Being a student isn’t easy – all of that studying, generally living off your own budget for the first time and having a sudden and enormous amount of independence all sounds great, and it is, but it has its consequences. One of the main ones, generally, will be your health. When there’s so much else to worry about, your health tends to go out of the window when you’re a student if you’re not careful. This, obviously, is a bad thing. Not just because it’s generally bad to be unhealthy, an unhealthy lifestyle may well threaten your degree to a greater or lesser extent – maybe you’ll be more susceptible to illness, or maybe a bad diet will be damaging to your attention span. Whatever, it doesn’t really matter. Point is, it’s always good to stay healthy, but it’s not always easy. This article should, hopefully, help steer you in the right direction.

Food

Food is, of course, the number one priority as far as most people’s health is concerned. We all know how easy it is to lapse into takeaways and microwave meals every night – they fill you up and save you a lot of time right? Very true, but if you sacrifice what you eat in favour of what you study, suddenly studying won’t be as easy as it once was. And generally it’s not very easy anyway. It seems we’ve hit a bit of a catch-22. Decide for yourself, but generally 20 minutes of good, hard, concentrated study is much better than 40 minutes of eating takeaway pizza and half-reading a textbook.

So, what should you be eating instead? Sadly, most student budgets don’t allow for the proper “brain food” that’s so popular at the moment like oily fish, spinach and other incredibly healthy and horrifically expensive ingredients. Fortunately, there’s a decent compromise to be made – buy, cook and eat vegetables that are good for you but not too expensive, like mushrooms or peppers, and lay off the pasta and go for rice instead – it’s tastier anyway, and is much, much better for your body and your brain. Ginger, garlic and chillies are all incredibly good for both the body and brain too – think of them as cheat codes towards a healthier lifestyle.

We know this is all pretty obvious stuff, but you’d be surprised how many people fall into the painful trap of microwave meals – either out of (entirely forgivable) laziness or just because they’re incredibly busy. Fight the temptation! It’ll work out much better for you in the end.

Mental Health

Mental health is all too often ignored as a damaging aspect in students’ studies and it really, really shouldn’t be. University is hard. There’s a lot of stuff going on – first and foremost there is, of course, that desperate struggle to do the best you can academically, but all too often other stuff tends to get tied in as well. Relationships are made and ended at university at an incredible rate, and it often doesn’t lead to entirely satisfying or healthy consequences. Don’t try to steer away from all that stuff (of course), you’re at university to have a bit of fun, too; but don’t let it get to you too much if something goes wrong, either. It happens. Sorry

We’re going to sound like that horrifying, awful aunt people read about now, but if your mental well-being is suffering, help will be easily available through your university and privately through the NHS as well. It’s not fair on yourself to let your degree suffer because you don’t want to talk to someone about a problem for whatever reason.

Drugs

Don’t get too excited – we’re talking about all the drugs that a student might take here, from caffeine to nicotine to alcohol to MDMA. It happens, people try stuff. Just be careful. Again, we know we’re sounding like that awful aunt, which we really hate sounding like, but in this case there’s a lot of truth to it.

Caffeine’s not great for you. Nicotine’s worse. Booze, again, is pretty bad; and the harder stuff will eventually screw you up pretty badly. The high times come with a down side. Be careful, think before you do anything, and take it easy! You’ve got at least three years to have fun with – you don’t have to spend all of it experimenting all over the place. Besides, it’s the degree you’re after, right? Focus on that first, look to the other stuff (if at all) later.

Finance

Financial matters are absolutely an issue of wellbeing – particularly if they become an issue. Your finances need to be well organised and well handled. Be sensible with the money you have and don’t spend it all in the first week of Fresher’s – it goes easily, believe us. You’ll need it after Fresher’s week for food and stuff. If, however, you do run into some financial troubles for whatever reason, the university can help and lend you some money temporarily until you get your finances in order. This is, however, a last resort – it’s much better to get some extra cash from another source if you have one.

