University of Sheffield Current Students - Ask Us Anything!

OP

Original post by Anonymous

What are the best and worst places to live in Sheffield around the university? I've never been and would like some insight into where to avoid accommodate. Thank you

Hi there!

Thank you for your question. I think this will depend slightly on personal preference and also where your lectures would be based and if you prefer being closer to the centre or not. I would definitely recommend staying in University halls for 1st year, it makes it really easy to get to know people and the social experience is something I really valued in my 1st year. In terms of for University halls, I wouldn't say any of the locations would be a place to avoid they all have their pros and cons. I stayed in Ranmoor for my 1st year which is 5 mins away from Endcliffe which is another/the main student halls site. I really liked the location, it's a bit further out from the Uni/centre about a 25 min walk but it's set in a nice green area and I enjoyed staying there. The majority of freshers stay in Endcliffe or Ranmoor, Ranmoor being the smaller and slightly quieter of the two, this is one of the reason I chose it to get the balance of social and chill time. There is also city based accommodation the main one being Allen Court ,I would say, this is closer to the Uni and the centre (more like a 10 min walk) and is more modern accommodation. I would say the only downside of city accommodation is that the majority of freshers are in Ranmoor/Endcliffe so some people can find it less social but that may be what you are looking for! There are also private accommodation companies that have 'halls' like accommodation, some of these are really lovely and modern but they can be quiet and less social.

Most people move into privately rented houses for 2nd/3rd years when they have met friends at uni, there are lots of areas to stay in for houses in Sheffield all of which are nice areas to stay in and you will get more of an idea of where you would want a house once you've been at uni for a bit! I would definitely recommend visiting the city if you get chance before coming to Uni and you can have a look at some of the areas for accommodation too!

Hope this helps you out a bit, if you need any more help please feel free to ask :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 87

OP

Original post by ApplePiePanda

For City Accommodation, are the only options: Allencourt, Broadlane and St George's that are managed by the city?

Is it also worth looking at private accommodation as someone who will be in their first year of their course?

Original post by University of Sheffield Students

Hi there!

Thank you for your question. I think this will depend slightly on personal preference and also where your lectures would be based and if you prefer being closer to the centre or not. I would definitely recommend staying in University halls for 1st year, it makes it really easy to get to know people and the social experience is something I really valued in my 1st year. In terms of for University halls, I wouldn't say any of the locations would be a place to avoid they all have their pros and cons. I stayed in Ranmoor for my 1st year which is 5 mins away from Endcliffe which is another/the main student halls site. I really liked the location, it's a bit further out from the Uni/centre about a 25 min walk but it's set in a nice green area and I enjoyed staying there. The majority of freshers stay in Endcliffe or Ranmoor, Ranmoor being the smaller and slightly quieter of the two, this is one of the reason I chose it to get the balance of social and chill time. There is also city based accommodation the main one being Allen Court ,I would say, this is closer to the Uni and the centre (more like a 10 min walk) and is more modern accommodation. I would say the only downside of city accommodation is that the majority of freshers are in Ranmoor/Endcliffe so some people can find it less social but that may be what you are looking for! There are also private accommodation companies that have 'halls' like accommodation, some of these are really lovely and modern but they can be quiet and less social.

Most people move into privately rented houses for 2nd/3rd years when they have met friends at uni, there are lots of areas to stay in for houses in Sheffield all of which are nice areas to stay in and you will get more of an idea of where you would want a house once you've been at uni for a bit! I would definitely recommend visiting the city if you get chance before coming to Uni and you can have a look at some of the areas for accommodation too!

Hope this helps you out a bit, if you need any more help please feel free to ask :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Hi there!

I recommend you have a read of what I have just mentioned above as this may answer your question! Yes, they are the 3 city accommodation locations I have heard off and I am not aware of any others. I definitely recommend to 1st years to stay in Uni halls as it is easier to meet other freshers and socialise getting to know people. Private accommodation tends to be a bit fancier is how I would describe it and I was tempted by it for 1st year but I am really glad I stayed in Uni halls!

