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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).
4.04.22.82171 Student reviews
Sort:Latest reviewsA nice, contained campus with all buildings and facilities within 15 minutes walk of each other. Beautiful lake and woodlands on campus, with 3 local beaches <30 min drive. Accessible by public transport with useful and easy rail and coach links to London, Norwich, Ipswich and Stansted airport. Good student support and range of events put on by SU throughout each year. Colchester, however, doesn’t have the best night life scene, and campus could benefit from some further facilities such as reinstatement of the Post Office and some more eateries.
25-34 years
A very conducive environment
University of Essex has amazing student life and endless resources for students, from a massive library open 24 hours to tutoring and wellness support. Some of the facilities look a little dated, the uni could use a facelift
The University of Essex has to be the best university I could be studying at; nothing needs to be done to improve this.
best aspects are the campus and the teaching style. I think the uni great and compared to a lot of other universities, essex offers a lot of support and help. The campus is stunning and i love being there.
Everyone is really friendly and passionate and willing to help the tutors also have a lot of time for there students and will go the extra mile to assist you
I had a great experience at this university. If I get chance to study further I will choose essex
The university has been extremely eager to receive feedback and improve in any way they can; there is no ego. The student union has been amazing as well; I have been really impressed with the support they provide in addition to the amazing quality of the facilities around the university.
I love the overall support by the University, I feel very safe on campus. I love all the events they organise to bring students together and the mental health support they give us. The negative point is I feel there are not many academic and career boost events, or they are not as well divulged by the Students Union.
na
Very far away from town centre directly around university campus there is not much to do however, lectures and assignments have been straightforward and easy to follow I do not feel like I am falling behind and their is always stuff to do on campus outside of academics
It's a generally a good uni at least for my course. However, the facilities are quite small and limited so we get little contact time with the laboratories because they are shared. This is disappointing. We also don't have field trips. The student union and university genuinely go out of there way to support you as much as they can. I find my lecturers and tutors very supportive as well. They have lots of useful workshops in a variety of areas from communication skills, to starting a business, to preparing you for applications for jobs, etc and are generally reliable. The student life is a bit harsh considering that there is almost no night life, few societies and generally few opportunities to meet others and make friends. It's not a very social uni and it can be a real struggle in that sense. Their accommodation is okay and there is a large green space which helps with distressing and is great for nature lovers. The local town is affordable and calm, rather safe too. The uni is a bit far from the city center, so it's not easy to get into the community unless you go out of your way to do so by volunteering or joining a church. My worst experience is to do with social life tbh. The city center is also sort of bare bones, but has lots of historical places to see. Colchester park is great and if you like the beach, it's a couple of pounds to get to Clacton beach Brightlingsea by bus. I would say it's hard to find a job in town sadly, but the uni normally offers lots of great student jobs.
No complaints or negatively at all in my experience
18-24 years
I like it
Facilities are great, loads of study spaces. The benefits of having a small class is that you develop friend ships with lecturers, which is hugely beneficial. It’s easy to find help, and get support from other staff too
Best University Provides support for students Freedom Worst Clubbing culture
Student life here is not great. There's plenty of club etc but people often don't come to the socials etc (this is coming from someone who assists in the planning of the socials). However, the lecturers and teaching here are extremely good.
Great community, Great SU that contributes to the greater community
18-24 years
First gen student
Best: Love the student union, I got the opportunity to become a SU student representative on my course. Student life is great as well, my lecturers are approachable and very polite. The campus is lively, there are always events happening for all kinds of people with different interests. Worst: Location of the camous is far from the city centre making it difficult to stay out late in the night and transport back to university.
4.3
The environment is very nice, the teaching is also really good and the library has pretty much anything you could possibly want! There is a few issues of accessibility for disabled students but it's getting better
it's all in person now, lecturers are always happy to set up meetings with students and discuss with us
The Quays are one of the oldest accommodations on campus i believe, so it is not as nice as other ones, but it is fairly good