If you find yourself running low on cash often, it’s a great idea to set up a student account with your bank and request a student overdraft facility. Generally, this allows you to go into your overdraft and not get charged for it until you’ve finished your course. Again, though, it’s better to get extra cash from another source instead of ending up in debt to your bank, even if you don’t need to pay them back for a few years.

Again, caution is the most important thing here – write out a realistic budget before you start university, and follow it as best you can. There’s ways to get out of running out of money, but it’s much better to not run out in the first place.

Trust Your Professors

Generally, your lecture staff will be more than happy to help you with any specific problem you have in your course – don’t spend a week working yourself up into a fury/depression because you can’t answer a question set by a professor. Go in and ask them! It’s their job to help you and they will. Remember you’re paying a lot of money to be at university, and you should squeeze every last bit of your money’s worth out of the university and the staff. Having said that, don’t visit your lecturer every time you can’t do a question after thinking about it for five minutes. Go over your lecture notes, check a book or two and then go to your lecturer. Then nobody can blame you for not trying.

Medical Matters

If you have any kind of disability or health issue, you should let the university know as soon as you register. Additionally, it’s a good idea to let somebody on your course know; particularly if there’s even a slight chance you’ll need emergency treatment at any point during your course. There are staff trained in first aid and medical matters at every university, and most universities are designed to be as accessible as possible – nobody wants to miss out on what could be the brightest and best, simply because they don’t have a wheelchair ramp.

Make sure to register with a GP near your university accommodation. Chances are you’ll never need to see them, but it’s best to make sure that when you do need to see a GP you don’t need to go through the tedious process of registration then. Believe us, it’s a lot more hassle to sign up for a doctor when you actually need them than it is when you don’t.

Drop-in Services

Most universities offer some form of drop-in service where students can talk about their problems frankly, openly and confidentially. Everyone needs advice and support occasionally, and oddly sometimes it’s much better to talk to someone you don’t know than someone you do. It’s weird how that works, but it does. Remember that your university has their students’ health as an enormous priority, and you will receive as much support and help as is necessary. There will always be someone whose door is open if you ever feel like you need to just have a chat about something.

Finally

University is hard work, and the massive transition into university life can be incredibly difficult for a lot of people. Be careful, watch what you eat, make sure money doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket, don’t go overboard with the booze, and remember that if you ever need any help or support from anyone, there will be someone there who will listen and help you in any way they can. And, most importantly, have fun! University’s hard, but the trials and tribulations are worth it in the end.

It’s summer! Woo-Hoo! Uni can be a stressful time, so it’s understandable that you may feel relieved that the summer is finally here. When the classes are over and the summer break begins, it’s the most natural feeling to just want to do nothing for a change and to relax completely. You want to catch up with your friends, spend relaxing days without needing to worry about any obligations or vaguely-intellectual activities.

Indeed, this is how many students choose to spend their summer breaks. However, this is not necessarily the best strategy, for many different reasons. First of all, it’s important to stay active during the whole year. Some rest and relaxation is great, but you shouldn’t put your mind to sleep or become sluggish during the summer. It will do you no good and it will make it much more difficult for you to get in mental shape for new uni activities when the summer ends. Sorry to break the bad news to you.

Another reason to stay active during the summer break is that these months can actually help you to make important connections, take a helpful course or gain some work experience. It’s more difficult to find time for these things during the regular uni year, so summer is the perfect time for that. While these activities may not seem like “pure fun and relaxation”, they will pay off a big time in the future.

This is why a summer full of activities is much better than an idle summer. There are many things you can do and pursue during the summer break, so you should engage in them to make the most of your summer. Trust us, you’ll be sending us messages of thanks, bottles of wine, and other tokens of appreciation at the end of it all. Yes. You. Will.

How to Start Your Summer Break

There is no one universal rule on how to spend a great but productive summer break. A general rule of thumb, however, is to give yourself only a few days or a week at most to be idle and “do nothing”. Have some much-needed rest at first. Have some sleep. Do nothing for a few days. Be relaxed and stress-free.

