careers we’d like to have and also required us to take part in work placement
A wide range of workshops and projects to take part in and the space to express individual ideas and processes. Always about to see a tutor and multiple ones as well to get feedback and help with project at anytime
Always a space to work at a desk but sometimes a lack of workshop space and workshop popular with other courses as well
Always able to see someone at anytime for help weather that be a tutor for help with project work or someone to talk to about personal problems
A positive is being able to see a tutor whenever you need help and one always being there to help you The least there is sometimes a lack of communication that could lead to confusion
5
By introducing you to different people from all different areas of the subject to see what sort of thing is possible
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