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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).
5.04.04.63494 Student reviews
Sort:Latest reviewsBest aspects include the proximity to the city center, student areas around the uni, and the course it self being rather interesting. The worst include student support. They don’t seem to care.
Students union nights such as yolo and juice are a great alternative to public night clubs. The SU has great facilities such as y plas, and is kept really clean. Students receive a vast amount of emails from the SU.
The facilities are amazing with so many places to study as well as relax with friends. The Centre for Student Life is brand new and has such a nice atmosphere as you can study as well as talk with friends. The Student Union is also amazing with a great pub, the Taf, as well as a great club. Overall, the Student Union is huge with so many different areas for studying, chilling and eating.
The uni has a good location and lots of resources. Staff are good and there is a lot of student support. More libraries need to be open 24/7 to give students a warm place to work, especially during the cost of living crisis.
The Su is amazing, you can study and when you finish you have an area where you can relax and play as well. However, some buildings need to improve with their heating and some lecture halls could be improved
Cardiff Uni is a great place to study, passionate about academics, very accessible for picking up and playing sports, a welcoming atmosphere around campus. It's a great city and the university life helps you experience it best.
Always lots going on, and a friendly welcoming place to be and live. Has lots more to do in SU etc than most other unis.
Variety of libraries alongside the SU and CSL which all provide ample spaces to study. Libraries are perfect for quiet work whereas SU and CSL provide an atmosphere where you can eat and talk to your friends every so often. The location is perfect. My biosciences building is right beside the SU and subsequently five minutes from my student house. Cathays is a perfect student area with all the services you need no more than fifteen minutes from where you live (e.g. pharmacy, food shops, hairdressers, tailors, launderette, university building, library). There is a wealth of student support ranging from the SU wellness support to in course wellness reps and personal tutors. Everything from financial support to academic support to mental health support is well covered. The campus is a great mix of modern, function and prestigious. The student's union club y plas is a huge highlight. Being able to go out in a safe environment that is close to home and filled with many people you know and recognise. Overall, all these factors make student life at Cardiff great!
Cardiff is a great place to study, as most facilities are close together although it is not considered a 'campus' university. I have always found that the student support for mental health and other problems is easy to access and always made known to students. The only part that I think could be improved in terms of support is to do with second and third year housing. In first year I found that finding a house was quite confusing and stressful and there seemed to be barely any help from the actual university and we just had to figure it all out ourselves or with help from our families. The student life is amazing and I am sure that no other university has as good student union as ours. There are so many events put on by the union as well as a huge variety of societies and sports for anyone and everyone. The only complaint I may have is the distribution of funding as I know certain societies, such as student media, often struggle with funding and have had to make cuts due to this. Student media is very important for the university and creativity for students. It may not be the case but it does seem like sometimes more funding goes towards sporting teams and other socials, and often the arts side seems let down. However, I do not know the details so this may not be the case. The location of buildings on campus is very good, as all are pretty close together and a short walk from the students union. The JOMEC building that I study is considerably further than most other buildings, however it is definitely worth the walk. The building is modern and always clean and nice to work in. We have loads of great facilities like silent study rooms, social stairs for louder studying, computer rooms and TV and Radio suites that everybody is excited to use in third year. As for other buildings, they are also an amazing standard. I love to work in the CSL and it is always quiet and has good facilities (Costa and quiet working rooms). The only suggestion I would have for CSL is possibly adding more tables to the communal areas/ spaces to work, as it is a huge building but the small amount of tables on each floor means it fills up really fast even on a less busy day. Overall, all of aspects of Cardiff University are well-organised and it is a great university to attend.
I love the facilities and how accessible everything is, however, there is a lack of international students
I think there are lots of people (like the SU president) who are trying to make our lives easier and better as students and have been able to make lots of great changes so far. The teachers have been super friendly and are really invested in our learning. I’m really enjoying the course and have had a chance to go abroad for one year too. Perhaps the MLANG buildings could be a bit more modernised like some of the other buildings for different subjects but other than that, I’m really enjoying everything.
Best aspects- societies, nightlife, lots to do in the city , nice areas to walk, csl Worst aspects- More field trips are needed and more interactions with lecturers
18-24 years
Cardiff is a small city so it's very nice to roam around and explore + it is not as expensive as major cities. However, almost all of the study spaces we have is always busy making it hard to find a place.
