6 reviews for University Centre Peterborough

As a COVID student there was blended learning for one year which was well managed. Otherwise all learning was in person. Contact with lecturers is excellent with easy accessibility in person or prompt email replies. The mixture of lectures and seminars worked well for the modules taught.

The course was engaging and relevant to the sector I wanted to work within.

Your lecturers are always available to assist you. I met with my tutor twice a week and could book additional meetings whenever necessary. My lecturers were incredibly knowledgeable about their subjects, as most of them had worked in the industry before deciding to teach. As a result, I secured a job immediately after university. Many of the modules in my course are geared towards employment, preparing you thoroughly for the professional world. Additionally, the work placement module provided valuable work experience, further enhancing my employability.

The accessibility of books and other similar resources is fantastic- there is a great range of resources to choose from. A college library situated right next to the University allows us university students to have passcodes which enable access to blocked/expensive journals which are excellent to use in essays and reports. If a certain book is not available, the staff in the library suggest many other resources that are closely similar to the desired book. In terms or cleanliness, the entire building is cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis. I personally am impressed and satisfied with the cleaning standards. On top of constant cleaning by the cleaners, students are also expected to clean their own working/learning stations before and after each use to help prevent the spread of any type of virus during this pandemic. There is also enough space for all students to sit within a good distance away from eachother. Because of the pandemic, the University made sure every corridor and classroom has wet wipes, tissues, antibacterial gels and sprays. In general, the small size of the university makes it easier to keep it so clean and spotless. Our student leadership team and student ambassadors take under consideration all of our requests in terms of new equipment that is needed to help with our learning or projects or anything that needs replacing. We are encouraged to make suggestions on these types of matters so that our university experience meets our needs and our project work reaches the best standards. The reason I have this section only 3 stars, a lower raring than the rest of the sections is because our university does not have laboratories for us biology students. Thankfully the college situated next to our university has a few. Nevertheless, this does not mean us university students are happy. We have to share the labs with younger people who sometimes create a mess or misplace equipment. I am sure the lab teachers will look after my experiments in the best possible way (in case the experiment will take more than one day and will need to be left in the lab for a few days) but this does not clear all my worries. A staff member mentioned there will be a building dedicated to a laboratory made only for the HE students but I'm not sure if this is confirmed as the university has a set budget for facilities.

The UCP student support team values all students around the University. Nit long ago I have encountered an upsetting situation, a death of a relative. I messaged the student support team about moving my end of semester 2 exam dates. Even though themis was very last minute, the situation had been taken care of smoothly without any issues. I know that my colleagues which have different learning difficulties are supported by having special programmes installed into their laptops that makes reading/writing/understanding things/completing online exams with much more ease. Students with depression, poor mental health, and those living with families of low household income are also supported. The students with lower household incomes can apply for bursaries of £500 per academic year. All issues are sorted as fast as possible.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic the lessons are mostly remote, however, the lectures try their best to get us students in the laboratory so that we still receive the experience and get familiar with lab techniques. Despite the tough current situation with the virus, the lectures maintain their teaching at a high standard. There are a total of 16 teaching hours per week (2 days a week, 8hrs a day) which gives us students flexibility to attend our part time jobs or take care of family matters. Our classes consist of small numbers of students and personally, I feel like this is an advantage as we have fast email responses from tutors and lectures as well as a better connection; lectures know us better on an individual level and can spot our strengths and weaknesses within particular modules. Student support is also very helpful. Their response is fast and straight to the point. The staff will always try to help find a solution, no matter what the situation is. The only way the course could be improved is taking students on trips, inviting employers from industries related to our course and providing us extra days that will enable us to spend time doing experiments and dissections in the lab. Unfortunately, I know this is currently not possible due to this pandemic.

As a first year student, I am not obligated to join any internships. Even when looking at different internship programmes in the biological field, the organisations state they do not accept first year students. To improve on our employability skills, the student union created a section of various folders on our online canvas page which we can access during our own time. The folders consist of PowerPoints, templates and checklist of information which is required to be included within a cover letter/CV/application letter for internships etc. This made me realise how messy and unorganised my CV is which included a lot of unnecessary details, and allowed me to think more about myself as an individual and what exactly I have achieved and learned to include more valuable points that will make me presentable in the best possible way to an employer. I have looked ahead at the modules in my second and third year and it looks like I will receive even more help with this. I will also be working on a project dedicated to an industry within the biological/biomedical field which I'm extremely excited about! The only thing I am unsatisfied about is the fact we didn't have many guest speakers. I would have loved to hear more information from various speakers who work in different industries related to the biological course.

Yes

For the size of University, the facilities are great. There's a Costa coffee, in house for lunch and snacks or the main College canteen located a short walk away across campus. The sports course make use of the College and privately run gym, with various equipment located in the Sports Science lab for testing athletes. There is also access to the sports hall and football and rugby pitches on the fields where the College's Sports Academy teams can be tested.

The support offered is really good. For each module you will recieve personal written feedback sent via email or on a hard copy of work and sometimes verbal feeback for presentations and class discussions. Sometimes you will discuss strengths and weaknesses as a class to increase student engagement and provide peer or peer feedback/advice. Weekly tutor groups as a class are also really useful to go over work and through feedback with your tutor. They are also used to further learning such as planning & organisation, CPD (Continual Professional Development) planning for courses, careers advice/discussions and talks from employers. Personally I can't really comment as I haven't used student support for counselling etc. However, I know they are very freindly and approachable.

Strictly speaking, there isn't a Students Union in the form that most Uni's take, with lots of facilities. Here, students are represented by the student council, a student body comprising of the student reps. from all classes and from all courses. This is charied by the Higher Education Student Officer who is also a student. Some reps, are also invited to SELT (Student Engagement Learning & Teaching Committee) and even Academic board meetings to provide a student voice. Though there are no specific facilities, the Uni makes up for this with the inclusion of student voice and oppinion in meetings and the allocation of budget to providing new equipment for students (e.g. Ping Pong Table etc.)

The University is about a 20-30 min. walk to the city centre where the shopping centre, market, theatre, bars & clubs, other shops and train station are located. It is also roughly the same distance to the Peterborough Regional Swimming Pool, Lido and Posh football ground. There are also a few bus stops located near to the campus, with the shortest route taking 13 mins and buses every 12 mins. If travelling by car it will take you just under 10 mins. Accomodation which is private halls for the Uni, is a 15 min. walk from campus.

As the Uni is small, these are limited. However, due to the size of the institution and because there are few societites/sports, there is greater opportunity for you to start your own. Providing you can present your idea and case to the student council and show that you have enough student support and interest, they can help you to set it up and even provide you with funding to buy any kit/equipment you may need. In the past there have been football and netball teams. Recently, netball was re-established in the form of mixed netball. This was good for different courses to mix and inclusive of all students.

The course delivery is fantastic and there is little to fault. The class sizes are small, so all students feel more confident to contribute and it's a much more inclusive environment than larger organisations. The majority, if not all lectures are delivered in a classroom rather than a lecture hall, so are structured more like a seminar or lesson. This allows for much greater interactivity and engagement from students and between students and lecturers. Due to the class sizes and nature of delivery, this resluts in a much better and closer working relationship between staff and students. Meaning there is access to greater support when needed, you are known personally and as an individual and therefore learning and help can be tailored to improve your learning experience. The teaching approach also focuses on the whole individual rather than just simply talking at you and the academic work, helping to build students with a wider range of knowledge and skills; in turn preparing them for the workplace. Overall, these teaching methods and delivery create an interesting, enjoyable and amazing experience!

13-15

The Employability Hub is very active in providing careers fairs with local employers attending, workshops to improve employability skills (CV writing, LinkedIn Profile, Workplace skills - Resilience, Team management, etc.) and events such as Practice Assessment Centre Days. There is also the opportunity to become an Employability Ambassador to support the hub in their work. In addition, they regularly send emails out regarding opportunities like work placements and upcoming events as well as talking to all classes at some point throughout their course.

Catering, library, and breakout areas are on-site. There is a gym and sports hall that students can join too. Toilets are on every floor and access is good if you have a disability. The staff are very friendly and always work hard for the students.

Excellent! Really great support from teaching staff and the student support team are brilliant too. Reception staff know my name and say hello every morning, it feels like a community.

There is excellent student representation at UCP! There are many class reps, a Student Officer who is dedicated to the students' voice, and students are invited to many uni meetings that give students the opportunity to provide feedback. Student input is very important at UCP.

Uni is about a 5 minute walk away from the city centre, which has many shops, places to eat, and regular markets. Public transport is good, the cinema is a short bus ride away and so are local theatres.

Students are always working hard to organise societies, and because UCP is a small Uni the societies are very personable. There is an on-site modern gym and sports hall that students can subscribe to, which is great.

The lecturers are very knowledgable and passionate about the course, there is always something new and challenging to learn. The staff are very supportive with lots of one-to-one time, which you don't get from large universities. Can't fault the teaching, it really is excellent!

16

There is a dedicated Employability Hub that offers support and guidance with CV writing, LinkedIn profiles, interview techniques and internships. My Course models are employment focused too.