University of Birmingham is a gorgeous campus. It has really extensive study areas, a great 24-hour library, and great resources both in person and online. As a history of art student, an on campus gallery is incredible – as well as the Barber Institute library AND Cadbury Research Library and archives. My history of art lecturers and course leads are really friendly and knowledgeable, and the people that run the Barber Institute are really helpful too. Being based out of a gallery, the opportunity to volunteer and gain experience is really great. I do very much enjoy the courses and modules on offer in my degree, with a range of assessment types.

However, the university is not very catered to commuters, with nearly everything being centred around the students that live on the Vale or in Selly Oak. Being a red brick university, the overall atmosphere can be very judgemental. As someone with a working class background, it was a crazy culture shock when I first joined. The university’s option to take a year abroad is a great opportunity, but they provide very little information about the actual process in general.

Overall, I would only really recommend attending University of Birmingham if you have the opportunity to live on campus, as it can be really isolating and excluding if you do not.