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Is Sunderland good?

I will just directly ask...
is this sunderland uni worth to take??

im really confuse as some people say its bad and some just said ok..

is the environment good and the people are nice?
thanks :smile:


My, my, my...
I didnt expect this much reply >.<
Seriously, thanks for all your advice :biggrin:
I am still choosing which uni to choose though... 3 more days to go before the UCAS deadline ^^
(edited 12 years ago)

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Wearside looks like a bomb site.
Student in halls, University of Sunderland
University of Sunderland
Sunderland
Visit website
Never been but I'd imagine its awful.
Reply 3
Let's put it this way, any UNI that bothers sending advertisements about their courses to students who haven't applied to them YET, is pretty much desperate. It is then up to you to decide whether them being desperate means that their teaching is poor. I'm quite sure I got 1 or 2 leaflets/booklets from them.
Reply 4
It is a ****hole
Just truly awful go to Newcastle / Northumbria
I'm in my final year at Sunderland and I have to agree, not a great experience. Sunderland is a pretty awful city, the only upside being that accommodation is cheap.
Disgraceful comments :/

The uni used to be an absolute dump, but since it's refurbishment - it's become more popular in the eyes of the country and has won the award of the North East's best university

The town is sadly overshadowed by Newcastle's, but the town of Newcastle is pretty much what you see on Geordie Shore, they're all like that in Newcastle of my experience...

The uni specialises in journalism, but has received great comments on it's courses of Business, ICT and Media

The accommodation is far cheaper to Northumbria and Newcastle - but just as good!

Not saying the uni is exceptionally brilliant, but to call it a dump or Sunderland an awful city - then you need challenged!

Make your own mind up, go and see the campus itself...it's not a dump, I assure you
Original post by accountant-future
Disgraceful comments :/

The uni used to be an absolute dump, but since it's refurbishment - it's become more popular in the eyes of the country and has won the award of the North East's best university


I think it was North East's best new university actually, which isn't really saying much because that rules out Durham and Newcastle which are generally considered to be the good universities in the North East.

Original post by accountant-future

Not saying the uni is exceptionally brilliant, but to call it a dump or Sunderland an awful city - then you need challenged!

Make your own mind up, go and see the campus itself...it's not a dump, I assure you


The campus isn't bad but Sunderland is not a nice city in my opinion, it is often described as a failed city and I think that it's quite justified to be honest.
Reply 8
Original post by accountant-future

Not saying the uni is exceptionally brilliant, but to call it a dump or Sunderland an awful city - then you need challenged!

Make your own mind up, go and see the campus itself...it's not a dump, I assure you


I'm sorry, I'm an unfortunate resident of Sunderland and I'd agree that it's the a**ehole of the world :tongue:
Reply 9
The University does not have the same reputation as other unis in the region like Northumbria. Northumbria is one of the leading ones the NE region alongside with Durham and Newcastle.
Reply 10
I went to look at Sunderland mainly because I could combine photography with journalism and i liked the courses there. Mainly because I don't know exactly what I want to do, if i wanted I could go to a more academic uni but it would mean giving up photography as none of the academic uni's (york/sheffield/) etc do it. But out of all my open days (12) Sunderland was my favourite, definatley the most friendly, the facilities were great and all the tutors were really realistic and helpful. Also the best canteen food out of all the university's i've visited hahahaha. It is disheartening to hear everyone say such bad things about the city, especially as travelling 4 hours home is a long way if the city's so poor, so i'm stuck between somewhere nice to live for three years and to me a nice uni.

But the university itself is impressive, and the accomodation and sports were all good, plus as someone from wayy down south of Sunderland the accents great :biggrin:
Reply 11
Being from sunderland, the city is not as bad as people make on, might not be the most aesthetically pleasing place to be but thats the same with pretty much everywhere. At the end of the day your going for the university, can live in newcastle and travel through after first year if you really need to. The university has improved and is as good a place as Hallam, Napier, etc.
Original post by Mike732
Being from sunderland, the city is not as bad as people make on, might not be the most aesthetically pleasing place to be but thats the same with pretty much everywhere. At the end of the day your going for the university, can live in newcastle and travel through after first year if you really need to. The university has improved and is as good a place as Hallam, Napier, etc.


Well said!
I'm a Journalism fresher, only started in September and while Sunderland is certainly no Newcastle I can assure you it's fine.

Good nightlife, Newcastle is always close enough if you fancy that for a night out, and accommodation is cheap but quality. The uni, particularly for media-related subjects, has amazing facilities and great teachers. Don't take any notice of those who slate it, it's a great uni and a good city (ok, more of a town in comparison to Sunderland, but not half bad).
it's not highly rated, let's be honest, and the city isn't that nice either.
Reply 15
OP, be a bit cautious of some of the posts here. You might notice that most of these replies are by people from Newcastle and/or support Newcastle United. So there is bias :p: It's not the nicest city in my opinion but it's not a dump either. My cousin studied at Sunderland for her teaching degree and had an awesome time, as I'm sure many people do. I wouldn't say it, or indeed any university, is "unfriendly". All have large numbers of people, young and old, with interesting and contrastic personalities. The city is quite warm and welcoming and its crime rate is quite reasonable. Some suburbs are quite deprived but you're unlikely to spend much time there.

