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University of Manchester vs. University of Nottingham

I'm currently going into Year 13 in September and I'm hoping to study Pharmacy at Uni next year. So far, I've narrowed it down to UoM and UoN. I've visited both at open days and I'm quite torn because although I liked Manchester's campus better, Nottingham seemed to have a better Pharmacy department to me (as well as having a global reputation as a good Pharmacy school). Also, Manchester is a lot closer to home (1h 15m as compared to 2h to Nottingham) and I've visited Manchester several times so I'm quite aware of it.

So my questions are: If you go to any of these two universities, why did you choose it over others? What's the accommodation like? (I've seen a couple pictures and read several reviews but I want honest opinions, which ones are the best and worst) What's the night life and amenities like? Which one has a better ranking/reputation in Pharmacy? Which is better at securing placements?

Thanks for any replies :smile:
I can only talk for nottingham but I know its one of the best! The departments really good and campus is really beautiful :smile: I think its ranked 4th in the country. Im currently at nottingham studying biology but we are under the same facility. I definitely wish i had applied for pharmacy there at the time! As far as i know they have a 4 year course and everyone gets a pre reg placement! theres hospitals really close to campus so its really nice and close for hospital placements. but they also have a 5 yr course where the uni actually organises the pre reg placement for you! so i guess less stress? And most students go aboard for placement if thats something you'd like. Night life is pretty good too but i know manchester probably has loads more on the music scene than we do.
Original post by SunRiseAtDawn
I can only talk for nottingham but I know its one of the best! The departments really good and campus is really beautiful :smile: I think its ranked 4th in the country. Im currently at nottingham studying biology but we are under the same facility. I definitely wish i had applied for pharmacy there at the time! As far as i know they have a 4 year course and everyone gets a pre reg placement! theres hospitals really close to campus so its really nice and close for hospital placements. but they also have a 5 yr course where the uni actually organises the pre reg placement for you! so i guess less stress? And most students go aboard for placement if thats something you'd like. Night life is pretty good too but i know manchester probably has loads more on the music scene than we do.


Thanks for the reply! Yeah I think the Pharmacy department for Nottingham definitely wins but Manchester has a better nightlife and is closer to home :/ If you don't mind me asking, which hall are you in and what's it like?
Reply 3
University of Nottingham is my local uni, but University of Manchester is the university I want to go to. Both universities are really good, but I know Nottingham is very well known for being good for science subjects. I think Manchester is a better city though :colondollar:

What I would suggest is to go online, onto Which? Uni and UCAS and see which course at each uni has a higher rating. You can also go onto the individual uni websites and look at the accommodation choices, but it's best to go and see it yourself.
I can't say much for Manchester but Nottingham is absolutely beautiful. The campus is very green and the city's not too bad either.

Maybe book an open day for Notts and see which one you like more? I've narrowed my options down too but it's Bristol first then Nottingham :tongue:
Original post by wannabe_lawyer
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I think the Pharmacy department for Nottingham definitely wins but Manchester has a better nightlife and is closer to home :/ If you don't mind me asking, which hall are you in and what's it like?


St peters court which is off campus because I wanted self catering. The catering ones are all on campus and they're really convenient! But mine was good :smile: It was ensuite so amazing! but slightly more expensive than what i think you would normally pay for a city like nottingham (£117 per week). But on campus are so much cheaper. Theres loads of nights out with Nottingham trent uni too so really studenty.*

Have you thought about any other unis as well as UoN and UoM?
Original post by Amefish
University of Nottingham is my local uni, but University of Manchester is the university I want to go to. Both universities are really good, but I know Nottingham is very well known for being good for science subjects. I think Manchester is a better city though :colondollar:

What I would suggest is to go online, onto Which? Uni and UCAS and see which course at each uni has a higher rating. You can also go onto the individual uni websites and look at the accommodation choices, but it's best to go and see it yourself.


Yeah which is such a good resource to use too!
Original post by SunRiseAtDawn
St peters court which is off campus because I wanted self catering. The catering ones are all on campus and they're really convenient! But mine was good :smile: It was ensuite so amazing! but slightly more expensive than what i think you would normally pay for a city like nottingham (£117 per week). But on campus are so much cheaper. Theres loads of nights out with Nottingham trent uni too so really studenty.*

Have you thought about any other unis as well as UoN and UoM?



Nottingham's accomo in general is so much cheaper than other unis! I compared Nottingham's accomo to Bristol's and I think the ensuite self catered in Bristol was £145-£160 a week. I had a heart attack when I saw the price!
Original post by Amefish
University of Nottingham is my local uni, but University of Manchester is the university I want to go to. Both universities are really good, but I know Nottingham is very well known for being good for science subjects. I think Manchester is a better city though :colondollar:

What I would suggest is to go online, onto Which? Uni and UCAS and see which course at each uni has a higher rating. You can also go onto the individual uni websites and look at the accommodation choices, but it's best to go and see it yourself.


Haha yeah Manchester is really convenient for concerts! I went to the open days but I didn't get to see the accommodation personally because there were 2 hour long queues. I might go back to see the accommodation in September and see them.
Reply 9
Original post by wannabe_lawyer
Haha yeah Manchester is really convenient for concerts! I went to the open days but I didn't get to see the accommodation personally because there were 2 hour long queues. I might go back to see the accommodation in September and see them.


