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The campus is absolutely beautiful, with lovely green spaces and impressive buildings that really create a great atmosphere for studying and hanging out with friends. The facilities are great, too. Plus, the student life here is vibrant, with tons of clubs and events that make it easy to meet people and get involved. However, there are some challenges. Financial support for students from working-class backgrounds can be quite limited, which can lead to stress and make it harder to fully participate in everything the university has to offer. Living in Exeter can also be pricey, with high rents and general costs adding to the financial burden. Overall, it’s a mixed bag, but I’ve definitely enjoyed my time at Exeter!
The teaching is generally excellent, with passionate lecturers. Most classes are taught in-person. There are plenty of opportunities to connect with lecturers, which is a big plus. The schedule varies, but you can expect a few sessions almost every day. However, the fast pace often means that concepts aren’t explained in enough depth, which can lead to confusion at times.
Great location—right in the city centre, which makes it super convenient for accessing shops, cafes, and nightlife. It's about a 25-minute walk to the main campus, so while it's a bit of a trek, it's manageable. The property management is generally okay, but cleaning is completely up to the residents. On the downside, while the Wi-Fi is usually good, there are occasional disruptions that can be frustrating. Safety is decent, but you do have to deal with the noise from the street, especially at night.
Pros: - University has great resources. It has a three story library and access to original primary source material. - Disability and ILP team are lovely and accomodating. - Beautiful location. Exeter is a very historical city with plenty of opportunities to enjoy nature. Train station 20 minutes from campus which has routes across the country. - Guild supports students through cost of living campaigns and feed your flat meal nights where they provide ingredients. They also provide free period products. - Give it a go run by the guild is fun and enjoyable. You get to do things for free including pumpkin carving, glass painting etc. - Campus £2 meal deal great cheaper alternative to other campus food. - Campus is relatively clean. Cons: - Online library system is difficult to use and often does not give you the results you're looking for. - Not enough study spaces on campus, meaning you're always fighting for a seat if you're planning on staying to do work. - Campus is on a steep hill, which you have to climb pretty much every single day. - Student union doesn't really do much and is not very good with supporting its societies. - Not much nightlife so places are crowded and tickets sell out fast. - Buying anything on campus is expensive - There are hardly any benches on campus. - Bus routes to campus are limited. There is only one bus that comes to campus and it only covers a very small percentage of the city.
Course content: - Kind of all over the place. The course is being changed, leading to us being the first year to try certain things out. - Not all essay assessments. Had to make an academic poster for second year that was 40% of one module. I also had to write an article in the style of a history today magazine. This year, I am expected to do a podcast pitch. - Lack of clarity in expectations and poor communication. One time a lecturer did not turn up for our lecture. - Mostly taught in person, but contact hours are few. Lots of independent work. - I have had staff voice to me that they do not like the course either. Teaching: - Teaching is very hit or miss. Some lectures are fantastic, whilst others are quiet, mumble or talk with zero enthusiasm for their subject, which is sad. - Seminars can be difficult. I have sat through a few dominated by silence. Some feel a little pointless. - A few seminar tutors have made me feel anxious and uncomfortable, which meant I did not want to engage or attend. However, most seminar tutors are lovely and enthused with their work. Subject Facilities: - My lessons are all over the place. I have zero this year in the designated humanities block (amory). - Good access to primary materials for research, though it does take some digging to find what you're looking for. - Digital Humanities Lab for digital research - ELE pages often provide lots of further reading and access to texts. This is down to lecturers and seminar tutors.
I stayed in university halls for my first two years. My experiences were vastly different between halls, so I will talk about them separately. These halls cost the same amount of money. Christow was a wonderful place to live. I felt safe and secure, using an electronic key to get into my flat and room. All room doors locked from the inside. It was close to campus. It was, however, not wheelchair friendly as it had steps down to the front door. These would sometimes become slippery, and I did fall over once or twice. They did not grit them in the winter which made them unsafe. I was allocated a room on the second floor. It was a flat of 6 people, sharing a kitchen. I had a double bed and an ensuite bathroom. The cupboards in the kitchen were spacious and there was plenty of room for 6 people. We had a huge corner sofa in a separated lounge area. We had a kitchen table with 6 chairs, two fridges and freezers, one microwave, one oven, one kettle and 2 sets of 4 hobs. It felt homely and welcoming. Glide WiFi was not fantastic, but it worked. We had four big recycling boxes, which meant that we did not have to take the recycling out as often. Maintence were, in most cases, quick to respond and were very friendly. Our boiler broke at the end of the year, which they dealt with immediately. They also replaced our hobs after an electrical fault. My flat was lovely, kind and welcoming. We got along very well. I did not enjoy living in Lafrowda MB. The front door opened with electronic key, but often stayed open for a while where anyone could follow you inside. You used an electronic key to get into my flat and room. All room doors locked from the inside. It was close to campus. It was not disability friendly. Despite having a personal evacuation plan for fires, I was put on the top floor of the flat, which was four flights of stairs up. It was horrible walking up them every day as there was no lift. Moving in was a nightmare. I was in a flat of 8 people, sharing a kitchen. I had a single bed and an ensuite wet room. Bedroom had a huge wrap around desk, but Bathroom had zero storage. The cupboards in the kitchen were tiny and could not even fit a dinner plate. It was definitely not big enough for 8 people. We had a kitchen table with 8 chairs, but it was not built for 8 chairs. We had two fridges and freezers, two microwaves, two ovens, two kettles, two sinks and 2 sets of 4 hobs. There was a tiny carpeted square with two sofas and a table at the side of the kitchen. Whilst Christow had felt like a home, this flat did not. My flatmates and I did not get on, and there were constant arguments about bins and recycling. Our cleaner refused to clean our flat as the bins were so full. Glide was even worse from this building as I was so high up. It stopped working twice throughout the year. Maintenence were quick to respond again and lovely. Overall, if I was doing this review just off St Germans I would give it 5 stars. But my experience in Lafrowda was unpleasant. It is all a luck of the draw.
