Student review [#59266] for Liberal Arts
at University of Nottingham - UoN

The university of Nottingham is a fantastic Russell Group university. Even speaking objectively, the university has a reputation for academic excellence; accordingly, it is ranked 66 in the world and 10 in the UK for employability according to QS 2022 rankings.

In my experience, I can see why this is the case! I can only speak for the Faculty of Arts, but the staff are great and the content they teach is generally very interesting. The lectures are well prepared, and the powerpoint slides are always provided to students – many lecturers also record their lectures for those that can’t attend. Reading lists for each module are comprehensive, with core readings, recommended readings, and further readings available, alongside many other online resources to help with your studies.

My biggest piece of advice is to take full advantage of what is available to you, especially the brains of your professors! They are there to help and will happily meet with you to discuss your work; they have always been quick to respond to my own queries on email and friendly and helpful in person.

As is to be expected at uni, you will not be spoon fed. While I stand-by the fact that the lectures here are interesting, you are expected to go above and beyond with your reading and research. Sometimes the lectures may not even have any relevance to the assignments; do not make the mistake of thinking the lecture materials are all you need for your courseworks. In my first year a professor reminded me that I am meant to be a full-time student, which means I need to study like one! This means at least a few hours of work outside of lectures or seminars a day – of course in first year this isn’t as necessary but in second and third year I would try to take this advice on board if you want to do well.

In relation to lectures and university staff, be aware that there are a lot of strikes ongoing, and so lots of teaching and some assignments are likely to be impacted. This seems to be a nationwide issue, but staff in the Faculty of Arts here often partake in the strikes.

Nottingham is a super sporty university! There are a huge number of sports and societies to get involved with, make sure you go to the freshers fair to check out all your options and sign up to trial anything that might interest you. Don’t overlook the importance of these as a source of entertainment and places to meet new people.
However, I will say is that there is a big drinking culture that is especially evident in sports teams so if that doesn’t appeal to you then its something to be wary of. As far as I can tell though, this isn’t limited just to UON, and many big universities have this culture.
Furthermore, uni sports are pretty expensive. If you are part of a team you will have to pay a membership subscription, some sports require you to have a sports village pass, and will have to pay for kits/uniform. Even when trying new sports or wanting to play for fun instead of for competition, you will have to pay £5-10 per session.

at the moment, only catered halls are available on campus, with self-catered halls being a little more further out, although all are within a reasonable distance. If I could repeat first year, I would pick one of the catered halls – I think the shared dining halls encourage more social interaction, the fantastic facilities on campus are much more easily accessible, and of course there is the added bonus of not having to cook or clean up!

Finally, the surrounding areas are lovely. The main campus is absolutely gorgeous and green, with tons of wildlife. Keep an eye out for the bunnies! There are free hopper buses between University park, Jubilee and Sutton Bonnington. Beeston and Lenton in particular have wonderful student communities, where most students will live in their second and third years, but the city as a whole feels very student-oriented given the presence of two huge universities.