Student review [#8816] for Creative Writing
at University of Winchester

The University of Winchester is overall an excellent place to study, and I would highly recommend it. I studied Creative and Professional Writing there, which is a fairly new programme, but the standard of teaching is brilliant and there is a good variety of subject matter, including modules on publishing, songwriting and different genres of fiction. The lecturers are brilliant and easily approachable, and can be easily accessed via email outside of contact hours. Lecturers are happy to arrange one to one appointments with students or offer email support.

The university offers many different support systems, depending on the needs of the student. The careers service gives one to one and drop in appointments, where you can discuss your CVs and other career opportunities. Their Academic Skills scheme offers tutoring and resources for students struggling academically, and student services also offers counselling for students having problems with mental health.

The campus includes many state of the art facilities, including a recently opened recording studio. The university is also constantly trying to improve their campus, with a new development underway on the West Downs campus, and recent funding being given for further developments in other parts of the King Alfred campus.

The Martial Rose Library has thousands of resources both in the library and online. The School Resources Centre in the library is extensive and kept up to date for faculty of education students. If you can’t find the resource you’re looking for, the library also offers an inter-library loan scheme, so resources can be borrowed from other libraries. There are study rooms that can be booked and quiet and silent study spaces. Although in exam season these spaces can be filled quite easily, there are lots of other spaces around campus that are suitable for studying in.

There are also plenty of opportunities to get involved in extra curricular activities at the University of Winchester. There are a number of sports teams and societies, and if there isn’t a society for your particular interest, you can always go to the Student Union and ask to create one. I was personally involved in multiple groups in the University of Winchester Music Centre, and would definitely recommend joining if you’re interested in music. There are no auditions for any of the instrumental or vocal groups and they are open to any skill level. It’s a wonderful community and a great way to spend time when not in lectures.

My only criticism of the institution is that there can sometimes be a bias towards larger courses. As it used to be a teacher training facility, the Primary Education and Education Studies courses are the most subscribed programmes, and sometimes get better treatment when compared with smaller courses. For example, there is no budget for the Creative Writing professional placement module and students have to organise their placements themselves, while the Primary Education students have all their travel costs covered and get their placements organised for them. While this can be discouraging, the University is constantly improving, so I can see this issue definitely being solved in the future.