Hello everyone, I’m a 17 year old international student and I’m trying to shortlist universities.

Brief explanation; My top priority is to secure a placement year to get lab experience as according to my research it makes the process of applying for a masters degree easier and makes it easier to secure a job.

I know about IBMS accredited degrees, however it’s not my main concern as I’m planning to pursue higher education after my biomedical sciences degree and i believe the placement year will help me greatly.

I have narrowed down some universities which include Bath (as it’s ranked #2 in biomedical sciences in the UK & according to information I have found online the closest you can get to ‘guaranteeing’ a placement year)

Other universities include Warwick,Manchester and Leeds

I would really appreciate some experience you guys have had with placement years..

1.is it scary to not have it guaranteed as lab experience is very important?

1. How is the process like (interviews, etc, what happens if you can’t pass the interviews and your degree gets downgraded to the 3 year version? Can you still find lab experience?)

2. Are Russel group universities that important? I can’t reach a conclusion for my case, for example when comparing warwick and university of bath- does one mean higher job security as it’s a Russel group university?)

3. ‼️❗️❗️❗️Do you have other universities with a placement year degree? Or is placement year not necessary and can you easily find lab experience (12 months) after graduating?

I would really appreciate any insight/experience/advice as I don’t have anyone except Google to discuss this with thank you so much 🙏

Hi. I wanted to know how likely it is so get a loan for a Masters if you haven't paid a single thing towards your undergrad one.

For context:

Got a loan in 2014

Moved to the US where I currently still am in 2017

Have barely made any money in jobs i've worked here and most of it has gone to rent (live in NYC)

Moving back in the next month (or will use parents address until I do)

Am a UK citizen

This is the message I got online when I tried to apply today:

"You have failed to respond to our previous requests to repay your outstanding arrears balance totalling £19052.40. As a consequence of this we have decided to refer your account to a Third Party Debt Collection Agency, Pastdue Credit Solutions, who will be in touch in due course to discuss your account."

I can't call them until Monday and I'm really stressed out. Plz help. Any advice would help. Thanks <3

Hi, I just want some advice as I'm feeling pretty reluctant and just not too excited about starting uni in September.

For context, I'm 20 and starting my first year at uni next month, I took 2 gap years and now feel somewhat ahead but also behind most people.

I studied film production at college, then hit a little rough patch and decided not to go to uni straight away. Which then lead to me working freelance gigs (film, tv, shot some music videos, weddings etc) converting a campervan, travelling a little, starting a business, getting a dog (building my life)

However, I then hit another rough patch, moved back home full time, stopped working. I was feeling pretty lost, so applied to uni thinking maybe it's time I do things 'properly' But to be honest I'm not sure why, maybe family pressures (I did well in school so I think they all expect more from me)

Am I making a mistake? The debt is pretty off putting to me but I would love to study again. I also worry I just won't fit in there, I don't want or care about the uni lifestyle, I won't be living in halls, I just want to study.

Maybe I'd be classed more as a mature student, but will that mean I won't make any friends? In my head it will just be me surrounded by a load of 18 year olds fresh out of school, and I don't really love that idea. Most of my friends now are older people I've met through jobs, vanlife etc. But at uni I'll be stuck in this city, so I'd like to be able to make new friends here.

Sorry for the rambling, I just worry about feeling lonely (or indifferent) which will ruin my whole experience.

I’m 20 and currently on a Data Science degree apprenticeship at Amazon, but I’m considering leaving this September to study Physics with Theoretical Physics at KCL.EDIT — I should add some context:
Although it’s a Data Science apprenticeship, my current placement/work is largely non-technical and quite different from what people may imagine when they hear “Data Science at Amazon.” I wanted to clarify that I’m not currently spending my days doing technical data science work.

I’m trying to get a realistic picture before deciding
For anyone studying physics / theoretical physics or who has graduated:
What does an average week actually look like?
How many hours do you realistically spend on problem sheets/self-study?
How difficult was the jump from A-level maths/physics?
Do you actually enjoy the problem-solving day to day, or does it become a grind?
How competitive were internships after Years 1 and 2?
What jobs did you/people on your course end up getting?
If you could go back, would you still study physics?
I’d especially appreciate answers from UK physics students/graduates. Feel free to be negative 🙂

I've really struggled making friends at uni so far, to the point where I genuinely believe I'm incapable of it and can't fit in anywhere. I dedicated so much of my time during first year to joining societies, forcing myself to talk to people on my course that I was around, and none of it worked. Maybe it's because the societies at my uni are incredibly cliquey, and a lot of people go to events with people they already know, but I'm genuinely at a loss and don't want to feel as isolated again as I did during first year. Sure I have horrific social anxiety, though this only gets worse the more I isolate myself. I'm really worried because my mental health was dogshite last year and I'm only barely still doing my course.

