Lampeter campus?

Hiya, I'm really interested in studying at Lampeter and I wondered if anyone can answer some questions before I visit next month.
(btw I already know that it is in the middle of nowhere with no nightlife etc. thats half the appeal for me :smile:

)

is it a busy uni like are there a lot of people?
are there cafes and pubs in town to study in?
is the library open 24/7 (+is the library good)?
do you ever study/have seminars in the old main building or is it all in the modern buildings?

thanks so much, robin x

Reply 1

swanseajack1

Original post by al0y.s1us

Lampeter campus and university are very small unlike most universities. There are couple of small supermarkets in the town and a few pubs but in truth it is more of a village than a real town. Due to the small number of students there you might be better asking the students union than on here. It is more like the size of a comprehensive school than a university campus in terms of numbers of students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampeter

Here is an article from a couple of years ago. There are 360 students there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48747118#:~:text=Entire%20departments%20and%20staff%20numbers%20have%20been%20cut,the%20site%20and%20has%20plans%20for%20the%20future.

(edited 2 years ago)

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Reply 2

username5911962

I've just left Lampeter.There are declining numbers of students year on year. A lot of it because it's in the middle of nowhere with only buses as transport links, but they brought in block teaching and got rid of semester teaching in 2019. Block teaching is learning 1 module continuously and intensively for 4 weeks - 4 days per week for 3 hours a day. At the end of the 4 weeks you have to hand in 2-4 assessments depending on the subject. In effect, you are beginning these assignments as you are learning them in class! It's very very intense. The uni calls it immersive.

Apart from Chinese studies, there is no end of year exams.In 2020 as lecturers were made redundant in numbers, they introduced 'employability- common modules' to cover gaps in all 3 years module blocks. Some of the common modules were ridiculous. One lecture was making things out of macrame in a non-related subject. Other things involve creating CV's etc and group work. There has been a huge backlash from students who want to be taught their subject, not 2 modules a year on employability modules.The library has had restrictive hours and is now open 8.30 am- midnight and 12 noon - 7pm on weekends.

99% of lectures are held in the Arts building or elsewhere but not in the Old Building. Chinese Investment has refurbed the Old Building, so it remains to be seen if the students studying Chinese will have exclusive access or not. But generally, no other subjects are taught there.There are cafe's and pubs in town to sit in, but not much after 4pm as the town is like a village and the students in halls all tend to mostly stay in halls at night.

The campus has become known as 'the disability campus' due to so many of the students having some kind of disability. Nothing wrong with that, except that you can be in classes sometimes with 8 out of 10 people experiencing a learning difficulty and if you say the wrong thing, you can have your head bitten off! I was constantly having to adapt myself to classmates with autism who all had different quirks and I had to learn those quirks very quickly. A word of warning too as there are also students there from 18-60 who have 'dropped out of society' before going there. By that I mean there are loads of students who literally could not get on in normal society and decide Lampeter and its small environment will resolve their social issues. it really doesn't and there are some ultra-weird people who project their personal issues onto other students and many of them simply shouldn't be at university. A lot of them drop out after the first year as they are incapable of university life and normal society. Class sizes are generally all less than 15 and often less than 7 in some subjects.

If you like a very very small isolated campus, no nightlife, and love the countryside and quiet, but can cope with an intensive block teaching format then you will like it.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

username5911962

I've just left Lampeter.There are declining numbers of students year on year. A lot of it because it's in the middle of nowhere with only buses as transport links, but they brought in block teaching and got rid of semester teaching in 2019. Block teaching is learning 1 module continuously and intensively for 4 weeks - 4 days per week for 3 hours a day. At the end of the 4 weeks you have to hand in 2-4 assessments depending on the subject. In effect, you are beginning these assignments as you are learning them in class! It's very very intense. The uni calls it immersive. Apart from Chinese studies, there is no end of year exams.In 2020 as lecturers were made redundant in numbers, they introduced 'employability- common modules' to cover gaps in all 3 years module blocks. Some of the common modules were ridiculous. One lecture was making things out of macrame in a non-related subject. Other things involve creating CV's etc and group work. There has been a huge backlash from students who want to be taught their subject, not 2 modules a year on employability modules.The library has had restrictive hours and is now open 8.30 am- midnight and 12 noon - 7pm on weekends.99% of lectures are held in the Arts building or elsewhere but not in the Old Building. Chinese Investment has refurbed the Old Building, so it remains to be seen if the students studying Chinese will have exclusive access or not. But generally, no other subjects are taught there.There are cafe's and pubs in town to sit in, but not much after 4pm as the town is like a village and the students in halls all tend to mostly stay in halls at night. The campus has become known as 'the disability campus' due to so many of the students having some kind of disability. Nothing wrong with that, except that you can be in classes sometimes with 8 out of 10 people experiencing a learning difficulty and if you say the wrong thing, you can have your head bitten off! I was constantly having to adapt myself to classmates with autism who all had different quirks and I had to learn those quirks very quickly. Class sizes are generally all less than 15 and often less than 7 in some subjects.If you like a very very small isolated campus, no nightlife, have a disability, and love the countryside and quiet, but can cope with an intensive block teaching format then you will like it.