However, it’s important not to let yourself succumb to this state for too long. After a few days (or a week max), you should start with the activities you’ve planned for the summer. As stated before, the brain gets lazy pretty easily, and it’s bad on so many levels. You don’t want that to happen to you.

What Should I Do?

The possibilities are endless, and here are just some of our (excellent) suggestions:

• Get a part-time job. In addition to some cash, you will earn valuable experience and some new skills. Now, you might not like the idea of part time summer jobs and fair enough, they are often tedious and uninteresting. However, they will provide you with some additional skills and they sure look good on your future CV. Plus, jazzing up a boring job title is great fun. Shelf-stacker could become Product Level and Inventory Restocking Assistant.
• Volunteering. Volunteering over the summer is a popular choice for many students. You don’t get paid but you get a chance to gain some valuable experience and see what employers are looking for. Try to aim for something that is going to help you in the long run. Don’t volunteer at a cattery if you plan to become an investment banker!
• Travel. Travelling is a great way to spend a great summer but also to socialize and gain experiences. If you decide to travel abroad, this is a great opportunity to learn about a new culture. Zante, Malia, Ibiza and the like do not count. In fact, if anything they take away from your other experiences due to extended intoxication resulting in memory loss.
• Read. Reading is a great activity to keep your brain active in a fun and relaxing way. Make sure to read books that stretch you make you think about things in a different way. 50 Shades of Grey does not count.

Part-Time Jobs

One of the best things you can do during a summer break is to get a part-time job. It may not sound so exciting and it may not be fun per se, but it’s much better than doing nothing for the whole summer. A good thing about a part-time job is that it helps you develop new skills and gain some experience, while still leaving you enough time to socialise and spend relaxing summer moments.

Plus, some part-time jobs may end up being more exciting than you might think. For example, there are many opportunities abroad so you might combine traveling and exploring a new culture with earning some money and gaining a new experience.

The choice of part time summer jobs you can take is sometimes exciting but it’s often dull. Chances are that you will find yourself doing tasks you don’t find inspiring or fun. That is ok: a part time job doesn’t have to be inspiring. If it ends up being inspiring, great. If not, you lose nothing; you can only gain from it. First of all, dull or not, a part time job will help you develop new skills. You may not think that photocopying files or making coffees is particularly valuable, but many studies show that employers actually gain numerous skills at a workplace – some of which they are not fully aware of. Knowing how to deal with office politics is an art. The sooner you start learning, the better.

If nothing else, you will experience a workplace atmosphere and you will be able to observe the way other employees act. Regardless of the quality of people relations at the workplace, you will sure learn a lot.

Not to mention you will develop a valuable work experience. You may think a work experience at a restaurant or data entry job can’t really count as valuable, but you’re wrong. Wherever you work and whatever your duties are, it’s a good work experience. You are growing and developing yourself even if you don’t see it at the moment. Plus, any work experience matters when it comes to CV and future employers. Don’t hesitate to include any part time job on your CV in fears of not being “good” enough. You can present any job, skill or work experience in a positive light. Working as a waiter? You learned how to balance multiple tasks and to develop great communication and customer service skills.

Volunteering

You might even get a chance to volunteer at a company of your dreams or in the sector you are interested in. Part time jobs in these companies may not always be available, so volunteering may open numerous opportunities.

Volunteering looks great on your CV because it demonstrates not only new skills and experience you’ve gained but also show your willingness to dedicate yourself to areas of work you are really interested in even without money compensation. It is also a good way to show that you are a conscious person who cares about numerous issues, in case you choose to volunteer for a non-profit organisation.

Traveling

Another great thing you can do during a summer break is to travel. It may be costly, but it’s also possible to get great deals and student discounts. Even better, you might be able to combine traveling with a part-time job or volunteering, so you’ll sure get a great summer full of opportunities.