Yeah the O2 arena is good :smile:
Original post by SunRiseAtDawn
St peters court which is off campus because I wanted self catering. The catering ones are all on campus and they're really convenient! But mine was good :smile: It was ensuite so amazing! but slightly more expensive than what i think you would normally pay for a city like nottingham (£117 per week). But on campus are so much cheaper. Theres loads of nights out with Nottingham trent uni too so really studenty.*

Have you thought about any other unis as well as UoN and UoM?


I'm thinking of going catering and so far the Nightingale and Florence Boot Hall look the best to me. In your opinion is en suite worth it because I'm leaning towards single study plus rooms? I've thought of UCL and Cardiff but they're a bit too far away from home for me.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
I can't say much for Manchester but Nottingham is absolutely beautiful. The campus is very green and the city's not too bad either.

Maybe book an open day for Notts and see which one you like more? I've narrowed my options down too but it's Bristol first then Nottingham :tongue:


Are you thinking of Pharmacy too? And I've already visited both Nottingham and Manchester and I liked Manchester better (maybe because it was raining when I visited Nottingham so I wasn't impressed with the distances and hills)
Original post by wannabe_lawyer
Are you thinking of Pharmacy too? And I've already visited both Nottingham and Manchester and I liked Manchester better (maybe because it was raining when I visited Nottingham so I wasn't impressed with the distances and hills)


Nope I'm looking at English/History depending on how Thursday goes (and I'm so nervous). Oh yeah haha it rained briefly when I was at Nottingham and it was pretty humid. And it was a beautiful day when I went to Bristol so maybe that's why I loved it more :tongue:
I'm currently at UoN and I absolutely love it here, I don't know anyone studying at Manchester uni but I did go on the open day

With the campus I guess everyone has different preferences. The Nottingham campus is very open and green, not in the middle of the city like Manchester but one of my favourite things about living in Nottingham is the transport. From campus you can get the bus or tram in to town for only £1, the tram only takes 10 minutes, taxis are pretty cheap too. Also most people live in Lenton from second year onwards which is within walking distance of town


From what I saw of the two open days, Nottingham definitely had the nicer accommodation. I think the biggest downside of Notts accommodation is that the only halls actually on campus are catered, so if you want to go self-catered you'll have further to walk. Broadgate Park is the biggest self-catered accommodation site and it takes 20 minutes to walk from there to the Pharmacy school and there's no hills on that route. Broadgate is absolutely enormous so you're bound to find other Pharmacy students to walk with on a morning and the walk really doesn't feel like 20 mins at all

Plenty of night life and things to do in Notts. I can't compare placements because I've no idea what they do at Manchester, but don't get too hung up on placements that the uni offers, it looks a lot better to employers if you arrange your own placements in the holidays rather than filling your cv with 'I spent three days in a pharmacy that my uni made me go to'. As for rankings and reputation again I'm going to be bias but Nottingham does have a great reputation, I've worked with a lot of different pharmacists and whenever they hear I'm from Nottingham they usually say 'that's one of the best isn't it'. Students here seem to do really well with finding summer placements and jobs

Sorry I couldn't be more useful, but if you've got any questions at all just ask :smile: Maybe try go on the open days again if you're really struggling to decide
Original post by demetria
I'm currently at UoN and I absolutely love it here, I don't know anyone studying at Manchester uni but I did go on the open day

With the campus I guess everyone has different preferences. The Nottingham campus is very open and green, not in the middle of the city like Manchester but one of my favourite things about living in Nottingham is the transport. From campus you can get the bus or tram in to town for only £1, the tram only takes 10 minutes, taxis are pretty cheap too. Also most people live in Lenton from second year onwards which is within walking distance of town


From what I saw of the two open days, Nottingham definitely had the nicer accommodation. I think the biggest downside of Notts accommodation is that the only halls actually on campus are catered, so if you want to go self-catered you'll have further to walk. Broadgate Park is the biggest self-catered accommodation site and it takes 20 minutes to walk from there to the Pharmacy school and there's no hills on that route. Broadgate is absolutely enormous so you're bound to find other Pharmacy students to walk with on a morning and the walk really doesn't feel like 20 mins at all

Plenty of night life and things to do in Notts. I can't compare placements because I've no idea what they do at Manchester, but don't get too hung up on placements that the uni offers, it looks a lot better to employers if you arrange your own placements in the holidays rather than filling your cv with 'I spent three days in a pharmacy that my uni made me go to'. As for rankings and reputation again I'm going to be bias but Nottingham does have a great reputation, I've worked with a lot of different pharmacists and whenever they hear I'm from Nottingham they usually say 'that's one of the best isn't it'. Students here seem to do really well with finding summer placements and jobs

Sorry I couldn't be more useful, but if you've got any questions at all just ask :smile: Maybe try go on the open days again if you're really struggling to decide


Thank you for your reply! So far Nottingham is edging it because their accomodation is more better and they have a great reputation for Pharmacy :smile: I'll definitely go to the open days again just to have another look around but I have a feeling Nottingham is going to stay my firm choice. Can I ask what you study at UoN?
Reply 15
both on par in terms of prestige. Just choose the one you prefer.
Original post by wannabe_lawyer
Thank you for your reply! So far Nottingham is edging it because their accomodation is more better and they have a great reputation for Pharmacy :smile: I'll definitely go to the open days again just to have another look around but I have a feeling Nottingham is going to stay my firm choice. Can I ask what you study at UoN?


Sorry I didn't make it clear, I'm studying Pharmacy. I'm sure you won't be disappointed, it's a great course and it's continuously improving :smile:

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