strathclyde Uni 4 year degrees

Hi,
I'm looking at Strathclyde uni for Finance undergrad degree. It looks
as though the courses are 4 years long, with one of the years being free-free for students from England.
does anyone have any experience or insight as to what can be gained from the extra year? I realise that I won't have to pay uni fees, but I will have to pay for accommodation costs so i want to be sure that the extra year will be worthwhile.
For finance, it would appear that strathclyde is high rated which in itself might make the extra year worthshile.
Thanks

Hey @lindseywalsh 🙂 That's right, normally degrees across Scotland are taught over 4 years rather than 3.
We'd say the extra year is good for a few reasons - firstly it lets you take a broad based first year (you'll do all of the Business School classes in first year rather than just Finance), which lets you be flexible with your subjects. You may decide, for example, to take up a new subject you didn't think you'd enjoy previously to go alongside Finance, or you can change your degree focus entirely if that suits you better.
The extra year also allows you to have more time to do things like work placements, study abroad and you have an extra summer. It lets you maximise your time as a student to do all the fun stuff that goes with it, but also gives more time to figure out what's next for you after your finish our degree.
It's not for everyone - some students decide to go straight in to Year 2 and finish their degree in a shorter period of time. We'd then ask for you to achieve slightly higher in your A Levels as you'd be coming in at a later entry point.
Hope this helps a bit! Happy to answer any questions 🙂
Caitlin 🎓️
Official University of Strathclyde Rep