Traveling, especially abroad, is a great way to meet new people and new cultures. This experience is like no other and it will help you in many ways. Traveling also makes you grow and develop as a person. Not only you have to develop great communication skills and to excel at money management, but you’ll also gain certain experiences you wouldn’t be able to gain otherwise. Not to mention that traveling is fun, exciting and will make you memories to last for a lifetime.

Read

Reading is a great way to have some time alone and still make your mind work. It doesn’t have to be serious literature or philosophical studies (though it can be, if that’s what you like); reading will keep your mind engaged and ready for the reading you will face at university.

At the same time, reading or another activity you can do on your own will provide some quiet, relaxing moments in an otherwise vibrant summer schedule. Just like socializing is important, so is the time you spend alone, relaxing and thinking about your plans and things you want to do in the future.

Additional Tips

• It’s best to start early. Don’t wait for the summer break to start looking for opportunities. It’s best to have a list of companies or organisations you are interested in (for part time jobs, volunteering and other opportunities) ready before the summer.
• Even better, contact companies and organizations during the school year, present yourself and state that you are interested in working for them over the summer. Based on their replies you will be able to make a list of opportunities so when the summer comes you will be ready and you won’t lose any time on searching for opportunities, which means more time for your part time job or volunteering and also more time for summer relaxation.
• As with part-time jobs, don’t forget to include volunteering on your CV. When you get back to uni you may want to get some help from a Career Development Centre if you are unsure on how to present part time summer jobs and volunteering on your CV. The people in the Centre will not only give you advice on how to include these new experiences but will also help you write them in a way that will present you in the best possible light. This way, you will make your summer experience shine and present your abilities, experiences and skills in a way future employers will find attractive.
• Think about the future. Make plans. It’s not early to start thinking what you want to do with your life and what career path you wish to take. You might use a summer break to figure things out and to find out what truly inspires you and what interests you wish to pursue. You may also take this time to decide on college courses and activities you are interested in.

Nottingham is famous for it’s links to Robin Hood, lace-making, and tobacco industries. But what about studying? Well, Nottingham is actually a very popular choice for students, with around 70,000 students being in the city each year. And what makes Nottingham a great choice for students? We are about to tell you!

Throughout this article we are going to give you the inside scoop on what you can expect from living and studying in Nottingham, with little tips about places to visit, nightlife to try and events to attend. First things first though… where can you study?

Universities in Nottingham

There are two universities in Nottingham:

The University of NottinghamNottingham Trent University

University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham dates back to the 1880’s and it’s main campus is located just outside of the Nottingham City Centre. The University also works closely with Malaysia and China to offer students an exchange program for up to 12 months. Students can study courses in arts, engineering, medicine, social sciences and science at the university. The University currently sits at 25th in the latest Guardian league table rankings.

Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University was founded in the 1840’s, making it the older university out of the two in Nottingham. It is also one of the biggest universities in the country with relevance to its volume of students; over 28,000. The courses offered at Nottingham Trent are arranged into three colleges and also organised into a further 9 schools. NTU currently sits at 53rd in the latest league table rankings.

Fee’s, Living Aspects & Student Finance

Funding your university life can be expensive, we know, but luckily you don’t need to fund it all from your back pocket. You can apply for student finance and they will fund your education and your living costs, which you can pay back after you finish university. I bet that’s a relief isn’t it? For more information about student finance you should definitely read our Ultimate Guide to Student Loans.

When you start university you are bound to want to live on campus or in halls of residences throughout the city centre, and you’ll be glad to know that each university has a variety of different halls.

If you are planning on studying at the University of Nottingham you can opt to live in one of their 20 halls in the Nottingham area. If you are based at the University Park you can choose from a range of Catered Halls, and if you are based on the Jubilee Campus you can live in their catered halls; Newark Hall and Southwell Hall. There is also a wide range of other halls which are self catering and come with other room types such as en suite and double room facilities. Prices per year for halls of accommodation at the University of Nottingham start at £4,136 and can be as expensive as £7,430 per year.

