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Bristol or Kent uni for film?

So I have been offered places at both Bristol and Kent to do film. I know Kent very well as I got to go to the applicant day and open day. However at Bristol I only got to see the open day for a couple of hours and due to the virus I can't see it. I just want some advice from someone who may know which course is better.
But also which uni is best for well-being, what uni has the best accommodation and what uni has better student life and overall feel - would be much appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

StudentRep Medway

Official Rep

Original post by CG:)

Hi there!
Congrats on your offer to study at Kent :biggrin:

Also it's great you were able to come and visit Kent in person, hopefully that helped you get a good idea of what life could be like for you there :smile:

I'm a student rep for Kent here on TSR, and although I don't study film, I can help out with well-being and accommodation, etc questions!

I have only ever visited Bristol on an open day too, so I can't say much by way of comparison to Kent as I don't know it well enough, but hopefully sharing my experience and knowledge of Kent will still help you out a bit!
First, if you are keen to speak to a current film student at Kent, you can use Kent's online programme called Unibuddy which matches up prospective students with current students, so that you can ask them any questions you may have about the course you want to study. I'll link it here (Unibuddy) so you can check it out if you'd like :smile:

I've used the Wellbeing services at Kent a few times and I've also been along to their annual well-being week too which was great (they had free activities, free haircuts, therapy dogs and snacks!). I've personally had a positive experience with the wellbeing services at Kent, they are very accommodating and it is quite a large team so if you want to book an appointment with them, you never have to wait too long! I'd recommend checking out their website (Student Support and Wellbeing) to see what they offer :smile:

One of the things I really like about Kent is how supportive the learning and social environment is, so while we have the Student Support and Wellbeing team, within several academic schools there is also a small team dedicated to mental health and learning support too. Also, if you're struggling with university life academically, there's a department dedicated entirely to that, the Student Learning Advisory Service. The support I've had at Kent has been great, and it is definitely worth making use of should you need it :smile:

Kent has a really great range of accommodation too, and they have been working on refurbishing a lot of the accommodation blocks in the last year. I stayed in Turing flats in my first year (so I obviously a bit biased towards them!), which are really modern and have some truly stunning views over Canterbury and the cathedral. Turing houses are also a great accommodation block and are cheaper than the flats. My other favourite accommodation is Parkwood houses. The houses are arranged into courts which creates a really nice sense of community within them. A lot of the Parkwood houses have also been refurbished in the last year so they're really modern inside :smile:

Parkwood is like its own little community on campus and they even have a new student hub called Woody's in the middle. Hopefully you had a chance to see some of the accommodation when you visited Kent, but if not you can do virtual tours of all on-campus accommodation (Virtual Tours) :smile:

I have had a great time at Kent, and I will definitely miss it when I graduate! The sense of community and the location of the campus are my favourite parts about it! I hope this helped to give you an idea of what life is like at Kent so you can compare it more easily with Bristol and see which one suits you best! :smile: