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I got accepted by UCLAN for next year, but I'm worried because of the bad reviews

kitty2001

I want to transfer from where I was studying and was happy about the UCLAN offer, but the bad reviews I found for UCLAN were shocking. I saw someone say it was "the worst university in the world" and I thought, surely that must be hyperbolic. However, there are other pretty bad reviews. I'm thinking every uni will have bad reviews, I also did see some good ones but... could anyone with any UCLAN experience/knowledge please tell me what their experience was like?

(edited 1 year ago)

Hi there,

From an awards standard the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is considered a good university. UCLan has been awarded the maximum 5 QS stars for the quality of its teaching and is also ranked in the top 7% of universities worldwide in the ‘Global 2000 List’ published by the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR 2021-22). UCLan was also awarded Silver in the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework. UCLan being in Preston is one of the UK’s cheapest cities for students and was named the best place in the North West to live and work, ranking 16th overall in the 2021 Good Growth for Cities index, which measures the performance of 42 UK cities against 10 categories including jobs, income and transport!

Everyone's University experience can be different, especially depending on the course that you take. It's a shame that you've come across bad reviews, but something I've noticed about UCLan is that there is always a push for improvement. But it depends, what are you looking for from the Uni experience? And what course because that can make a difference, as UCLan definitely succeeds in some areas!

I studied at UCLan across the pandemic, both remote and in person so my experience was definitely an interesting one but I definitely enjoyed myself, I've made a group of really close friends that even after graduation keep in contact regularly, meet up and chat, in fact most people on my course got on well and keep in touch. The lecturers did their best to provide support during Lockdown and while my course leaned more to the practical side which was hard to do in lockdown, they gave us the best experience we could have given the climate and were there for support I needed, and I managed to Graduate with a First Class which I'm really proud with, and since I've been able to find work in the field I'm interested in! I found that resources at hand were useful, especially reading material, equipment and study spaces- the main thing I learned as a difference from say studying school and college, that I think some people who didn't rate the experience as well as me, was that it's about your own ambition and using the resources at hand to push for success. The Library was a great experience, some books that they didn't have that I wanted to use were easily ordered in and had them within the week! Overall, it's a nice campus that's ever-expanding, friendly students, lecturers and atmosphere, the city has good connections to the rest of the North West if you're looking to travel too.

all the best,

Joshua :biggrin:

Reply 2

Thisismyunitsr

20

I mean you're in ****ing Preston, it's basically a fate worse than death itself.

Reply 3

harsh_uae

Original post by Thisismyunitsr

I mean you're in ****ing Preston, it's basically a fate worse than death itself.

Would you please elaborate? Is Preston such a bad city to be in? We did hear this comment before as well, but on the other hand, a person who visited the place mentioned that it is a reasonably good city with good accessibility.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by harsh_uae

Would you please elaborate? Is Preston such a bad city to be in? We did hear this comment before as well, but on the other hand, a person who visited the place mentioned that it is a reasonably good city with good accessibility.

I'm in my final year and about to graduate soon. I've loved my time here, and my lecturers in the English department have been amazing. There's loads of help available at the student centre. The only issue I've had is the nightlife in Preston, there are only about 2 actual nightclubs. There are loads of pubs though, and a disco Weatherspoons that's always packed with students. The SU is pretty good too, there's quite a lot of active societies and events that happen.

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

Oh also there are loads of takeaways around, on Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat, there's one called Eat Preston too but I've never used it.
The actual shops themselves are alright unless you're looking for clothes shopping then you'd be better looking online.

Reply 6

Thisismyunitsr

20

Original post by harsh_uae

Would you please elaborate? Is Preston such a bad city to be in? We did hear this comment before as well, but on the other hand, a person who visited the place mentioned that it is a reasonably good city with good accessibility.

It was mainly a joke

Reply 7

harsh_uae

Thank you for the re-assurance

Original post by Anonymous

I'm in my final year and about to graduate soon. I've loved my time here, and my lecturers in the English department have been amazing. There's loads of help available at the student centre. The only issue I've had is the nightlife in Preston, there are only about 2 actual nightclubs. There are loads of pubs though, and a disco Weatherspoons that's always packed with students. The SU is pretty good too, there's quite a lot of active societies and events that happen.

Original post by harsh_uae

Would you please elaborate? Is Preston such a bad city to be in? We did hear this comment before as well, but on the other hand, a person who visited the place mentioned that it is a reasonably good city with good accessibility.

Hi there! I'm one of the current students at UCLan and I'm also from Preston so hopefully I can help you a little with this !

Preston is a smaller city but there is loads to do and really something for everyone. It has really good transport links (you can get to London / Edinburgh in just over 2 hours on the train) and is really centrally located to a lot of the main motorways which is great for anyone who is commuting or will be commuting for placement!
We have a few different options for nightlife here and lots of societies will run their own events as well. We also have loads of parks and are super close to the Lake District!

If there's something in particular that you want to know, just comment below and I'll get back to you!

Rebecca

Reply 9

Peter Black

Original post by harsh_uae

Would you please elaborate? Is Preston such a bad city to be in? We did hear this comment before as well, but on the other hand, a person who visited the place mentioned that it is a reasonably good city with good accessibility.

Given that it rains in Preston nearly as much as in Manchester or Glasgow I might have agreed with this pre-COVID but the University and local Council between them are investing £200 Million in the city centre including the new Student Centre and University Square completed recently. UCLan in 2023 was ranked number 1 in the UK by the Times for affordability taking into account the cost of accommodation (both university halls and private), travel (the nearest public car park is £3.70 all day), takeaway food and the price of a pint (from under £2 in Wetherspoons). Preston is a small multicultural city with a great variety of food outlets and pubs but if nightlife is what you want you'll need to travel to Blackpool, Liverpool or Manchester, dance till dawn and get the first train / bus home in the morning! Or you could go to the library which is open 24 hours per day in term time? Pre-COVID UCLan had its own night club / gig venue/ theatre called Venue 53 but I don't think it has reopened since. There are several out of town retail parks which are probably better than the city-centre shopping to be honest. It's also worth remembering that UCLan has around 30,000 students - it's inevitable that there'll be the odd negative comment and people generally only put negative reviews on these kind of websites - take a look at the National Student Survey results and the league tables published in the Times, Guardian etc for a more balanced review and a good website is prospects.ac.uk to look at career prospects with the degree you are thinking of doing.

I got accepted by UCLAN for next year, but I'm worried because of the bad reviews

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