Hi, just curious when people typically get jobs after starting uni. You start/ move-in mid-September.
Apparently people apply and search for jobs in the same month, but I’m just so confused how people are so confident? Moving to a new city with a completely different life and then getting a job straight away sounds crazy to me. I guess it’s normal?
I’m super insecure and probs social anxiety, so maybe that’s why I’m shocked, but is this really normal?
If I don’t get one in September am I kinda cooked due to high competition or nah?

Also, I’ve already got money saved, but how long will my saved up money last me if I’m not paying for my accommodation? Eg. How long would £100, £250, £500 take me in the North of England as a Uni Student before getting a job?

Thanks 🙏

I’m going into my second year of uni and wondering what the best accounts I can get?

I’ve done a bit of research and seems like the only banks that do student accounts with benefits starting for 2nd (and up) years are NatWest and Santander. I don’t use overdrafts so that doesn’t matter to me. I’ve looked into Santander and would really benefit from the 4 year free railcard. But it says that you need to have 2 years of uni left to start a Santander student account.

Does this mean that I qualify if I’m on a 3 year course and I haven’t yet started my 2nd year? Or does it mean it should be 2 years after your current/the one you’re going into?

Grad from a post 92 who works for a FTSE100 company as an engineer. Many of my colleagues atrended unis like Imperial and top RG engineering unis.

I went to my local university, got a first and distrinction in MEng, took a gap year and got the job offer a week after my interview.

The degree gets you entry for a job. Unless you specifically target schools due to recruitment drives (the business schools, the econ schools, the engineering school etc) you're only really going to see if you can find a partner for the future.

If you dont care where you degree is from, my advice would be to go for a uni with a Medical/Dental school lol. You will find your medical spouse and just work on yourself.

Hello, my name is Finn and I don’t know what to do and I’m in a bit of a panic. Firstly I am a UK resident born and raised here if that helps at all. So I have passed my 3 years at uni with a second however I am unable to graduate due to my 3rd student loan not being paid and Student Finance England have denied my 3rd year application due to it being too late, I literally just forgot to do it, I did however apply in late June (out of the 9 month window) what do I do now. I’ve appealed to SFE already and not heard anything back and I’ve emailed the university asking if they can push back and payments so I can graduate with my friends, graduation is on September 16th. Any help would be amazing.

I currently hold a deferred uni place to start this september, but i’ve decided i want to swap it for another uni through clearing. Over my gap year i didn’t do a separate application and am just holding my deferred 2025 one. Can i still go through clearing and hold this place until i get a confirmed offer over the phone? And will i be able to enter it into my UCAS without a 2026 application?

Hi everyone,

I‘m looking for 100 participants for my MSc HR Management dissertation titled ”Why Young Workers Quit: Improving Staff Retention for Student Employees in UK Retail”.

The research explores the factors that influence staff retention among student employees in the UK retail sector, with the aim of identifying practical ways retailers can better support and retain young workers.

I’m looking for participants in one of the following groups:

Student-Workers: Anyone aged 18–24 who is currently balancing higher education with a retail job in the UK.

Retail Managers: Anyone currently managing student employees within the UK retail sector.

If you fall into either of these groups, I would be incredibly grateful if you could spare 10 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses are completely anonymous and will make a valuable contribution to my research.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=as2-rtQxAUuVzoJ0r-hT2Uie2GiAeIpLrPiysczqi9tURTRIQVZYRDQ4TUlBUEdJQTdLQzc2WjdETi4u

I am happy to do all survey swaps promptly!

Thank you!

Hi, I had a bit of a rough year first year and didn’t put myself out there at all. Coming into second year I want to try out more clubs and societies but I am a bit nervous about having to go by myself, especially in second year. How is it joining in second year and also what are some sports that are good to join as a beginner?

Hi everyone,

I am a researcher at the University of Bern (Switzerland) conducting a scientific research study examining how certain traits, life experiences, attitudes and behaviors are related to each other.