Lots of activities. St Luck's library has been refurbished since May. Can't believe it hasn't been fixed yet!
blended learning
Love the beach and the sea campus has a really natural feel.
I have been on a placement year in Truro incredible place to be and the people on my placement are often eager to engage and take time to teach me things.
Pretty good accommodation nothing to complain about. However it is fairly far from main campus so does isolate you to St Luke's a little bit.
I like the location and the city, and the campus is good, I just do not think the teaching is the best, there is little academic support and all our assignments are marked inconsistently, with feedback usually being ai generated
as mentioned before, we do not get much support, we can book an office hours which is usually only 10 mins as the lecturers have only an hour every week shared out between all the students they teach. The marking is inconsistent to the feedback we get on essay plans and usually not relevant to our assignments, e.g. saying we could have included something in the essay when we did have it there. The feedback is copy and pasted between students and not personalised.
It was really good and in a good location, but that was only because I was in the very bottom block of the accommodation. the rest of the blocks were a longer walk to campus.
It has great lecturers and facilities are all great making learning enjoyable
The course is taught in class, the lecturers emphasise quality at all times and they do deliver quality, the course is well delivered
flat rent is too high
The bed mattress are of low quality, they are too thin and hard. At times sleep becomes uncomfortable. Safety is of high class since access is given to only those housed in that particular hall and/or flat Heating system is great, making student life comfortable - opportunity to study comfortably.
Support for students is second to none.
All round brilliance
Very good
The best parts of the University of Exeter are the location including the university campus, distance to the city centre and the local area in addition to the student support. The campus is located with easy access to the beach, nature and the city centre for shopping. The campus is beautiful and full of mindful green space. The university takes mental wellbeing, health and accessibility seriously. There are so many campaigns and educational resources for all students to understand theese things. the well-being and accessibility teams are inclusive, accessible and helpful for all students. We also have a useful individual learning plan system so all students can feel that their needs are being met including extra time, support for disabilities or anxiety and any other support the university can put in place to make education accessible to all of us.
The course is really well taught. Whilst the first three years are taught as all psychology degrees the final year is a small group of students taught by six lectures in collaboration with each other. This means that the contact hours and individual support are fantastic. The course is engaging and there are many ways to get involved to learn more and enhance our carreer prospects. Throughout my degree, the university has helped me to gain two internships, and two work placements and I've also had some one-to-one career mentoring which makes a huge difference in a competitive field.
East park accommodation was large, modern and equipt with brilliant security and management.
A great student culture and endless student opportunities with a great careers team and a great diversity of students. You can really personalise your student life to how you want, with many societies and a well-looked after campus. Improvements include individual study spaces for interviews and better internet on campus. Some cheaper options for food on campus.
Majority in-person which is good. However, sometimes my course content can be a little bit woolly and content can be more narrow.
Great facilities. New feeling and exceptionally well-maintained.
One of the best aspects of studying at Exeter University is that the lecturers are all leading experts in their fields - it's really interesting to hear about their research and how it links so directly to the things we are studying. The location is also stunning, Penryn Campus is beautiful and Cornwall is (in my opinion) one the best places to study, particularly for a Bioscience course. The location also has its downsides and one of the worst things about studying here is that lots of places in the county are inaccessible if you don't have a car so opportunities for exploring are a little limited.
The facilities on campus are fantastic - the labs are very well equipped and are ideal for developing relevant skills, the campus also has plenty of natural areas so you don't need to go far for data collection on research projects. The course content doesn't always suit everyone - the actual substance of the courses is very interesting and I found it really held my interest; however, the delivery might not be ideal for everyone as there is a mix of online pre-recorded lectures and in-person sessions depending on the module. Additionally, some modules are a little overwhelming in terms of volume of work but this does become easier as you progress through your degree.
Glasney Village is located on Penryn Campus and this makes it very easy for getting to and from classes, as well as getting to know the campus. The team in Glasney Lodge are also very helpful - the security is fast and effective and they are often efficient with addressing maintenance issues. When I first moved into Glasney, I wasn't entirely happy in my flat - I had requested a quiet flat and my flatmates weren't as quiet as I thought might be the case (although they were lovely people and my stress was largely due to my own anxieties with starting uni). However, when I contacted the accommodation team, they were very helpful and I was quickly in a new flat where I was much happier.
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