18-24 years
Studying at Cardiff gives one the pleasure of living in an international city where you get to experience a bast range of cultures from different parts of the world whilst learning to embrace the Welsh culture. The locals here are very friendly and will always welcome you with open arms when in need. Throught my 4+ years here, is very easy to forget the felling of walking down High street, visiting the castle or entering the market for the first time. The city feels like to home to anyone stepping in and you soon develop a sense of familiarity with it. When it comes to study, the university is very open and easy to walk throught. You get the opportunity to shared lecturing spaces and areas of study with other courses, meanign that you will get to know people from different disciplines that will share with you fascinating discoveries. For any sports fans, the Student Union's Athletics team is one of the biggest of the country and there are plenty of options to choose from to suit your interests. Also, the relevance of the national football and rugby teams means that all year round, the city gets filled with fans from all parts of the world, cheering for an exciting games. As much as I love the city, there are some downsides to it. I love spending time outdoors and dicovering new locations. The limited afluence of public transport outside of Cardiff, specially as you move north, can make it seem like the city is disconnected from the rest of the country and the opportunities to visit other towns and national parks seem a bit restrictive.
I love Cardiff because the campus is very close to the city centre. The student union is also great - a perfect mix of society activities and SU nights means that everyone can get involved. The student and academic support is also top notch - I’m particularly grateful at the way the uni takes mental health support so seriously. The only thing I wish could be improved is switching back to more in person teaching - it’s definitely getting better but I would prefer 100% in person teaching rather than blended in person & online teaching
Cardiff is a vibrant and welcoming city, with the University campus right at the heart. Student life and support here are top tier!
d
The location is perfect! All the uni buildings are almost centred to the Cardiff’s City Centre. Everything is walking distance. It’s really a student area with amazing sights to see such as the amounts of greenery surrounding campus, Bute park. The SU is well made with many student places to study and eat at very affordable prices. They really care about the cost of living crisis and provide help and resources. The centre of student life is an impressive infrastructure where students can get a lot of support and where you can study in groups. There are many libraries to study in depending on your subject with quiet places for focused study. There are many societies in Cardiff which is great for trying something new because you never know what you enjoy unless you give it a go! These can be held in the sports centre or the SU. You can make many friends that have the same hobbies or interests as you. Not every subject building has a modern feel, there are a few new buildings such as the computer science building.
halls could be improved but cardiff is a great city
4.5
Great location to the city centre - all student accommodation is in walking distance to the university and city centre or accessible by bus. The university has great facilities to study, work and to relax. We have the best student nights at the SU and many clubs and bars in town! Down side is the student accommodation team who do not respond to issues quick enough resulting to a house which is unsafe to live in and moving students out with no notice and interrupting studies. This could be improved simply by being more on top of complains and maintenance issues so that they are resolved as soon as possible. Overall good experience and glad I came here!
The building has all the resources needed, large studio space, media labs, an architecture library (in the building), a photography studio, an exhibition hall, hybrid studios, and student kitchens to name a few. The teaching is a mixture of in-person and online. In-person tutorials weekly with 1-1 feedback. A weekly briefing in person once a week and seminars most weeks. Online we have some lectures from practices around the UK and pre recorded context lectures. The live online lectures are typically interesting and engaging when there's an external speaker however the pre-recorded lectures are tedious and should be in person to maximise engagement. When joining the course I was told there are no exams, this is incorrect. We have an exam to ensure we have watched all pre-recorded lectures however if this was in person it would ensure people came (registered) and would allow us more time on our design work rather than sitting a multiple choice exam.
Horrific experience. The house itself was basic but what you would expect from a student house. In a week of moving in mould was found in a bedroom causing someone to move rooms. In the first semester the sewage overflowed out of the drain in our garden which maintenance took a week to fix. This left us unable to open windows and the house smelling like shit. This then proceeded to happen again just before Christmas which we reported before we left. This has not been fixed when we got back and the problem had become much bigger. They offered to move us out whilst they fixed it. Once fixed the fuse in out house kept tripping, causing power cuts regularly (which caused a box to repeatedly fix before maintenance got round to fix it as we were not allowed to do this ourselves). It was then found that our house was damp and it had got into the electrics which meant the house was unsafe for us to live in. We were immediately moved out despite some of us in university at the time and two others away when it happened. With that being said we had the best cleaner who would come once a week to clean. I do not recommend Cardiff university accommodation and your money would be better spent at private accommodation.