I am at Cardiff and loving it.. That said it varies between universities, including some of the assessments in the first year and also policies about choosing PhDs.. Cardiff is extremely friendly, the culture is lovely and the directors are trying very hard to ensure we are not being bullied and exploited to work long hours.. The wellcome community is lovely, majority of us know each other, hag out together and are like one big family.. The interview was very very informal and friendly, you are not tied up to do your PhD in a lab where you have done rotation (as it is the case in UCL from what I have been told).. Each university is seeking something different in their students .. I didn't get shortlisted anywhere else and based on public profiles UCL/Oxford have preference for students from Imperial/UCL/Oxford and Cambridge - that bias is non existent in Cardiff.. - they seem to have preference for hard workers, who likely won't be able to afford a PhD without funding.. So it really depends what you are looking for.. The Cardiff programme was always my top choice and coming for the interview made me fall in love with the city and university - just feels like home.