Quality of life at lancaster

I received an application to Lancaster to study law and wanted to know about the quality of education but mainly the quality of life for students (particularly student support as I suffer from anxiety, ASD, and ADHD as well as being transgender). I'm asking here as the university themselves are going to say they are good and rankings on things like complete university guide are going to take into account all people instead of just the ones who suffer from mental health issues and or are LGBTQ.

Thanks,

Reply 1

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

16

Original post by Bea Martin

I received an application to Lancaster to study law and wanted to know about the quality of education but mainly the quality of life for students (particularly student support as I suffer from anxiety, ASD, and ADHD as well as being transgender). I'm asking here as the university themselves are going to say they are good and rankings on things like complete university guide are going to take into account all people instead of just the ones who suffer from mental health issues and or are LGBTQ.

Thanks,

Hiya,

I'm a third-year chemistry student at Lancaster University. It's great that you're considering coming to study here! While I don't have personal experience with the law school, I can offer some more general advice about the university life here.

For the quality of education, I have a few close friends that study law. From their experiences, they have always told me that the quality of teaching is good and they have workshops and seminars very often. They have said that there is 1:1 tuition available and specific members of staff within the department that can be contacted if extra help is needed. Also, each student is assigned to an academic advisor that you meet with once a term to check-in with and discuss any issues or problems you have. The overall "quality of education" can be subjective and depends on personal preferences, learning styles, and the specific program you are interested in.

For the quality of life here, I would say that generally most people like it here (apart from all the rain). The best way to get a feel would be to try and visit an open day or offer holder event so you can better understand the environment and whether it aligns with your preferences. The campus is so pretty and has everything you need on it like shops, laundrettes and a gym. The uni itself is relatively small and the city of Lancaster itself is not huge. Again, personal preferences play a role, so it may be helpful to consider whether the campus environment, extracurricular activities, and overall atmosphere align with what you are looking for in a university.

The university itself does have a range of support services that are easily accessible. There is a counselling service that you can self-refer to, self-help resources, disability services and LGBTQ support events. Also, within each college, there is a college wellbeing team that you can email any time. They can either help you themselves or point you in the direction of people who can. Colleges also tend to put on lots of wellbeing events throughout the term like movie nights, sew and chat or wellbeing walks. If that's too formal though, there are welfare execs on the college JCR (like a school council) that are students themselves. You can just message them or ask them to chat informally.
If anything is impacting your studies long-term, the disability support service can also help you obtain an ISLP which basically is a specialised learning support plan that will specify any extra needs. For example, if a person had dyslexia they may be provided a reader in exams, extra time for assignments and different coloured paper. Each person's ISLP is personalised to them so the support detailed would be different.

I would say that reaching out for help if you need it is the key here. There is support available but you have to ask for it yourself, rather than waiting for someone else to notice. Also, asking for help early will mean that any impact on your studies can hopefully be minimised.

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions let me know.
-Beth (Lancaster Student Ambassador)

Reply 2

Ghostlady

21

Original post by Bea Martin

I received an application to Lancaster to study law and wanted to know about the quality of education but mainly the quality of life for students (particularly student support as I suffer from anxiety, ASD, and ADHD as well as being transgender). I'm asking here as the university themselves are going to say they are good and rankings on things like complete university guide are going to take into account all people instead of just the ones who suffer from mental health issues and or are LGBTQ.

Thanks,

My daughter goes to Lancaster uni and although there is a great LGBTQ+IA group there, by a chance meeting in the local greggs queue at uni with someone, she became part of her own pub quiz team locally and she loves the group shes with which has bi gay ace and transgender. They really enjoyed the pride day which is enormously supported so it worth googling pride day lancaster for local news of the pics. There is also a club called Generation which is an LGBTQ+ night club https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063458114114&sk=photos my daughter has enjoyed a good night here from time time to time🙂. Its a definite good start getting involved with the group at the uni and making a few friends that way and go out on trip/nights out that suit what you like and dont like to do.

Below are links you may find handy.
This is a link to the wellbeing
https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/ask/wellbeing/
Adhd
https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/ask/wellbeing/support/adhd/
Asd
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/disability-and-inclusive-practice-service/transitions-team/students-with-autism/
Unis link
https://lancastersu.co.uk/groups/lgbtq-forum

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Bea Martin

I received an application to Lancaster to study law and wanted to know about the quality of education but mainly the quality of life for students (particularly student support as I suffer from anxiety, ASD, and ADHD as well as being transgender). I'm asking here as the university themselves are going to say they are good and rankings on things like complete university guide are going to take into account all people instead of just the ones who suffer from mental health issues and or are LGBTQ.

Thanks,

Hey, I'm actually also trans with anxiety and currently in first year doing law at Lancaster haha. In terms of your flat there obviously isn't one answer, it really depends on the people you end up with, but if you do have any problems there are loads of places you can go that will help. My voice tends to give me away a lot, but literally no one I've met on campus so far has said anything about my gender, it hasn't really come up at all, which I prefer.

There is, as others have mentioned, an LGBTQ forum of campus, and also a disability forum, so if you're struggling to meet people who will understand you then maybe check out one of their events (they often hold things like weekly coffee evenings, crafts, talk about current issues etc). I don't go to either personally but it's good to know that they're there.

There was also recently an event on at the art gallery on campus all focused on queer culture which was cool. The Student's Union LGBTQ officer is actually proactive in changing things, for example when the SU club Sugar changed their gender neutral bathroom into a gendered one, the LGBTQ officer spoke with them and convinced them to change it back!

I started new meds before I came to uni for anxiety because I knew I'd struggle, and freshers week can definitely be overwhelming, but it's not like that after the first week, I promise. I'm in 2 societies which are awesome, one is quite small (only about 10 of us) so it was easier for me to feel comfortable around them. I got upset because it was overwhelming on the first session at that society, but everyone was really nice and gave me space but let me know they were there if I needed them. Best decision I've made this year was to keep going to that society! So if you're worried about being in your room too much I'd 100% recommend trying to join at least one society to get you out socialising at least once a week.

As for law, honestly some lecturers are better than others, but most do try to make it a bit more engaging. They are confident in what they're talking about and in seminars they can answer questions and help you out with things you're struggling to understand on a more personal level. There's also an academic advisor that you'll see at least once a term (can be more often if you want) that will check in with you, make sure you're doing ok academically, and there's a pastoral team for the law department that are really nice if you need help with other non-academic things.

If you have any other questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer!

Quality of life at lancaster

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