We thought you might also want to know that Nightingale Hall, a halls of residences at the University of Nottingham, was voted the 3rd best halls of residence by students this year! Find out more with our article: Top 10 Student Halls.

Alternatively, if you are applying to Nottingham Trent University you can check out their 18 halls of residence which are located at the City Site, in the City Centre, on the Clifton Campus and also on the Brackenhurst Campus. Most halls of residences at Nottingham Trent University have ensuite facilities, with only 8 halls having shared bathroom facilities. Prices per week start at £83 for standard rooms, and can be as expensive as £160 per week for the most premium room types.

For the latter years of your university experience you may want to live in a student house or privately managed property. Renting a house can be relatively cheap to living in halls of residences, with weekly rents starting at around £60 per week. If you are looking at student properties you can check out your university’s approved accommodation providers. Some other estate agents in Nottingham who specialize in student lettings include Nicholas Humphreys, Oak Student Letts, and Unipol Student Homes.

General Info About Nottingham

Nottingham is based, pretty much, in the middle of the country, ish. This makes Nottingham a good place to study for those students wishing to either travel far away from home, or to commute to university from a surrounding area.

Most trains on the East Midlands Trains service will take you right to Nottingham’s door step. If you are coming from London, you can hop on a train from London St Pancras and arrive at your destination in less than 2 hours. Alternatively, if you are coming from the North you can pick up direct trains to Nottingham from Sheffield, Leeds, Barnsley and Chesterfield.

If you would prefer to drive to Nottingham, you will be glad to know that it is located just off of the M1, and also close to the A1 which links you to both the south and the north of the country. If you are coming from the east or the west, you just need to get yourself to the M1 or the A1 then voila, you will be there in no time!

When you are in the city centre you can get around really easily using any of their buses and also their tram network, with 5 stops going from one end of the city to the other, stopping at the main tourist and leisure hotspots.

If you are planning on studying at the University of Nottingham you can use the Hopper Bus to get from campus to campus, free of charge. There are also regular university buses that travel to and from the city centre, however, these are not free of charge. If you want to study at Nottingham Trent University, you can also benefit by being able to use the university run service to travel between campuses, and these cost £1.70 per journey. These also run through the city centre for ease of access.

Nottingham is a great place for retail therapy with high streets full of branded shops, a shopping centre, independant boutiques and market shopping available. The east midlands designer outlet; McArthurGlen is also a short drive away if you are looking to bag a bargain on slightly more prestigious brands.

Apparently, Nottingham has over 300 places to eat and drink, meaning that you would never get bored of eating and drinking out. Although, your bank balance probably wouldn’t support that kind of behaviour. Nottingham is home to many different cuisines and types of restaurants including your bog standard high street chains to your Michelin starred fancy restaurants.

Events, Venues & Points of Interest

Nottingham is one university city that you definitely won’t get bored of on the weekends. They have a tonne of activities to do and loads of things to see.

The first thing you need to do is explore the famous Robin Hood attractions. The main place for this is the Sherwood Forest. You can venture around the forest on your own with a map, or you can go on a Robin Hood Town Tour. You can also find a Go Ape! treetop challenge in the Sherwood Forest if you are feeling active. Throughout the year there is also Robin Hood themed events including the Robin Hood Festival, and even a beer and cider festival in October.

There are lots of fancy buildings and castles to visit in Nottingham including Wollaton Hall, Nottingham Castle and Newark Castle. Each attraction boasts the history and heritage of Nottingham and it’s certainly worth visiting for those students interested in history (and pretty buildings).

Nottingham hosts a range of events each year, and is also the host of many festivals. Splendour and No Tomorrow Festival are held in Wollaton Park. No Tomorrow Festival is held in June and this year had the likes of Jessie Ware and John Newman on stage. Splendour Festival was held in July this year and headlined smaller acts such as Lawson.

What About The Nightlife?

Ok, so you want to know what you can expect from a night out in Nottingham. The short answer is that Nottingham has a student night, every night. Is that good enough for you?

