Student review [#26768] for Chemical Engineering
at University of Birmingham

My experience so far as a chemical engineering student at the University of Birmingham has been eventful to say the least. The workload was greater than I expected going into Uni and the difficulty of the course is definitely a factor to why the workload seems so heavy. Managing work/life balance is a challenge, particularly early on, however as I progressed through Uni my time management improved. Chemical engineering is definitely a degree where a large proportion of your time needs to be dedicated to studying in order to see success.

The teaching standard is good which is expected given the University is Russel group and research-intensive. I really like that lectures are recorded and posted on panopto as this helps massively with revision and trying to understand the material better in your own time, which is often the case as it can be hard to get your head around things in the main lectures. However I would like it if the lecturers gave more detailed coursework briefs as it would save a lot of time, and time is precious, particularly for a chemical engineering student.

In regard to student life, I would say the quality is completely up to you. The University has countless societies and student groups in which you can get involved, I myself was a part of the chemical engineering football team which is in the 11 aside campus league where we play against other departments. It’s important to make sure you are involved in something as Uni can become very lonely and mentally straining if you go through it solo. Most people are open to making new friends, you just need the confidence to speak up and put yourself out there. On the flip side, it can also be easy to become too involved, which can quickly affect your studies and get you behind on work which is not a good place to be. Therefore it’s vital to maintain balance, which is the key word to a good University experience.

The University of Birmingham is extremely diverse and international, which is great for meeting people from all types of backgrounds. I gained even more appreciation for the vastness of humanity and cultures. There is a lot of potential to make lifelong friends from all over the world.

The reason I have rated the programme 3 stars is that despite the many skills gained and careers which open up from completing this degree, pursuing an actual career in chemical engineering is very difficult, and the job market has slowed down in recent times. The competition that graduates are facing is huge. However, from my experience, there are many career paths which open up as there is no doubt that students become much more employable after completing a challenging degree like this. I would recommend this course, but on the basis that you are willing to dedicate a lot of your time towards studying. It is also important that you network with coursemates in order to build bonds so you can seek help and help others when needed.