UCL is an amazing place in the sense that the staff and students are all so friendly and genuinely want to help you and make sure you’re settled down well. Particularly, in my course, the teachers are really passionate about their studies and you can tell that they really want to guide your understanding by prompting questions to further spark your interests. However, one thing I dislike is the inflexibility of the admin aspects of the course. Being new to the university and asked to choose modules for the entire year will inevitably lead you to make some wrong decisions. After realising that some modules are simply not right for me, I am not allowed to make any changes to it. Hopefully some adjustments can be made in the future to make the course, and the uni, more suitable and enjoyable for every individual.

Due to COVID restrictions, around half of the classes were moved online. Plus, during strike weeks (3/10 this semester), the seminars were also conducted on zoom. Online courses impaired my learning experiences. For instance, I found it hard to concentrate and was more prone to stay silent rather than speaking out my opinions compared to offline lessons.

I did my PhD research study at the Institute of Education (UCL). I had a very nice supervisor who provided all the support to my research and was always there for my questions. I was able to take all the courses I needed for the research. The admin managers were there for me to solve the problems with visa and programme. However, for the international student who has never done a degree in the UK, the educational system was new. It was difficult to understand who, where and what. I went with all my questions to my supervisor and even he was kind enough to help me I could not ask all the questions as he was quite busy. I missed so many opportunities to participate in the teaching courses, meeting with other students and so on.