On a Monday you can head to Vice at Cocotang for a “classy” night out. By this we mean that people like to dress properly. No trainers or shorts please. Serving cocktails all night and playing house music, Cocotang get your week off to a great start. If you would rather dress in trainers and shorts you could try Oceana on a Monday with their event TFIM. Oceana is a massive chain nightclub and has multiple rooms for people with different music tastes.

Tuesdays are pretty much reserved for RnB and Hip Hop, with two nightclubs hosting events with this genre of music. F*ck Hip Hop is held at Market Bar and Gin and Juice is hosted at Rescue Rooms. Tickets are required for Gin and Juice and normally the event is sold out weeks in advance, so make sure that you get organised for this event!

Wednesday nights are most popular for the event Crisis at Rock City. You will find lots of sports students have their social nights out on a Wednesday and they almost undoubtedly end up in Rock City. It’s advised to buy tickets for this event as both universities is Nottingham are allowed at this event.

On Thursdays you will see a lot of freshers heading to 4play at Forum, or Dive at Market Bar. If you consider yourself a “Gangsta” however, you can go to Gold Teeth at Bodega for your weekly fix of garage and hip hop music.

Fridays are particularly busy in Nottingham because you get the locals out in the clubs too… But don’t worry, some nightclubs still run nights exclusively for students. Ocean (don’t get this confused with Oceana) is the biggest student night on a Friday, and they host the biggest end of year party you could ever imagine with tickets selling out months in advance. You can also check out Bopp at Pandora’s Box for some classic rock or Dollop at Stealth for some dubstep and electro.

If clubbing isn’t really your thing then you can go for a pint in your local with your new buddies. It’s not like you will be short of places to go in this city! Most places are open late and hold events like open mic, comedy evening and pub quizzes, so finding something to your taste shouldn’t be hard. You can also have a look at your chosen universities student union bar to see what they have occurring as they are bound to offer non-alcohol events for those more “sophisticated” students.

So, What Do You Think?

We have told you everything you need to know about studying in Nottingham, did you like what you read? Good! Now you can start your university course search with Coursefindr to see what courses are available in Nottingham. We wish you all luck!

Getting a job and going out into the “real world” is all very well, but people should really consider the alternatives. For one thing, the real world is a scary place that’s full of taxes, mortgages, bills, jobs, bosses, and responsibilities. For another, postgraduate study is an opportunity to really make a mark on a discipline. Of course, this line of reasoning isn’t for everyone. Some people, simply, won’t understand. Fortunately, that means there’s more space with the clever people who are continuing their studies.

So, without further ado, here is why postgraduate study is without doubt the best choice.

More Opportunity

Postgraduate study is favourable for a number of reasons, the first one, put simply, being: you can get a better job after postgraduate study. It tends to be much harder to go the other way around. Once you’ve snapped up a graduate level job, settled down and started working, you’re going to be like that for the rest of your life. If you were to go onto postgraduate work, however, there’s much more academic opportunity available to you and you can still go and get the same (or possibly an even better) job when you’re finished. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that one out. Though most rocket scientists would agree with me – it takes more than a standard degree to get into the really exciting fields.

Additionally, a postgraduate qualification quite simply looks better. Admittedly it’s won’t be required for many jobs but with this kind of thing there’s not too much risk of overkill – all it means is that you’ll have the opportunity to apply for an even better job. Put simply, do you want to be working as part of a team (graduate) or do you want to be the person managing the team (guess who)? It’s an oversimplification, but it’s not as far from the truth as you might think, and with just one extra year of study to get a Master’s degree, what’s stopping you?

The Exciting Stuff

All of the fun – and we mean the really fun – stuff in any field is almost always right at the edge of research. A degree programme tends to take students right up to that edge, but doesn’t allow anyone to go any further. Postgraduate study, by contrast, allows exactly that: for students to start looking at the really exciting, interesting, and important stuff that hasn’t been invented or discovered yet. A graduate job is all very well, but postgraduate study offers the opportunity to become part of something much bigger and better – the progress of your discipline.