Original post by jokosor
Let's put it this way, any UNI that bothers sending advertisements about their courses to students who haven't applied to them YET, is pretty much desperate. It is then up to you to decide whether them being desperate means that their teaching is poor. I'm quite sure I got 1 or 2 leaflets/booklets from them.


All universities advertise in one way or another. Aberdeen keep sending me Christmas and birthday cards (after just asking for a postgrad prospectus), what about the Russell Group universities and other former polytechnics advertising on TSR? Or the likes of Harvard advertising on youtube? They are competing against other universities for applicants so need to get their name out there as much as possible. It doesn't mean they are desperate or the teaching is poor. Sunderland maintains quite high levels of student satisfaction across many of its courses and, though not an ideal measurement of teaching quality, it (and its teaching quality scores) suggest that, as with any multi-faculty university, it does have some very strong departments (Primary teaching, pharmacy, ICT...)

Original post by accountant-future
Disgraceful comments :/

The uni used to be an absolute dump, but since it's refurbishment - it's become more popular in the eyes of the country and has won the award of the North East's best university

The town is sadly overshadowed by Newcastle's, but the town of Newcastle is pretty much what you see on Geordie Shore, they're all like that in Newcastle of my experience...

The uni specialises in journalism, but has received great comments on it's courses of Business, ICT and Media

The accommodation is far cheaper to Northumbria and Newcastle - but just as good!

Not saying the uni is exceptionally brilliant, but to call it a dump or Sunderland an awful city - then you need challenged!

Make your own mind up, go and see the campus itself...it's not a dump, I assure you


Sunderland and Newcastle are both cities, not towns.

So you've met all 300,000+ people in Newcastle, or 800,000 across Tyneside? Yes, there are "Geordie Shore" types and a binge drinking culture, as there is in all parts of the country, but Newcastle remains a vibrant city with a cultural and nigtlife scene that far eclipses Sunderland's and is internationally recognised. The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle has the largest independent library outside London and is one of the oldest of its kind (and the first building in the world to be lit be electric light :p: ), the Theatre Royal is the second home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Baltic (techincally in Gateshead, I know) has just finished hosting the Turner Prize with impressive attendances. The city centre is one of the most beautiful in the country. I could go on. But don't get irked by people saying Sunderland is a dump and then suggest Newcastle is one. You'll hardly get these things where everyone "just wants to gan and get pissed and ****".

As already pointed out it won the award of "Best NEW University", in other words the post-1992 (former polytechnics), so the only competition is Northumbria and Teesside and Sunderland is no "better" than Northumbria, at least. I'm not dismissing the award (well, actually, I am...but that's I do most of these University of the year awards; it wasn't that long ago that another university in the region, Teesside, won university of the year and that was amongst all universities in the country) but I do recognise its strengths and the improvements it has made. But this is very different to it being definitively the best university in the region, including Durham and Newcastle.

Original post by leaaahhxx
I went to look at Sunderland mainly because I could combine photography with journalism and i liked the courses there. Mainly because I don't know exactly what I want to do, if i wanted I could go to a more academic uni but it would mean giving up photography as none of the academic uni's (york/sheffield/) etc do it. But out of all my open days (12) Sunderland was my favourite, definatley the most friendly, the facilities were great and all the tutors were really realistic and helpful. Also the best canteen food out of all the university's i've visited hahahaha. It is disheartening to hear everyone say such bad things about the city, especially as travelling 4 hours home is a long way if the city's so poor, so i'm stuck between somewhere nice to live for three years and to me a nice uni.

But the university itself is impressive, and the accomodation and sports were all good, plus as someone from wayy down south of Sunderland the accents great :biggrin:


Solution: Go to Sunderland but stay in Newcastle :p: Live in a city increasingly recognised for its quality of life and particulary is student friendliness and commute to Sunderland by Metro.

In all seriousness, it's not too bad, but it will not offer the major city experience of a Newcastle, Manchester or Glasgow. I can't comment much on its clubs and nightlife but you are close to the coast (beach within walking distance of the city centre) and you can still travel to Newcastle if you fancy nights out there. Sunderland is still a relatively safe city, it's just I find its city centre uninspiring from an architectural point of view (contrast to Newcastle) and it comes across more as a large town. It does have some great cultural attractions, the Empire theatre is the largest between York and Edinburgh and hosts West End productions, just not in the same quantity as Newcastle. But there's no reason why you can't have the best of both cities as they are just a Metro journey apart.

The city is also becoming increasingly popular as a centre for IT and hi technology, so I imagine with will fit in well with the university's relevant departments.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 16
Original post by River85

All universities advertise in one way or another. Aberdeen keep sending me Christmas and birthday cards (after just asking for a postgrad prospectus), what about the Russell Group universities and other former polytechnics advertising on TSR? Or the likes of Harvard advertising on youtube? They are competing against other universities for applicants so need to get their name out there as much as possible. It doesn't mean they are desperate or the teaching is poor. Sunderland maintains quite high levels of student satisfaction across many of its courses and, though not an ideal measurement of teaching quality, it (and its teaching quality scores) suggest that, as with any multi-faculty university, it does have some very strong departments (Primary teaching, pharmacy, ICT...)