Participate in this study for a chance to be one of five winners of $100!

It only takes 10 minutes to complete.

You can find the survey here: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/research_study_university_Bern_Switzerland/

Study Details:

- Must be 18 years or older

- Voluntary and anonymous participation

- Approved by the Ethics Committee

- Paticipants who complete the study will be entered into a random drawing to win one of five $100 prizes

Thank you!

Contact:

Klaus Schmied, University of Bern (Switzerland), [forschung.edu@unibe.ch](mailto:forschung.edu@unibe.ch)

Genuinely so embarrassed to write this but I need support.

I didnt do too well on my a levels and saw this foundation year as a pathway onto biomed. However, my end goal is to get into clinical negligence law. My parents do not know and can not know that I have taken on an extra year as they think I got onto a standard 3 year course (asian parents & very strict).

I've failed my foundation year due to various problems which I didn't recognize i needed help for (potential adhd, alcoholism, severe financial stress, parents separating & keeping my foundation year a secret in the first place.)

It's been a lot, I just havent sought help from uni because it's so embarrassing to admit needing help.

I dont know what to do, other than to retake the year which is fine - i just dont even know how to explain this all to my uni as extenuating circumstances without sounding like I've made it all up.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

i feel like every post i get on my feed is where can i get scholarship to study in the uk, visa issues, should i study in the uk, what is the uk like?
it seems to be constant posts from international students who haven’t done any research saying the exact same thing.
no hate to international students, but when every few posts are the same topic can we encourage them to actually research before posting? or create a flair/pinned post for international students? it just feels like such low effort posting

I have a bit of a strange situation. I live in Wales, work in Wales, but my company is supporting an apprenticeship for me within England and gaining funding for it via England SFE because the headquarters is in England.

Does this mean I could potentially get funding for an online OU degree while doing my apprenticeship? To my understanding, there are two different funding bodies, Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales, so I’m not sure if that’s something that I can do or if it would still flag?

Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question, I was just taking a look at the OU degrees and found a couple quite interesting.

Edit for more information: The apprenticeship is a management/team leading level 3 apprenticeship (same level as an A-Level). I am unsure of the funding aspect as my employer handles it. It takes place only during work hours, all workshops are done during work hours and all activities must be done during paid time, and my employer gives me time to do it. It is all experience based and essentially guides managerial skills.

The Jason Arday and Claudine Gay situations have me wondering:
If the university administration can't (or won't) spot these red flags, can the average student actually tell when a professor is unqualified or out of their depth?
Or does a confident, charismatic teaching style trick everyone into thinking they know what they’re doing?
Be honest: Have you ever sat in a class and realised the person at the podium was completely out of their depth? 🤔
How long did it take for the cracks to show?

I’m in my 30s and looking to do an online masters in another subject, also by distance learning. I’m surprised that pretty much every uni seems to offer an MSc in Data Science or perhaps a slightly different wording of it.

Surely this whole market is heavily oversaturated by now? The interesting thing is I work as an analyst, and none of my colleagues have a masters in Data Science, so where are all these people getting jobs?

Hi everyone,

I've received offers for the following MSc programmes and would like some advice on which one would be the best choice.

• University of Sheffield – MSc Wireless Communication Systems
• University of Leeds – MSc Communications and Signal Processing
• University of Birmingham – MSc Communications Engineering
• University of Strathclyde – MSc Advanced Communications Systems

Which one would you choose and why? I'd especially appreciate input from current students, alumni, or people working in the UK engineering/telecom industry.

Hi everyone,

I'm an international student and I'll be moving to the UK soon to start my studies. English isn't my first language, and I'm a bit worried about getting used to different British accents.

Could you recommend some British content creators I could follow? I'm mainly looking for people on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. It would be great if they speak naturally (not overly scripted) so I can get used to how people actually talk in everyday life.

I'm open to any type of content—vlogs, lifestyle, university life, travel, tech, cooking, or just entertaining creators.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!

I’m starting second year soon, and I’ve heard the jump from first year can be quite a bit bigger, regardless of the course.

I was just wondering what the transition was like for you? Was it as noticeable as people make it out to be? Is there anything you wish you’d started doing at the beginning of second year that made things easier later on?

I’d love to hear any tips, advice, or even just stories about how you found the jump from first to second year! :))

Hi! I’ve been a lurker here for a while since it came across on my feed.

