Newcastle University
speciality: Biological Sciences

You receive a topnotch education here. The seminars and research sessions where teams collaborate are incredibly educational and the lectures are fun. The professors here are excellent at explaining various ideas and the courses are presented extremely well.

The programme had solid foundations with a wide opportunity for choosing your own modules, and tailoring them to your specific interests. There is vast opportunity for practical work as well as more theory-based learning if that is more to your taste. The department has very new buildings in the centre of campus. The school could improve their advice towards students when choosing their modules so that modules are not chosen and committed to without students knowing too much about the modules themselves.
The extracurricular activities recommended by the department, with charity work opportunities and lectures outside of the curriculum are excellent. As well as a well-organised society infrastructure, of which I was part of the Biology society and the agriculture rugby club, which were both student lead and excellent fun.
Finally, the careers department was fantastic, with appointments available year-round and advice specific to my career preferences.

As a future doctor, Newcastle University is a university that I wholeheartedly recommend. Its facilities and resources in terms of medical research are among the best in the world, and the university is also recognised as a Russell Group university, making it a truly elite institution.

I love the practical side of the course, the lecturer is very helpful and gives many clinical examples during the course. Also, the shadowing experience in a clinical setting is very helpful. Besides, I love the university student life on the campus.

Good resource facilities, generally kind and helpful staff. Some modules with fairly simplified information making it difficult to understand a subject. The big con is students coming to Newcastle for the booze of nightlife, making it less of a pleasant place for academic development.

Overall choosing to study my degree at Newcastle University was a great choice. On my Biology course, there is an ideal mix of both lectures and practical sessions with the opportunity to experience both lab-based and fieldwork. During practical sessions, demonstrators and lecturers are very helpful. Lecture material is always outlined clearly and the provision of guided extra-reading and assignments helped me to broaden my knowledge and increase my skills (academic writing, statistics, scientific drawing, etc.).
The facilities available at the university exceeded my expectations. In addition to the labs and lecture theatres, there are multiple libraries and many other comfortable spaces great for studying in. There is also easy access to computers and printers at any time of day.
There are also lots of opportunities for extracurricular activities such as the wide range of societies on campus or the free language classes which I would recommend.

I think this university is very good. I feel very supported in the progress of my education. The lecturers and tutors all provide great support and I feel like I am able to ask for help if it is needed. I chose this university because I was able to have a small selection of modules to choose from even in the first year for my degree programme whereas other universities often have only compulsory modules in the first year and can only select the optional modules to form the second year onward.

As an EU student I was terrified to move to a new country and start my life and education there. Now I know I should have never been worried in the first place.

I was petrified I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my work, would struggle with language barriers, mental health and fitting in, amongst other things. What I found was that there is help available for any concern you might have.

This has made my time in Newcastle less stressful and incredibly enjoyable so far. I am looking forward to the rest of my stay here.