University of Exeter, England

The campus is very pretty and the facilities are nice in general, but the night life is dire and the student union does nothing to make it better. Obviously wasn't expecting Cornwall to be a rave but the student union could at least host some good events to make up for it. Also difficult to get help on things when you're stuck. The course content is great and some of the lecturers are brilliant. Others put no effort in and make every student feel like an inconvenience. Love the beaches, loads of part time work available, but literally the entire town seem to dislike the students. It was alright. Overpriced, but nice being on campus. The showers often blocked and using one of the toasters would cause all the sockets to stop working. Maintenance were pretty rubbish, our lock didn't work on our flat door and it took them about 2 months to come and fix it.

The uni gives so much help. When you’re having a hard, stressful time the uni will always be there to support you. The uni’s sport facilities in the penryn campus are not so great which is really unfortunate and could be improved but the sports facilities in the main campus (streatham) is huge and the societies are various and top quality. Really top class facilities there and it’s amazing. The course is taught very well. We have amazing lecturers and can see them whenever we want to, all we have to do is book a session with them and this is very helpful. We often get to see our tutor and discuss all our enquiries which makes me feel more confident each time. I couldn’t have chosen a better uni, really grateful and privileged to be here. Cost of living is good and safety is underrated. I always feel very safe here. The transport system is not so good as not only do you have to pay quite an amount ( whereas in London it’s free), the bus times are super unreliable. Diversity is also low however it’s increasing more and more. Halls here is excellent. Location is super useful, not just because it’s on campus but also because it is not too far from the beach and the centre of the town. There also a bus stop on the glasney student village which is really helpful. Rooms are good, big and spacious and the property management services are always there 24/7 to help. Great experience here.

Societies are great and there are so many clubs - there is a group for everyone to make friends and enjoy the social aspect of university. Some for social sciences essay feedback is slightly (not always) vague, which makes it difficult to apply to future essays. PPE is a prestigious course with lots of fantastic job prospects. The PPE Society hosts lots of great events and is perfect for meeting like-minded individuals who will undoubtedly become your friends. Teaching is generally very good - it is clear the academic staff are passionate about teaching (most of the time) and care about student success. However, on occasion essay feedback can seem abstract and difficult to implement (in particular with Philosophy essays). This is especially difficult for the PPE course as you are expected to write three styles of essay for the three different subjects, and your essays are expected to be the same calibre as students who student straight Philosophy, straight Politics, or straight Economics (i.e. students that have more experience writing in their subject's style of essay). Note: this is less an issue of academic staff effort - all academic staff are passionate and if you want more feedback on an essay in my experience they will provide it if needed. The issue is lack of funding for PPE as a course - ideally there would be an essay writing group of seminars in which we are taught to write essays and taught specifically what the difference between writing essays in the three disciplines is. As it stands this is left for the students to figure out as they write.

The university campus is gorgeous and has plenty of space to explore during the nice weather. There are also an abundance of seating areas indoors including access to study spaces. The campus accommodations are well maintained and looked after as well as in a good location close to campus. The campus has a sports bar and lots of places to get food such as the amata cafe and koofi. The location is great with transport services into Falmouth for the beach and nightlife as well as Truro. The university has a large selection of modules to choose from such as European history, people’s history, public history and world history. The module leaders craft the courses in a way that most of the study is independent with weekly lectures and seminars. There is a large archive open to students for research as well as both a physical and online library. Due to location and being a tourist destination, the area isn’t the cheapest but there are lots of opportunities for work from small independent businesses to large corporations such as Asda Sainsbury’s Lidl McDonalds and Wetherspoons. Halls are expensive but are right on campus each room has its own en-suite bathroom and each flat is shared by a maximum of 8 people. The kitchen has two fridges and a freezer as well as stove oven microwave kettle and toaster. There is a tv in the kitchen as well. Rooms are spacious and each come with a large desk to work at.

I studied the flexible combined honours program which was great because it enabled me to choose many different subjects to study, instead of choosing just one. So I took all the courses that interested me. I liked the university, it is in a really nice location close to beaches, and beautiful towns. The campus environment is also really nice. Good value, nice community, classes were good. Recommend it!