University of Surrey Speciality : Physics & Astronomy
programme: Physics

The physics programme provided an excellent depth and breadth to cover and expand upon the mandatory South East Physics Network curriculum. Especially from the second year onwards – all lecturers were extremely passionate and personable, which was a pleasant contrast to my previous higher education institution experience at another South Eastern UK university. Despite Guildford not being a clubbing hotspot, the student life was extremely enjoyable and the sports facilities are top tier.

The Physics program at Surrey ranged from being outstanding to awful, with some in-between. This made choosing the “good” modules essential to passing, and we would always ask the year above what to avoid to prevent ourselves grief. It’s kind of wild how much the quality ranged. Knowing some modules were unpickable due to poor teaching also limited choices somewhat.
Labs were universally bad due to understaffing and unclear grading. Staffing was an issue because it’s very difficult to help yourself when you get stuck, and since there was a huge workload in labs (not necessarily difficult, just huge), if you got stuck you simply wouldn’t get through it all. Luckily UoS had an amazing digital teaching platform which made covid a breeze. No, really, I felt barely affected by the pandemic. I would meet fellow students digitally to avoid lonesome studying, and the student-to-student help was beautiful to see. All in all the pros and cons cancel out to an average of 3 stars.