1,284 University of York reviews

I studied history of art because I find it so interesting and I knew that I would be interested solely studying it for 3 years. I was right, I was so happy to learn about history through the lens of art. This experience was made better by the wonderful faculty who all have different specialisations. I was given the opportunity to learn about all different styles, Periods and movements through the history of art and learn from passionate experts who want to engage in a conversation with you about it. The worse part of my degree was the university’s lack of interest in giving us the material we need for our degree. All of my tuition fees would go towards funding the sciences when I was not able to read my materials for lectures because there was only one copy to be shared between 60 students. The faculty were aware of this and would constantly ask us to submit requests for more copies of each book. Working virtually was made worse when I could only get a hold of 40% of my reading list and had to spend my own money to buy books that should have been provided to me.

Lots of strikes but other than that great

Best college

Course has a wide variety of content, a careers advisor, a high standard of lectures,all lectures are face to face as well as seminars no virtual learning. Lectures are recoded so you can watch them back easily. Goof subject facilities and good study spaces.

This online remote MSc Computer Science course is relatively new, so I knew going into this there would be teething problems for UoY to rectify as the course went on. I happened to have taken this course up during the covid period with all the lockdowns and sudden policy changes at UoY as a result. I took the pure Computer Science route with no specialisation. This has 10 taught modules at 15 credits each, and an Individual Research Project at 30 credits. What I found interesting is that each taught module varies in support, teaching method/quality and basic knowledge of some commonly known IT methods. For instance, some modules have interesting and well narrated lesson videos, but the support was limited and assessment was terribly organised and unfair. And then we have modules with terrible videos where I could barely hear the lecturer and subtitles had strange typos, but support is great and the assessment is more balanced and fair. If you decide to do this course, just keep in mind that you may be going into it with a professional background in a field that the lecturers and tutors may only have a surface understanding of. This means certain things you may think is 2nd nature within the IT world and should not require thorough explaining may get not be understood by the person marking your work and not be graded. Even introducing approaches not in the taught modules but are being used in real-life scenarios may not be recognised. You will have to follow the actual taught content and follow what it is the markers are looking for within their narrow viewpoint of the subject for best results. Complaints about received grades is a waste of time, because once the person marking it has made their choice on your grade, it is highly unlikely to change. There is also a feeling that the course is over-enrolled, as support can take a while to reply, and the period for getting back to you with your grades for assessments has been extended by 2 weeks. IT does feel like UoY are taking in students purely for monetary reasons, but due to the pandemic causing economic issues everywhere, I can also understand the thought process behind it. The best part of the course is the Slack channel for the students to communicate and shared thoughts and concerns. It really allows us to share what is going on with the course and university, and share ideas - within reason - with each other to support other students within the course. There are discord channels we can join to discuss topics and revise for exams or assessments. If it wasn't for the student support, this course would have fallen apart for me a long time ago. I seriously considered leaving the course after my 4th taught module, but the support from here kept me on the course and attempt to complete it. Overall, this course to me is a mixed bag. It is a bag of licorice sweets, which I despise, and chocolate buttons, which I adore. I give this course an average grade at best and I hope they make many improvements going forward to help future students signing on to have a better experience than I did.

Almost taught entirely in person, with options to rewatch lectures, the course gives some aspects of flexibility while also offering focused high quality teaching. The course could provide slightly more workshop based teaching, at both the start and the end of the week, the system allows for flexibility and structure. The course at York offers a PBL structure, providing a unique problem insight into the legal system, developing understanding and knowledge more cohesively and comprehensively. While some compulsory modules can frustrate some students, with optional modules being limited in some degree, the degree still allows for exploration within a number of the key modules. The main restriction is the guidance for PBL tutors, as frequently the exact aims of the problem will result in some tutors requiring exactly that list, which can have a negative impact on learning due to the restrictive structure. I think the idea of the PBL is excellent, and can be very informative and helpful, however due to the delivery, it can allow PBL tutors to be too restrictive, ‘encouraging wider reading’, but only wider reading that they see as relevant, which can lead to students feeling disappointed and unmotivated to do this further research, as it will not be looked on supportively.

Tailored to the needs of the student

Everything is great

I think covid has hindered teaching as some modules haven’t run in a few years and they have forgotten how to run them and the teachers don’t communicate very well.

It’s really nice accommodation. A bit far out but really pretty and posh

Blended learning worked well, and the lecturers and tutors were always really helpful. contact hours are generally minimal but that's standard for this kind of course resources are easily available and easy to find. Sometimes for joint students there is less choice in what you study, but getting to do both subjects makes up for it. Also, sometimes there could be more communication between different departments especially when it comes to deadlines - but for the most part the course is great !!

The teaching is enthusiastic, but often it feels very limited. Over dependence on power points which are often not expanded on. Seminars can feel more like a book club rather than any teaching. Lectures that were missed during strikes not compensated for and the actual facilities given to English students is basically nothing. No funding which results in everyone having to spend so much on books that are seldom needed.