Postgraduate work generally means that something you’ve worked on will be published as a paper and your name will go down in the metaphorical history books. Admittedly not many people read every single paper that’s published out of every university, but the point is that that paper will always exist and you will always be a published part of academia – a member in the same club as Einstein and Tesla and Popper and Gross and many, many, many more influential and well-remembered people who made progress in their field. That isn’t something that should be taken lightly and it’s something to be proud of for the rest of your life. Imagine: “what’s that, mum/dad?” “Oh, it’s just my published work from years ago”. You will have contributed to a field in a way that very few people ever get the opportunity to.

On top of that, you’ll have a fair amount of choice and freedom as to how you go about that. Many universities will let postgraduates get on with it, in many ways, and will simply assign a faculty member to keep an eye on you. What research you actually decide to move into will be your decision – there are still, of course, lectures to go to and exams to pass, but they are a small sacrifice for managing to achieve a level of excellence in a certain field. Which leads us, rather nicely, to the next section.

Becoming An Expert

Few people can honestly say that they are an expert in a specific field. After finishing a postgraduate course, you will be one of those special people who are, in fact, experts in their respective areas. Which, when you think about it, is quite a cool thing. Of course, this also ties back into opportunity – the situation often arises when a company or organisation needs an expert, and there’s every chance it could be you. Experts are highly paid – nobody else can do their job and so they have to be paid well so they do their job right.

Becoming an expert in any field isn’t just good for the self-fulfilment side of things; it makes financial and logical sense too – to spend (just) another year at university in order to get an even better qualification and then use that to get a better job is just an extension of the same logical thinking that got you into university in the first place, probably. Why stop there? The more you study now, the more desirable you will be to employers later. It’s a lovely thought.

The Stranger Side Of Things

There is something to be said about the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake, if you’re romantically inclined like that. We, as people, should always be looking to expand on what we know and develop new opinions and ways of seeing the world. We’re very lucky to be alive in the information age, and it seems like an insult to the people who came before us – who could only get their information from dogged library books, or, before that, religious texts – to hunker down and be satisfied with a degree when you could take your quest for information and knowledge further.

This last argument, we know, is a bit of an odd one; but think about it, there is so much out there that you will never ever know, but it shouldn’t by any means stop people from trying. Quite the opposite. Stay in school; it’s much more fun.

Boasting a range of historic attractions, York naturally has a rich heritage. The city is completely walled and is the county town of Yorkshire. So what makes York so special for students? Well, there are two universities and a lot of attractions!

If you are considering student life in York, we can assure you that by the end of this article you will be convinced that York is the student city for you.

Universities in York

York is home to almost 25,000 students, with the majority belonging to the bigger university. The two universities in York are:

University of YorkYork St John University

University of York

Located just 5 minutes from the city centre, the University of York provides their 16,000 students with one of the best academic and social experiences. The University currently has a ranking of 19th in the UK and is consistently ranked highly for research and teaching.

With over 30 departments organised into 3 faculties, the University of York is bound to have a course to suit your interests.

Read more about the University of York

York St John University

The University is based on 11 acres in the city centre of York and over the last 10 years has undergone a £100 million transformation to improve the quality of the campus for its 7,000 students.

The University is relatively new, with the institution being named “York St John University” in 2006. There are many departments and faculties for students to explore, with many buildings and facilities allocated to each subject area.

Read more about the York St John University

Fee’s, Living Aspects & Student Finance

Ah, fee’s. Most of the people put off going to university are deterred because of the costs, I mean, who can realistically afford £9,000 each year just for course fee’s? Well, this is where our friend Student Finance helps us out. Not only do they cover the cost of your course fee’s, but they also provide money for maintenance. For more on student loans read our ultimate guide to student loans.

