Help! - Studying in the UK - Liverpool, Bristol, or Bath?

Trotter

Hi All,

I might be moving to the UK next year to go back to college for a year or two. The options at the moment are Liverpool, Bristol, or Bath.

Can anyone tell me if they've lived or studied in any of those places and let me know what they're like.. where is good, bad etc.

Thanks!

p.pete

I get the impression that all three are nice places to go to college. I'm currently researching colleges in the UK also for next year - it's a bit of a daunting task.

You should be able to find unofficial league tables as to how the colleges rank - the Guardian and the Times would be good places to search for these (I've found them but can't find the link at the moment, I'll come back and post it if I find it).

Several things that I'm using to assess for my choice are as follows:
-Living expenses (this seems to be cheaper up North, so Liverpool from your 3 options)
-Ease of Access to Ireland (Liverpool and Bristol)
-Length of course (I'm getting long in the tooth so I'd prefer a 3 year to a 4 year - I'll be starting at undergraduate (again:())
-Rating of Colleges teaching
-Rating of specific college department
-Subjects included in the final year

Those last 3 you can hope gleam from the web - if you're going for a postgrad then the last one will be altered but still very important. Looking at areas of work beyond your study you want to be in the position to follow whatever it is you want to do - best option for this would be to talk to the college departments to get a good feel for what's going to be tackled.

If I find any links that I think may be useful i'll put them in here.

zenzen

heya! i studied in britain for the last year and it was great. i was studying in wales, but i spent a lot of time in bristol and bath while there. i must say bath is stunning! its the coolest city, but it didnt seem to be mad busy on nights out or anything. the people are lovely there tho. bristol has great night life and lovely people and loads and loads to do. i have heard great things about the uni there. sorry i dont have much more info... zenzen

BuffyBot

Maybe a bit late..but I would avoid Bristol at all costs. A total dump of a city

Trotter

BuffyBot wrote:

Maybe a bit late..but I would avoid Bristol at all costs. A total dump of a city

Nope, Ive another week or so to decide. Why do you think Bristol is a dump??

FayeNatalie

NOT LIVERPOOL! Baaad choice, dont know about the uni/colleges but u dont want 2 live there!

spritey

Most cities in England have pretty decent links to Ireland by air now, depends where you're going though of course... I think I'm probably way too late now but hey...

I think I'd go for Bath myself. It's definitely student town but isn't so much of a hole as Liverpool and Bristol can be which are both bigger and a bit more run-down I'd say (especially Liverpool, much as I love the Reds)... Leeds is a pretty nice place though but you're getting a bit further over now. London of course too, and not just UCL but some of the places on the outskirts (Royal Holloway for example) are in pretty nice places.

I'm not much use am I? But then, I was never able to decide where I wanted to go myself.

damnyanks

Zen where abouts in Wales you study ? I'm in aber myself...

What Uni in livepool are you thinking of going too ? Bath is full of southeners from who I've met thehy are generally quite boring and stuck up. But doubt they can all be like that. Is a very nice old town. Bristol isn't so bad, not amazing. Bath would be the nicest area of all

What are you going to study ?

Trotter

Im hoping to do the PGCE course in primary teaching. My friend did hers in Liverpool and loved it there so I thought it would be a decent spot. Its Liverpool Hope Uni that Ive applied to.

My second choice for the same course is in Bath. Thanks for all the tips so far everyone!

Richard

Trotter wrote:

Im hoping to do the PGCE course in primary teaching. My friend did hers in Liverpool and loved it there so I thought it would be a decent spot. Its Liverpool Hope Uni that Ive applied to.

My second choice for the same course is in Bath. Thanks for all the tips so far everyone!

Liverpool is a great place - I did a PGCE there too. There are loads of people from Ireland - mainly NI but there's a good lot from the Republic as well. I've never seen so many Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland football tops ouside Ireland!

It's a good place to go out in, and the locals are really friendly on the whole. And Liverpool Hope is a great Uni. It's a former college and only got full university status this year. It still has a 'college' feel about it.

Bear in mind however that you won't qualify for the same funding as a UK resident, so look into this. AFAIK The course will be paid for in full by the Department of Education and Skills but I don't think you are eligible for a student loan as UK residents would be - so check!

Trotter

Richard wrote:

Bear in mind however that you won't qualify for the same funding as a UK resident, so look into this. AFAIK The course will be paid for in full by the Department of Education and Skills but I don't think you are eligible for a student loan as UK residents would be - so check!

Yeah Id get the £6000 grant, but I wouldnt be eligable for the loans. Im glad you liked Liverpool Hope! Whats the accomodation situation around like? Id be renting my own 1 bedroom place (My GF is coming with me) so hopefully there'd be some nice apartments in nice areas. Ya gotta have a decent spot to go home and study in.

bucks

Whats the story with attending college in the UK, i was thinking off going back to do a degree and there is a course in the UK that im interested in.

Ive read up on how to apply etc.. but do you have to pay a yearly fee over there or is it just like here in Ireland where you only pay for exams etc...

p.pete

From next September it's £3,000 per year - you're supposed to secure a loan against this which you can then start paying off after college once your salary goes above the £15,000 mark. I think it's sorted between the government and the banks to give out these loans to students but this is probably only going to apply to UK residents, not sure how the funding would work if you're not a resident.

If however it's your first degree and you can find the course in Scotland then you should be able to avail of free fees up there. They only carge fees if you're from England, Wales and NI - Scotland and the rest of Europe fees don't apply.

NI colleges are going to be the same fees and England and I think Welsh fees will be 1,200 next year and then up to 3,000 for the following 2 years.

spritey

Haha! Southerners aren't stuck up! You're only talking about a select few there mate Loads of chavs though.......

Seriously, wherever you go, you'll get a mix. A lot of people travel as far away from home as possible so you get a fair few southerners up north too if that's a worry

England is damn expensive for uni though.

Victor

I visited Bath, never saw the college. Town is quite small though.

Watchful

Bath is a great city for the atmosphere, surroundings and acceptance of people, although there seems to be a divide between the upperclass business folk who live there and the students, (2 Unis and a college means theres a fair student population!). Its great for a night out in terms of live music (of many tastes) Art and Theatre, but if your more into the ramming drink/+pills down your throat and throwing yourself around under pretty lights then Bristols your place. Its a great night out, but not as pretty the next morning, (same goes for the locals!). But in all you'd be better seeing what your Unis offer in terms of you course.
I'm not sure about Liverpool, but I imagine theres more chavs round there, (mind you a lot in Bristol sound like Vicky Pollard)... I'm rambling now......I'll stop...

BuffyBot

Nope, Ive another week or so to decide. Why do you think Bristol is a dump??

From my experience when visiting it. Horrible looking city, badly spread and didn't seem to have much going for it accept more empty office blocks than I've ever seen.

MsMolko

Bath is a beautiful place but most of it's shops are coffee shops. I have uber favouritism for Liverpool, I lived there for 5 years and go back 3 times a year. It's extremely friendly and as Richard said, full of Irish folk. City of Culture for 2000 and something and the bonus of the best football team in the world. Haven't been to Bristol sorry. Good luck!

Trotter

MsMolko wrote:

Bath is a beautiful place but most of it's shops are coffee shops. I have uber favouritism for Liverpool, I lived there for 5 years and go back 3 times a year. It's extremely friendly and as Richard said, full of Irish folk. City of Culture for 2000 and something and the bonus of the best football team in the world. Haven't been to Bristol sorry. Good luck!

Cheers! Ive an interview in Liverpool in January. Fingers Crossed!!

Richard

p.pete wrote:

From next September it's £3,000 per year.

This is true, although it doen't apply to PGCE courses as far as I know.

Richard

Trotter wrote:

Cheers! Ive an interview in Liverpool in January. Fingers Crossed!!

Good luck. If you need any further info on Liverpool or Hope University, PM me.

Lump

Trotter wrote:

Hi All,

I might be moving to the UK next year to go back to college for a year or two. The options at the moment are Liverpool, Bristol, or Bath.

Can anyone tell me if they've lived or studied in any of those places and let me know what they're like.. where is good, bad etc.

Thanks!

What do you plan to study... That makes a big difference with relation to what college you go to.

John

k974

i went to jmu in liverpool, by an absolute mile you should choose liverpool easy to get to liverpool and manchester airport and ferry, its an absolute ****hole tho
However its absolutely fantastic for student life, I live in Australia the last few years but would give my right arm to be back in Liverpool. The nightlife is brilliant, there is a huge amount of students from northern Ireland there not so many from the south.

As I said the city is a dump although there is load of work going on for 3008 most of the student houses are in a rough area, despite all this the place is brilliant, as I said I would give my right arm to be in college there

Trotter

Hey all, sorry for the delay getting back to you all! I was offered the course in Liverpool, but a week before that I was offered a course in Ireland so I took that one. Liverpool was a nice place but Im happy to stay at home!! Thanks for all the advice!