Hope this helps, please feel free to ask anymore questions :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 88

OP

Original post by Anonymous

Hi Alisha, I have many questions about the Orthoptics course?

1. What is the average timetable for an orthoptics student, as in what was yours?

2. What is the gender, ethnic and age makeup for your year? How many males?

3. Are the people on your course sociable and friendly and like to party or bit boring?

4. Do you have to pay for your accommodation while on placements with the learning support fund or does the university provide it for free? Same for transport?

5. Do you still pay for your student accommodation at Sheffield while on placement even though you’re not there?

Hello there!

Firstly I would just like to apologise for how long it's taken for me to get back to you, I didn't see this on the thread, hopefully it will still be helpful for you!

1) Our timetable is quite busy compared to some other courses, as is typical of most healthcare/science timetables. Typically across all 3 years of my timetable I am in at least 4/5 days of the week for a lecture: in first year these were face to face, last year mainly online and this year is more of a mix. Even though we are in lectures most days of the week, we don't have a lot of full days of lectures and typically would have 2 lectures a day I would say, rarely more. In 1st year I would use the time between lectures in the library to catch up on notes and revision to make the most of the day! In 1st year you also have 1 clinical skills session a week also (usually a Monday/Tuesday) where you can practice skills you have learnt in lectures on each other. You have less of these in 2nd and 3rd year as you build up skills and experience on placement.

Placements are 3 times a year in 1st year you have a 1 week, 2 week then a 4 week placement, these are typically 9-5pm at a hospital anywhere in the UK.

2) The course is very ethnically diverse, we do have quite a few international students from places like Malta, China, France, Spain just to name some that are in my year. There is a range of British students from different ethnic backgrounds also!
The course does have a broad age range also, in my year we do have quite a few mature students or students who are studying the course as a 2nd degree too as well as students from the 'typical' uni age. The course is quite female predominated I would say, the majority of students in my year are female, just to give you an idea there is around 35 of us in my year and 4 are male, however there are more males in the year below us.

3) It really depend on your year and who you become friends with. Everyone I have met on the course in any of the years have been really friendly. Me and my friends from the course are very sociable and love to go out and have a party (maybe a bit less now it's 3rd year though ahaha), and we know other groups of friends on the course that also do and we meet up together sometimes! Some people on the course aren't as interested in partying due to religious reasons. I'm part of the Orthoptics Society and we run a range of events (sober socials and bar crawls and the annual christmas ball) which is really good fun and there's always something for everyone to attend!

4&5) I thought I would tie these two together as they are related to the same thing. For placement you have to fund the initial expenses upfront yourself, this includes accommodation and transport. This allows you to choose where you would like to stay and what transport you want to get which I personally quite like as in the past you had to stay in hospital accommodation and the trains were booked for you. You then fill out what is called a TDAE form (for travel and accommodation expenses). This is processed by the learning support fund and they will reimburse you for the cost of your placement. There are certain 'rules' you need to follow, which you will get told about . But essentially the budget is £55 per night for private accommodation and £25 per night for hospital accommodation. You also get reimbursed for 1 weekly return journey to the placement location (so if you want to go home/ back to Sheffield at the weekends you can), and you get your daily travel to the hospital reimbursed also if you use a bus or decide to commute by train if you are nearby. You still have to pay for any accommodation you have at university for the time you are on placement. The placement costs will all be returned to you so you won't be out of pocket for the placement, it's just waiting for the form to be processed which can take about a month. I typically use my savings from the Learning support fund NHS bursary of £5000 per year for Orthoptic students and then replace it afterwards, some people use a student overdraft as these are interest free!

I hope this helps, I know there's a lot to go through there but let me know if you have any more questions :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 89

OP

Original post by Anonymous

When do scholarship and bursary applications open please?

Original post by JaffaNeko

Hi, I have a few questions :smile:

1) When do the Scholarship applications usually open? The link from the MUSE site still takes you to the 2021 information page?

2) For any past and present Sheffield student on here, what international opportunities have the Uni provided to you?

Thank you :smile:

Hi there,

In regards to Scholarship applications, most of these will be open by now. I have linked here to the Undergraduate scholarships page, if you have a look at the specific scholarship you are wanting to apply to there will be more information on the deadline and application details there!

Hope this helps :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 90

Tex01Willer

7

hi all,
I just got an offer for 2022 - MComp AI &CS. Now researching accommodation.

I visited the Uni in the summer. CS department building is very close to the Diamond, so I guess almost all lectures and labs would be between these two buildings throughout the course. (Can someone from CS dept confirm this please?)

I also visited Ranmoor/Endcliff. Looks a bit far from the CS dept and hilly. But I prefer 1st-year Uni hall for socialization. I also prefer Catered and en-suite rooms. Any advice, please? Thanks.

Reply 91

OP

Hi @Tex01Willer,

Congratulations on your offer for 2022!

I am studying psychology at the University of Sheffield currently and from my experience I have found that lectures can be within a variety of university buildings and do not always take place within the psychology building. I am unsure on how the CS department runs and therefore if lectures/labs would move around as they do in psychology. I have had a look on the university websites for the CS department -

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2022/artificial-intelligence-and-computer-science-mcomp#department.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs/about

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/diamond/home

From reading this is looks like the majority of lectures/labs will be held within the diamond or the CS building. There may be the odd occasion a different building is used but this would be updated in your timetable.

I can also give you some advice on your accommodation queries. Endcliffe is about a 20 minute walk from the main university campus where most lectures/labs/seminars are held. Ranmoor is just a little further on - about an extra five minutes in comparison to Endcliffe. The walk is all downhill on the way to university so doesn't feel too far! However, there is also a regular bus (the 120) which has a stop right outside the student accommodation and takes you right down to the student union or the centre. The bus journey only costs one pound per journey with a student card - in first year I tended to walk down and then get the bus back to save myself the walk. The walk back is quite uphill but you do get used to it (sometimes!) and there are plenty of of supermarkets and shops on route which you can stop at and have a browse if you want to give yourself a break.

We also have city accommodation which is much closer to the university campus and means that getting to lectures would only take around 10 minutes. In my first year I lived in Ranmoor and did enjoy the socialisation side that student living provided. I would say that in both Ranmoor/Endcliffe and City accommodation there is a lot of opportunities to meet new people and socialise with flat mates. Endcliffe is known for being a bit more social whereas Ranmoor is a bit quieter. All of the accommodation options offer a great chance to enjoy your first year and meet a diverse range of people - I think the choice just depends on how far/close you would prefer to be from the university buildings themselves.

The majority of rooms available for students are en-suite and these can be found in Ranmoor/Endcliffe or city accommodation. You can see all the rooms we have available here including their prices and what is included:

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/accommodation/prospective

All of the accommodation at Sheffield is self-catered however there are also a variety of restaurants and shops nearby to get food from. Endcliffe also has its cafe/bar - The Edge Bar is a great place to socialise and includes a great range of food and drinks to choose from if you fancy a night off cooking for yourself.

I hope this helps and answers your questions! Please feel free to ask any further questions you might have!

Ella
3rd Year
BSc Psychology

Reply 92

KA139

8

Hi,
I wanted to know some more about the online interview process for Orthotpics at sheffield university
What sort of questions get asked or any themes of possible questions?

Do you get questioned on parts of your personal statement?
thanks

Reply 93

Tex01Willer

7

Original post by University of Sheffield Students

Hi @Tex01Willer,

Congratulations on your offer for 2022!

I am studying psychology at the University of Sheffield currently and from my experience I have found that lectures can be within a variety of university buildings and do not always take place within the psychology building. I am unsure on how the CS department runs and therefore if lectures/labs would move around as they do in psychology. I have had a look on the university websites for the CS department -

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2022/artificial-intelligence-and-computer-science-mcomp#department.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs/about

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/diamond/home

From reading this is looks like the majority of lectures/labs will be held within the diamond or the CS building. There may be the odd occasion a different building is used but this would be updated in your timetable.

