Which university should I pick?

I'm finding it difficult to pick a university. I've got offers from Canterbury Christ Church University, Cardiff University, University of Cumbria and University of Plymouth. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm particularly interested in student support.

Reply 1

CardiffUni Rep 2

Official Rep

Original post by Rae5083

Hi there! Cardiff student here 🙂 Cardiff is a great place to study if you want a city experience, but still get overwhelmed by bigger cities I reckon. I personally like Cardiff just because the main campus, Cathays, is all in one place but it is also situated right next to the city center. Everything is really close by and just a walk away, but there is still lots to do. It's quite an affordable city, I think despite the cost of living crisis, prices are still a bit lower than other places in the UK.

There's loads of student support, pretty much in all aspects of university. So if you go with university-owned accommodation, there's something called a Residence Life Team. They hold social events and help with issues with your accommodation, including difficulties with flatmates. They've been really helpful with transitioning to uni!

The Student Union offers a lot of support. Recently they've helped with student complaints/getting money back due to strikes. But they also help with other areas such as finances, getting the right support etc. They hold useful campaigns as well occasionally - to help with cost of living crisis for example, they did £2 lunches and gave away free living necessities from time to time.

There's a lot of mental health support! I've accessed the university's mental health services and they have been really helpful. There is a bit of a waitlist if you needed to see a counsellor but its not terribly long in my opinion.

Disability support has been really useful as well. They account for mental health conditions as well. I think the best thing about it is that you can access some disability support without applying for the DSA, as long as you have some evidence from a medical professional.

Academic support is also good 🙂 of course, it depends school to school (for example there are free maths drop ins if you are doing a subject that involves statistics or similar) but the university holds a bunch of lectures and workshops to help with certain academic skills (revision, essay writing etc). During exam season the university libraries are so lovely as well! Sometimes I go to a study desk to find candy and a nice note haha, and they do hold something called "Revision Aid". This is basically where they offer free coffee, tea and biscuits and sometimes you're able to get some helpful study resources :smile:

I hope thats covered the general gist of support haha. There's a lot to offer so I definitely didn't cover everything, but if there was a particular type of support you were wanting to know more about I'm happy to chat about it!

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Reply 2

McGinger

University subject?
And what sort of 'student support'?

Reply 3

Artjen

Original post by A Rolling Stone

what do you mean student support? University is primarily about facilitating INDEPENDENT STUDY. if you want handholding, go to America and pay $$$$

Support for mental health or disabilities perhaps. Hardly call that "handholding".

Reply 4

username6882602

Original post by CardiffUni Rep 2

Hi there! Cardiff student here 🙂 Cardiff is a great place to study if you want a city experience, but still get overwhelmed by bigger cities I reckon. I personally like Cardiff just because the main campus, Cathays, is all in one place but it is also situated right next to the city center. Everything is really close by and just a walk away, but there is still lots to do. It's quite an affordable city, I think despite the cost of living crisis, prices are still a bit lower than other places in the UK.
There's loads of student support, pretty much in all aspects of university. So if you go with university-owned accommodation, there's something called a Residence Life Team. They hold social events and help with issues with your accommodation, including difficulties with flatmates. They've been really helpful with transitioning to uni!
The Student Union offers a lot of support. Recently they've helped with student complaints/getting money back due to strikes. But they also help with other areas such as finances, getting the right support etc. They hold useful campaigns as well occasionally - to help with cost of living crisis for example, they did £2 lunches and gave away free living necessities from time to time.
There's a lot of mental health support! I've accessed the university's mental health services and they have been really helpful. There is a bit of a waitlist if you needed to see a counsellor but its not terribly long in my opinion.
Disability support has been really useful as well. They account for mental health conditions as well. I think the best thing about it is that you can access some disability support without applying for the DSA, as long as you have some evidence from a medical professional.
Academic support is also good 🙂 of course, it depends school to school (for example there are free maths drop ins if you are doing a subject that involves statistics or similar) but the university holds a bunch of lectures and workshops to help with certain academic skills (revision, essay writing etc). During exam season the university libraries are so lovely as well! Sometimes I go to a study desk to find candy and a nice note haha, and they do hold something called "Revision Aid". This is basically where they offer free coffee, tea and biscuits and sometimes you're able to get some helpful study resources :smile:

Thank you! That's really helpful. 😊

Reply 5

University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Rae5083

Hi there! 🙂

Glad to hear you have an offer from the University of Plymouth! I'm a current second year student here and can highly recommend the uni from my experience. I have really enjoyed the campus and facilities, which are really modern and of a high standard. The location was one of the main reasons I chose Plymouth as it's a fantastic area with some stunning natural surroundings, as well as being a student city equipped with lots of entertainment, cafés, restaurants, shops etc. all really close by to the university (I rarely have to walk more than 20 minutes to get anywhere I need to go!) I would say the campus is at the heart of the city, which has everything you could need but without the business and 'overwhelming' feeling of larger cities.

The student support at the university is great, too. We have a student support hub in the library which hosts our student services team (providing personalised disability, academic, financial, mental health, and other support) as well as our careers service (a dedicated team working to provide careers advice and guidance, whether that's for a part-time, graduate, placement, or internship position). Additional learning needs are catered to each student to ensure they have the correct support required to help them achieve the best they can at the university. The careers service provides tailored support depending on the needs of students (e.g. CVs, the MyCareer platform, and 1-1 meetings). Student support is provided in a number of different ways to encourage accessibility and flexibility of the university's services, including 1-1 meetings (remote or in-person), drop-in sessions, and more.

To read more about the student support at Plymouth, feel free to check out this page!

Hopefully this helps give you some guidance but if you have any further questions, feel free to reach out!

Best of luck! 🙂
-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep