Chemical Engineering at Bath or UCL?

Hey everyone,

I am an offer holder for the MEng course at both UCL and Bath and wanted the opinion of current/former students at these universities about their time.

I have heard some horror stories from the chemeng students at UCL regarding their lectures, coursework and exams in general, however, these were roughly 2-3 years old. I was wondering if things have changed now.

Bath is a fabulous university and I have an unconditional from both(gap year student) but the prestige of UCL is highly attracting me.

Can someone share their insight?

Hey everyone,

I am an offer holder for the MEng course at both UCL and Bath and wanted the opinion of current/former students at these universities about their time.

I have heard some horror stories from the chemeng students at UCL regarding their lectures, coursework and exams in general, however, these were roughly 2-3 years old. I was wondering if things have changed now.

Bath is a fabulous university and I have an unconditional from both(gap year student) but the prestige of UCL is highly attracting me.

Can someone share their insight?

Hey everyone,

I am an offer holder for the MEng course at both UCL and Bath and wanted the opinion of current/former students at these universities about their time.

I have heard some horror stories from the chemeng students at UCL regarding their lectures, coursework and exams in general, however, these were roughly 2-3 years old. I was wondering if things have changed now.

Bath is a fabulous university and I have an unconditional from both(gap year student) but the prestige of UCL is highly attracting me.

Can someone share their insight?

Hi, im in the same boat is u, just a yr on, i was wondering what you chose and why?

when did you get your ucl offer?

I got it some time ago, back in November ish but I'm an early applicant

Hi there!
My name is Leah and I am a final year chemical engineering student at the University of Bath - hopefully I can provide some insight into the course at Bath.
For chemical engineering at Bath, the course is primarily lectures: typically 1-2 hours long in a lecture hall (or online) with 80-150 people depending on the size of your year. It varies year to year but I would say I have between 10 and 15 lectures a week. You tend to be given the lecture material beforehand to read through, then during the lecture the lecturer will explain all of the content and will also give you time to ask questions. You are also able to ask questions at the end of the lecture, or depending on the lecturer, by email afterwards. We also have problem classes, where problem sheets are assigned outside of class and then in the problem class, the lecturer will go through the problems and you can discuss any questions you have about the content. In addition to lectures, we also have interactive computer / case study sessions (depending on the year and module), which may be 1 or 2 hours a week. We also have labs in first and second year (6 x 3 hr labs per year). This is where we have a practical application of an area of chemical engineering for which we need to produce results for and write up in a lab report.
One of the big reasons I chose Bath was for its industrial reputation and industry links. Related to this, Bath’s placement scheme is excellent. Over two-thirds of students do a work placement or study abroad (compared to other universities where this is around 10-15%). The department of engineering have a really supportive placement team who’s role is dedicated to helping students find placements and supporting whilst they are on placement. This help is invaluable in allowing students to secure placements. We have an online database where all the placement vacancies are posted, which means it is easy to see what you want to apply for. Some of these are open to all students but are Bath specific, which makes securing a placement much more likely. The team also help with CV and application checking and interview preparation. After you have secured a placement, the team ensure your contact is in place and keep in contact with you whilst you are working to ensure everything is going well. Bath engineering students have a much higher percentage of students going on placement compared to other Universities and this really helps them be employable on graduation.
Something really important to consider, outside of the course, is what you want from a University experience. Bath and London provide a very different experience and it's good to have a think about what you want. Bath is a campus University, with the campus being situated about 10 min bus journey out of the city centre. Unlike a city University, all of the University buildings are located on campus (with the exception of few accommodation buildings and a study space in the city centre). This makes for a campus ‘bubble’ as I would call it. Everything you need is on campus, including shops and excellent sports facilities. The Student’s Union is also very good – there are so many societies, sports and volunteering opportunities to get involved with. I would highly recommend getting involved when you start as it’s a great way to meet new people.
Bath is a fairly small city - it is fairly lively but ultimately small compared to the likes of Bristol, Manchester and London (it is definittely more like a town than a city). Some people find that Bath can be quite quiet – particularly if you are used to living in a big city. I am not a big city person so Bath was a perfect size for me and I felt really at home when I went to visit. There is plenty going on – a busy high-street with lots of shops, pubs and bars, nightclubs and lots of cultural activities. However, the clubs are fairly small. While a night out in Bath is fun, it is not huge and it is very student heavy. Many students will go to Bristol for a night out, where you can find much bigger clubs. Bristol is about 10/15 minutes away by train and is great to explore. As I am sure you are aware, Bath is very popular tourist attraction – it is very pretty and I love living there.
The student population is not as big as some Universities but there are still plenty of students: Over 18000 students with 74% undergraduates and 1/3 overseas students. Bath has a big focus on STEM subjects (although there are other courses but limited humanities subjects), so the students probably have more similar interests to each other than other Universities. Saying that, there are a large variety of sports and societies to find people with your interests.
I hope this helps - good luck with your decision and do let me know if you have any questions!
Leah
Final Year Chemical Engineering