How is Manchester for students?

I've got a conditional for Manchester and I really love the place and the course content looks good just that I feel like the course has too many students for my liking. I've only heard good things about Manchester from a student's point of view but I just wanted some more opinions because my sister is a Student Ambassador so she's probably a little biased I've applied for Physics [w/ foundation year] and Manchester advertises itself as the best in the UK for it. The only downside was that the department came across as slightly arrogant with a whole selling point centred around Brian Cox.

If you're at Manchester Uni [or the Met] how do you like the city? Do you like Manchester Uni? Does the size of courses mean you don't have a close relationship with lecturers etc? Close being that you feel you can approach them with questions without bothering them. Is it too busy for your liking? What do you/don't you like about the city? How is the variety in clubs/societies? How's the Union? How are the sports?

Like your sister, I love Manchester. Honestly, it's great. It's got everything you really want in a city (nightlife, shopping, culture), the cost of living is low (more money to spend on other things!) and the public transport fantastic.

It's not too busy for my liking - I grew up in a smaller city, and I find London too big and busy personally, but I'm fine with Manchester.

Pretty much anything that you want to find club-wise in Manchester you can find - there's a LOT of nightlife on offer.

In terms of societies, see
Sports societies http://www.sport.manchester.ac.uk/athletic-union
Non-sport societies http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups#club-society
for full lists

The Union is quite good at what it does, but it should be borne in mind that it's not the social hub of the university. This is because, unlike some universities, Manchester has a lot of other options for nights out, so the SU can concentrate on doing other things. However, the SU does include the Academy, which is one of Manchester's biggest live music venues.

What normally happens in lectures is that there are a lot of students in the lecture theatre (hundreds, sometimes). But lectures aren't the place to form a relationship with your lecturer. You should do that in the tutorial / workshop / labs, which typically only have about 15 students there. So, it's entirely possible to build up a relationship with teaching staff regardless of the size of lectures. However, I think you can safely ignore the bit about Brian Cox. He's a celebrity who teaches one 10 credit module in first year (bearing in mind that you do 120 credits per year, this is pretty insignificant). The cynic in me says that he's kept on the payroll primarily for student recruitment purposes. There are much more interesting staff at Manchester e.g. Jeff Forshaw, who wrote several books with Brian Cox, and the two Nobel prize winners.

However, Manchester is a very good uni for physics, so don't let Brian Cox (or the lack thereof) put you off. For most people, the foundation year is a chance to get into a uni that they would otherwise never have got the chance to go to, and friends who did physics foundation say they'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Have you stayed with your sister at all in Manchester? That might help to make your mind up. Ultimately though, if I had my time over again, I'd choose Manchester - I've never regretted coming here at all, and I will be rather sad to graduate.

Thanks for the links Brian Cox just comes across as arrogant and he'd bother me way too much if he taught a lot more than that so it's good to know it's not much! The more I think about this foundation year, the more I think it's probably my best option for my situation. Do you have any idea how difficult it was? I've spoken to a couple people about it and some say it's really easy and laid back while others say it's really intensive and difficult because you do so many subjects.
I've stayed with my sister a couple times over the years and I do like it, especially because of the music and sports, just that the size of the course is slightly off-putting. Having said that, it looks like the pros outweigh the cons by a lot.

Thank you

Quite a few students in the physics department aren't major fans either. He didn't teach at all until last year, and then he decided to bring along security guards to check student IDs, presumably so that he wasn't overrun with all his adoring fans A couple of my closest friends are physics students (I'm not) so I get all the gossip from the physics department

You do have to work on the foundation year, as you have to get a minimum grade to get onto the programme of your choice. For physics, it's quite high at 75% (or is it 70%? I can never remember), but if you get the grades you're guaranteed a place on the degree of your choice. If you don't get the grades, you can go onto another course, such as chemistry or maths. However, that does mean that you've got to work harder, and are more pressured, than people on other courses who only need 40% to progress. However, if you put the work in, it is entirely doable.

What if someone wasn't a crazy fan and was just genuinely interested in the lecture? Bit harsh to bring security but I guess it might be an issue with some people... Any idea what they think about the other lecturers and the course in general? I only got to talk to one student at the open day and I haven't been invited back after the offer.
I think it's 75% from the letter they sent me but I don't remember, they basically said it's the equivalent of A*s at A2. That makes sense, thanks

It was generally regarded as being a massive and slightly pompous overreaction You could get in with any student card - they don't say what course you're doing - but theoretically you shouldn't be going to lectures anyway if you're just a member of the public.

Results came out today for physics, so naturally feelings are a little polarised and largely based on how well they did in their exams! However, on the whole they do seem to be good - there's one or two duff ones, but aren't there always?

Fair enough. Results for the January exams? Or the whole course? True

If you're interested, here's a detailed breakdown of this year's pass requirements for Physics. Each 'Super Unit' contains three modules and requires a certain average grade to pass. There are also minimum grades for the individual modules but I'm not sure what they are (probably something like 40%) and you also need to get a total average of at least 60% across everything.


Minimum 75%



Minimum 75%



Minimum 75%



Minimum 70%

Nah just results for January exams - there are more in May / June

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I'm also doing the foundation year but for engineering!

Nice Are you already doing it or going to start this year?

Nah I've applied, so going to start this year. My offer is BBB , what about you?

Same I'd applied to go straight into it but they offered me the foundation year instead. Thinking I might actually firm it though.

Same happened to me although my predicted grades are BBB so it is understandable. I am hoping to do mechanical engineering.

If the pass grade is 75% for physics what is it for mech eng? I'm guessing around 60-70%?

In terms of societies, see
Sports societies http://www.sport.manchester.ac.uk/athletic-union
Non-sport societies http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups#club-society
for full lists

I only took a quick look at the list but I couldn't see a society for ice hockey? This is quite strange as there is a team for the university? Manchester Metros.

Looks like it's a local side that caters for students from all unis in the region, but it's not officially affiliated with UoM, hence why it's not listed.