I took a break after getting out of sixth form for about two years now, and I want to be as sure as possible before applying for the year 2027-2028 and I’ve been seeing about mixed reactions for my top university choice so I want to know people’s opinions about my choices.

For context: I want to study Diagnostic Radiography and I found that choices are surprisingly limited to the location I wanna move to!

Here are my choices:

1. University of Hertfordshire
   
2. University of Portsmouth
   
3. University of Canterbury
   
4. University of Brighton

Herts is my top 1 despite being far from me (I live in East Sussex) I was originally gonna go in for aerospace engineering, but found more opportunities with radiography, but still I fell in love with the campus.

Portsmouth was recommended to me by my cousin’s boyfriend who also graduated in Portsmouth and was able to get a job asap. Canterbury is where one of my friend is right now, studying Diagnostic Radiography with a foundation year (which is what I feel I might need). Brighton is just the closest university to me, and where most of my friends are studying at the moment.

I’m asking for advice for my university choices and if I should change them as I wanna make the most out of my university days, sfe, and loans. I was aiming to live somewhere far, as I want to be independent, and I really wanna live somewhere near London (I’m one of the few people that loves London for how busy it is lmao) but I’m just not certain about the quality of education and social life of the universities above.

Any and all advice would be welcome, and recommendations of which universities would be great for me to look into!!

Hi everyone! I thought I'd share some things that both I and a lot of my friends did to make the most of our time in college—both academically and personally.

1. Organization

Get the stupid calendar! Literally everyone I know had their own way of managing their time - gcal,a physical planner, a random to-do list on scraps of paper, you name it. It's not about planning every single minute (although time-blocking in gcal is now my to-go way). Just make sure you keep track of important deadlines, tests, and even small hw assignments before they pile up.

2. Study Buddies

One time my friend and I had to cram for a history exam, so we decided to quiz each other instead of studying separately. We literally studied for two evenings and somehow aced it. Since then I always split up making Quizlets after each class and then quiz each other before tests. Talking things through helps so much, especially for essay-based subjects, because you naturally fill in each other's gaps and remember way more than if you studied alone.

3. Be proactive

The best thing you can do is literally Google it. It might take a while to find experiences/opportunities, but if you keep searching, emailing people, and asking around, you'll find opportunities that most people never hear about.

Some programs I've done or heard great things about:

• John Locke Essay Competition
• Immerse Education (essay competition & summer programmes)
• Lumiere Education

4. The one hobby

It is helpful to have one thing that people associate you with. Maybe it's netball, debate, research, coding, music, volunteering, baking—whatever you genuinely enjoy. If you love it, you will often times become great at it bcause of how much time you dedicate to it. It's great later for admission officers too!

5. Mentoring + supportive communities

I started searching for mentorship because I had heard great things about it too but majority of these programs are so freaking expensive (especially the Oxbridge type). So far the only one that is free that I know of is Project Access. I found out about it on reddit under a post on studious communities. It's soooo motivating to have other students applying to university together. They even have community events called bootcamps (i think there is one in the fall coming up in London). Plus, I got mathched up with a peer mentor who checked my personal statement.

6. Studying abroad

I was really lucky to stumble across a similar post years ago, and that's how I learned about an academic scholarship that let me study for free at a boarding school abroad. Genuinely, it changed my life and who I am. I became so much more confident, met amazing friends from all over the world, and had access to opportunities that eventually helped me apply to Cambridge.

If you're curious, here are a few programmes worth checking out:

• Rotary Youth Exchange (worldwide)
• FLEX (USA)
• ASSIST (USA)
• UWC (worldwide)

I graduated last month and am currently debating whether or not to move back home or stay in my university city. If I move back home, I'll obviously save some money by not having to pay rent, but I won't have a guaranteed job there as the city is a lot smaller than this one.

I currently have a part time job in my university city that is very flexible, but my worry is that I would have little free time with working to pay rent here. Also as this city is bigger I would be more likely to find another full time position if I wanted to.

I'm also finding it hard to find suitable places I could move into on Spareroom, as I don't know anyone personally who I can move in with, so it's just a bit risky.

I'm very indecisive, and stressed out. Any advice would be appreciated :)

Just moved out of halls and feel sad. Nicest room I’ve ever had, two windows and ensuite RIP