The best thing about studying at UWE is the shared sense of community and respect. The ethos is that everyone is equal – students and teachers alike. Unlike top-down learning instilled at other institutions, I have found that this method creates a real sense of community and respect. The environment created by this has made me feel always encouraged to share my own knowledge as well as ask questions from peers and lecturers and I can see the effect this has had on my confidence as a person, worker and learner, as well as in my work.

I am a current student at UWE who been studies have been both online and in person due to Corona virus, and I have also just finished a study abroad semester in Turkey, this puts me in a superb position to review my university experience with comparison and experience of lots of different factors.

The energy in the UWE architecture department is full of life and passion. This is noticeable as soon as one walks into the building, which we dub as Studio. My favourite aspect about being a UWE student has been the community feel with students and teachers alike. The ethos is that we all learn from eachother, irrespective of position or experience. This really helped with my confidence as a fresher with no previous experience in studying architecture. There are no module choices or pathways available in my chosen course, which is a shame in my opinion because I had envisioned university a bit like the american movies – with options to learn extra curricular subjects that would support my main degree. However I believe this is due to having to comply with RIBA standards in the industry. Instead, we do share modules with other architectural and environmental engineering degrees which satisfies me in learning from others through collaborative work. There is also a huge international community at UWE. Some students are full time, whereas others attend for a semester or two as part of their Erasmus studies. Some of my best friends made at university were international students, and I firmly believe that my life has been enriched by being exposed to their cultures and quirks different to my own.

Although I have enjoyed my courses so far at UWE, having studied a wide rage of subjects from structure through to product design, I do not currently feel ready for work. Other students on my course share this feeling. We have been given great freedom to design with creativity however in regards to job prospects I am not sure still in which direction I might like to take my career. I think that UWE could have offered some more directed studio projects with a real-life work setting vibe, or perhaps brought in some guest speakers who specifically give us a real account of what working in practice is like.

The University of the West of England is located in Bristol along with Bristol University. It has great on site accommodation for first years and a responsive support network for any queries you may have. Whilst the uni is dated in areas, major improvements and new constructions are coming. My experience of the teaching staff has been positive with lectures following a more informal theme whereby people are encouraged to ask and answer questions. Bristol as a city has lots of events all year round and will not disappoint.