I can also give you some advice on your accommodation queries. Endcliffe is about a 20 minute walk from the main university campus where most lectures/labs/seminars are held. Ranmoor is just a little further on - about an extra five minutes in comparison to Endcliffe. The walk is all downhill on the way to university so doesn't feel too far! However, there is also a regular bus (the 120) which has a stop right outside the student accommodation and takes you right down to the student union or the centre. The bus journey only costs one pound per journey with a student card - in first year I tended to walk down and then get the bus back to save myself the walk. The walk back is quite uphill but you do get used to it (sometimes!) and there are plenty of of supermarkets and shops on route which you can stop at and have a browse if you want to give yourself a break.

We also have city accommodation which is much closer to the university campus and means that getting to lectures would only take around 10 minutes. In my first year I lived in Ranmoor and did enjoy the socialisation side that student living provided. I would say that in both Ranmoor/Endcliffe and City accommodation there is a lot of opportunities to meet new people and socialise with flat mates. Endcliffe is known for being a bit more social whereas Ranmoor is a bit quieter. All of the accommodation options offer a great chance to enjoy your first year and meet a diverse range of people - I think the choice just depends on how far/close you would prefer to be from the university buildings themselves.

The majority of rooms available for students are en-suite and these can be found in Ranmoor/Endcliffe or city accommodation. You can see all the rooms we have available here including their prices and what is included:

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/accommodation/prospective

All of the accommodation at Sheffield is self-catered however there are also a variety of restaurants and shops nearby to get food from. Endcliffe also has its cafe/bar - The Edge Bar is a great place to socialise and includes a great range of food and drinks to choose from if you fancy a night off cooking for yourself.

I hope this helps and answers your questions! Please feel free to ask any further questions you might have!

Ella
3rd Year
BSc Psychology

Great. Thanks Ella.

Reply 94

OP

Original post by KA139

Hi,
I wanted to know some more about the online interview process for Orthotpics at sheffield university
What sort of questions get asked or any themes of possible questions?

Do you get questioned on parts of your personal statement?
thanks

Hi!

Thanks for your question. I personally had an in person interview but I have helped to run some of the online interviews last year and they essentially cover the same topics of questions. The interviewers are lecturers from the university and they will ask questions about Orthoptics, essentially finding out why you want to study Orthoptics and ensuring you know what an Orthoptist is, they also sometimes ask questions about the NHS values, but they usually send more information about these beforehand. They like to find out a bit about you also, so this can include asking questions based on your personal statement and sometimes they may also present a clinical scenario and ask for your input. Overall the interview is very fair and it's definitely not as stressful as I thought it would be beforehand, they aren't trying to catch you out they just want to see people with a genuine interest in Orthoptics and see what transferable skills you have that would make you a good Orthoptist.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask anymore questions :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 95

KA139

8

Original post by University of Sheffield Students

Hi!

Thanks for your question. I personally had an in person interview but I have helped to run some of the online interviews last year and they essentially cover the same topics of questions. The interviewers are lecturers from the university and they will ask questions about Orthoptics, essentially finding out why you want to study Orthoptics and ensuring you know what an Orthoptist is, they also sometimes ask questions about the NHS values, but they usually send more information about these beforehand. They like to find out a bit about you also, so this can include asking questions based on your personal statement and sometimes they may also present a clinical scenario and ask for your input. Overall the interview is very fair and it's definitely not as stressful as I thought it would be beforehand, they aren't trying to catch you out they just want to see people with a genuine interest in Orthoptics and see what transferable skills you have that would make you a good Orthoptist.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask anymore questions :smile:

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Thank you very much
Would this be similar to liverpool aswell? like the interview format

Reply 96

OP

Original post by KA139

Thank you very much
Would this be similar to liverpool aswell? like the interview format

You're welcome :smile:

I personally didn't apply to Liverpool but my friends who had interviews there said they were fairly similar, they are all looking for the same things!

Hope this helps, feel free to ask anymore questions!

Alisha
3rd Year
BMedSci Orthoptics

Reply 97

Anonymous #6

Hi I'm looking for some info on postgraduate funding. I know there is a scholarship available and I will be applying to that. Is there a maintain loan or a bursary that's available for master students?

Thank you

Reply 98

OP