Loughborough University Advice

Hi, I've just finished my first year of doing psychology at Loughborough and it's honestly been the best year of my life.

THE COURSE
First I'll say that the degree is nothing like I expected, you do such a diverse set of modules but you would get that at any university anyway. In my first year I had about 10-12 contact hours a week as you are expected to do a lot of independent learning (reading/going over notes). The lecturers at Loughborough are all really friendly and are willing to help, also your personal tutor will be willing to help you out with anything. The course is enjoyable but it can be very challenging, but overall I would not change being at Loughborough. The support you will get as well from you course friends is great as everyone tries to help everyone on the Facebook page each year group will have. You also get assigned a second year 'buddy' who can help you out with anything as well.

NIGHTLIFE
Yes Loughborough is quieter as it isn't a big city, but despite despite this Loughborough has arguably the best student union in the country. The town itself does have clubs and they do get busy. Each night of the week there is either a night out put on by the union (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) and then there are various clubs in town which cover the nights that the union doesn't. So whatever night you would want to go out there will be somewhere to go. There are also 3 clubs within the union so you have a variety on campus as well as off campus.

ACCOMMODATION
This depends on what you are looking for. I was in Telford, so self catered with no en-suite. I shared a kitchen and bathroom with the most amount of people you can (7) and it honestly was not a problem. I shared with 7 girls and I never once was waiting for the toilet or shower. Each flat in each block connects so even if you wanted a shower but someone else was in it you can easily just walk through to the next flat and use their facilities. Most flats will have about 3 toilets and 3 showers, I just happened to get a flat with the least amount of facilities but again it wasn't really a problem. The toilet and shower areas also get cleaned out every weekday, kitchens are cleaned once a week, kitchen bins are emptied every weekday and bedrooms are cleaned every 2 weeks. This is just what it is like to live in Telford so like I said it is up to what you are looking for.

STUDENTS
I can honestly say everyone is so nice. I was so worried about going and not being able to talk to people easily but if you started a conversation with someone you didn't know they will just talk to you, everyone is so friendly. Same with if you need help knowing where anything is then, ask anyone and they'll be happy to help. In terms of the ratio you do notice it especially on a night out it is very obvious that there are a lot more boys than girls. On the psychology course you won't notice it at all, there's about 120 in my year and about 10 of them are boys. Also in accommodation it'll depend, in my block it was single sex flats, but I also know flats where it's all boys and then 1 girl or flats where there is an equal mix, there is more of a chance you will get a mixed flat I just so happened to get all girls.

Hope any of this information helps, if you have anymore questions then just ask :-) I really do recommend Loughborough university, it has genuinely been the best year of my life!

Thanks for this i found it really helpful, i think loughborough will definitely be one of my top choices!
If you dont mind me asking what grade did you recieve for your a levels to get in to the course?
Also are all the shared bathroom accommodation areas single sex? And is it worth actually getting en suite accommodation like are the types of people better in one or another?
Thanks again ☺️☺️

* one more question haha- are you doing the 3 or 4 year course?

I was given the offer of ABB but got BBB :-) I wouldn't place hope on dropping a grade and still getting in though because for my year they doubled the amount of spaces on the course so it was somewhat easier to get in with a dropped grade, but they are lowering the amount of spaces again on the course.

and no it's really rare that you'd actually get a single sex shared flat, I think one of the reasons I was in single sex was down to only having 1 toilet and shower, all flats that I know of that had both males and females had up to 3 showers and 3 toilets. I am only speaking for Telford though but it will be really rare that you get a single sex flat whether it be shared bathroom or not.

I was originally going to get en suite because I was worried that the shared bathrooms wouldn't be clean enough etc but because the cleaners clean the bathroom areas mon-fri they are kept really clean. Even though I didn't have en-suite the sink in the bedroom was really helpful as well. I don't think it's so much down to the type of person as such, the financial aspect is really important because not having an en-suite saved me around £2000 and I just thought I would much rather have that money to spend rather than on my accommodation for the sake of my own shower and toilet. And I can't stress enough how little a problem it is actually sharing the facilities and I don't know of anyone who has had a problem with it.
What accommodations have you been looking at?

And I'm doing the 4 year course :-) What I've found out though is it is very up to you to find a placement and it is very common for a psychology placement to be unpaid. So if you did want to do the 4 year course, get as much volunteering experience as you can throughout your first year, you don't need loads but just start to build up your experience and maybe get a few contacts. Also say if you applied for the 4 year course and then didn't actually find a placement then you can easily change it to a 3 year course instead.

If you've got anymore questions just ask, I'll be happy to answer them :-)

The accommodation i was looking at was Telford or Falkner Eggington but i was worried about the bathroom although now i feel like it wont be a problem. Similar to what you said i looked at these because the cost seems to be alot lower.

I was also looking to do the four year course! Ill definately remember to look into work experience during my first year now, what sort of places have you done placements at and did you find them on the internet?

Sorry about all the questions but did you have any work experience you put on your personal statement and what kind of things did you include? I realise you have to show an interest in the subject I'm just unsure on how to approach it!

Thanks for your detailed responses, they're very usefull

Hi D123xo,

Do you have any idea on the results you've got yet? Im a second year at Loughborough, and currently have a place in Telford i'm trying to pass on as I'm wanting to move into a house with friends instead. Let me know if you've got results or not. Thanks

The accommodation i was looking at was Telford or Falkner Eggington but i was worried about the bathroom although now i feel like it wont be a problem. Similar to what you said i looked at these because the cost seems to be alot lower. How does the accommodation work? Will i be sharing kitchen/bathroom facilities with all undergraduates in the first year or will it vary? Slightly confused haha

I was also looking to do the four year course! Ill definately remember to look into work experience during my first year now, what sort of places have you done placements at and did you find them on the internet?

Sorry about all the questions but did you have any work experience you put on your personal statement and what kind of things did you include? I realise you have to show an interest in the subject I'm just unsure on how to approach it!

Thanks for your detailed responses, they're very usefull

It'll vary, so in your flat of 7/8 people you might have 5 first year students, 1 second year student and an international student. Everyone will be an undergraduate student in your flat just of didn't years, but generally you will live with majority first years.

At Loughborough there are so many volunteering opportunities, so even if you get involved with a couple of them it looks good. I talked to someone from the BPS and she said that any volunteering looks good on your CV. I've not done any placements, I've just got involved with volunteering to gain a bit of experience. I'm also on the Psychology Society committee, and being a part of any committee whether it be for your hall, a society or a sports club looks really good as well. You don't need to be gaining experience from placements or formal things like that, literally just from bits of volunteering will be more that fine. I just recommend it for the placement year because there aren't many psychology placements advertised and you want to have a bit more to say about yourself than having good grades etc.

And no not really, I think I only put about being a peer mentor at college but that's about it. And yeah you just need to show you are passionate about the subject really and how skills you've gained are relevant to the course e.g. team work skills, time management etc.

And you don't have to apologise for the questions, I was the exact same as you wanting to know answers :-)