What you are referring to is indirect advertisement, which is completely fine. In Aberdeen's case ordering the prospectus obviously meant an interest towards the institution by you or a friend. That identifies you as a potential applicant and thus from that point it makes sense targeting you with direct advertisement or whatever just so you don't forget them.
In Sunderland case I never expressed an interest towards them. They mysteriously managed to get my address and then sent me these things. The same goes for Bangor (just another example).
Reputable unis wait until you show interest in them and not the course. For example, I was asked to complete this degree matching questionnaire while in AS. The result was a strong matching with finance (though I wanted to do medicine). Not much later Bangor starts sending me letters about their courses, when I pretty much knew that courses aside I would never go there. That was a waste of money on their behalf and a speculative approach to recruitment.
Reply 17
Original post by jokosor
What you are referring to is indirect advertisement, which is completely fine. In Aberdeen's case ordering the prospectus obviously meant an interest towards the institution by you or a friend. That identifies you as a potential applicant and thus from that point it makes sense targeting you with direct advertisement or whatever just so you don't forget them.
In Sunderland case I never expressed an interest towards them. They mysteriously managed to get my address and then sent me these things. The same goes for Bangor (just another example).
Reputable unis wait until you show interest in them and not the course. For example, I was asked to complete this degree matching questionnaire while in AS. The result was a strong matching with finance (though I wanted to do medicine). Not much later Bangor starts sending me letters about their courses, when I pretty much knew that courses aside I would never go there. That was a waste of money on their behalf and a speculative approach to recruitment.


With Aberdeen it's also because I was a potential postgrad (which equals money), might have been a different case had I ordered an undergrad prospectus.

But how is Bangor not a reputable instituion? It's a perfectly fine university. Founded in the 1880s, making it the same age as the redbricks, and has some excellent departments. Its school of psychology is held in particular high regard. Not bad for georgaphy, environmental sciences and marine biology either.

You might think it's a waste of money, although I imagine the universities think differently (they will have done research and tested the effectivenss of the system, just because it didn't attract you doesn't mean it doesn't attract others if it it a waste then they will stop) but whether it's a waste of money is irrelevant. You are incorect in making the assumption that because they make this "speculative" advertising they must have poor teaching and research and therefore be rubbish. Even if demand for their courses isn't as high as at some other universities it isn't necessarily because the courses are poorer but because people are put off by location or just not aware of the university's existence. Bangor, being a relatively small city in North Wales and not a large university, means that many just aren't aware of it. They want to get their name out and inform people. With Sunderland, they have undergone significant redevelopment and expansion over the last few years so are trying to covey this message to potential applicants and encourage applications.
Reply 18
Original post by River85
With Aberdeen it's also because I was a potential postgrad (which equals money), might have been a different case had I ordered an undergrad prospectus.

But how is Bangor not a reputable instituion? It's a perfectly fine university. Founded in the 1880s, making it the same age as the redbricks, and has some excellent departments. Its school of psychology is held in particular high regard. Not bad for georgaphy, environmental sciences and marine biology either.

You might think it's a waste of money, although I imagine the universities think differently (they will have done research and tested the effectivenss of the system, just because it didn't attract you doesn't mean it doesn't attract others if it it a waste then they will stop) but whether it's a waste of money is irrelevant. You are incorect in making the assumption that because they make this "speculative" advertising they must have poor teaching and research and therefore be rubbish. Even if demand for their courses isn't as high as at some other universities it isn't necessarily because the courses are poorer but because people are put off by location or just not aware of the university's existence. Bangor, being a relatively small city in North Wales and not a large university, means that many just aren't aware of it. They want to get their name out and inform people. With Sunderland, they have undergone significant redevelopment and expansion over the last few years so are trying to covey this message to potential applicants and encourage applications.


I'm sorry but founding date doesn't have much to do with whether today it's considered a reputable university.
Labels such as Redbrick should be used carefully as there are major differences academically and otherwise between its components.
I don't think they are rubbish, like I said it's up to the candidate to decide whether them advertising themselves in such a manner is a reflection of poor teaching and thus low student attraction.
I believe that they are performing a necessary evil I.e. A substantial part of the funds is being wasted but it's necessary if they are to enrol more students and somehow get their name out. As of now: funds spent>quality of students recruited.
Original post by ekong2
I will just directly ask...
is this sunderland uni worth to take??

im really confuse as some people say its bad and some just said ok..

is the environment good and the people are nice?
thanks :smile:


My, my, my...
I didnt expect this much reply >.<
Seriously, thanks for all your advice :biggrin:
I am still choosing which uni to choose though... 3 more days to go before the UCAS deadline ^^






It is Sunderland as a city itself that you should be worried about, it is a dump. Basically full of chavs. The nightlife is okay (been going there since I was 16 so it's boring now though), there is always Newcastle and Durham if you get sick of Sunderland though :smile:

The university is good though. Just really depends how high you set your standards and your own general opinion..

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