If you are planning on studying at the University of York, you can apply to live in halls of residence either on campus or very close to the campus. There are a variety of room types ranging from the most basic being single rooms with shared bathrooms, to the most premium being a deluxe flat with en suite bedrooms. Below is a short list of some of the halls of residence you can choose from, and the prices range from £103.11 to £167.65 per week:

• Alcuin College
• Constantine College
• Derwent College
• Goodricke College

We thought you might also want to know that Langwith College, a halls of residences at the University of York, was voted the 10th best halls of residence by students this year! Find out more with our article: Top 10 Student Halls.

On the other hand if you are planning on studying at York St John University you can apply to live at one of their 8 halls of residence. The prices generally range from £4,160.08 to £7,294.80 per year, depending on the type of room you opt for, and the contract length you need.

General Info About York

York is perfectly located for students wishing to travel from afar both by train and by car. You can jump on a train from London and arrive in under 2 hours. You can also travel directly to York from cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. York also benefits from being only 20 minutes from the core motorways; M1 and M62.

If you are commuting to the University of York from a surrounding area you can pick up the UoY66 bus service from the rail station which stops directly outside the Heslington East Campus. You can also use this service, as well as the ub.1 shuttle bus service, free if you are travelling between the different areas on the Heslington Campus. Alternatively, if you are travelling to York St John University you can use the local bus services from the rail station to reach the university. Alternatively you can opt to walk the 20 minute journey through the city centre and take in the picturesque scenery.

The streets of York are flourishing with high street branded shops as well as boutique style independant stores. Whether you are looking to buy, or looking for a job, York has plenty of retail opportunities for students. If you are more into designer clothing or bagging a bargain, you can visit York’s designer outlet centre which is just outside of the city. You can also find a range of markets that take place all year round in York, with traditional farmers markets to standalone jewellery and accessories stalls.

York is home to a range of restaurants, cafes and bars, with plenty of choice to suit everyone’s needs. There are a variety of different cuisines on offer including the Chinese restaurant; Red Chilli, Italian restaurant; Carluccio’s, and Mexican restaurant; Plunkets.

As well as your traditional cafes, you will also find many tea rooms offering afternoon tea and an excellent selection of cream cakes. The most famous tea room in York is Betty’s, located on St Helen’s Square with packages starting at £32.95 per person for Lady Betty Afternoon Tea.

If tea and cakes aren’t your thing then you can check out the extensive list of bars and pubs that York has to offer. You can find many traditional pubs with amazing home made food in the lanes of York, including the likes of The Yorkshire Terrier, The Deramore Arms and The Punch Bowl.

Events, Venues & Points of Interest

As York is known for it’s historical qualities, there is endless amounts of sightseeing and educational activities to be done. Ultimately, you are at the university for 3 years, and you can’t leave without seeing the most important things in York!

For those who enjoy the culture filled events, you won’t be short of activities to cram into your weekends. York Minster houses some of the world’s greatest treasures and has been named one of the world’s most magnificent gothic cathedrals. As a student you are entitled to discounted entry to the Minster for £9, and to visit the Tower you will have to pay an extra £5, but this is also a student rate.

Clifford’s Tower is another key attraction in York due to being a symbol of the power of the Medieval King’s. The tower was originally built by William the Conqueror, before being burned to the ground twice. Henry the III rebuilt the tower in the 13th century, and it is now open to the public to explore. Tickets for students are as cheap as £4, so this is one to definitely consider during your uni years in York.

There are many other museums throughout York including the Railway Museum, Castle Museum, and the Yorkshire Museum.

In August the city of York hosts the JORVIK Medieval Festival; taking you back to the Middle Ages during the Summer. You will have the opportunity to try archery, see birds of prey in action, and watch knights go to battle.

For foodies there is the Food and Drink Festival in September, with daytime and evening events. You can expect to see chef demonstrations, take part in wine and food tasting, learn some new tips during cookery school, and explore the stands around the festival. Each event has it’s own price, and standard entry to evening events can be more expensive.

What About The Nightlife?

So you are thinking traditional city equals boring nightlife right? WRONG! York has an amazing nightlife for students. Depending on the university in York that you choose, your nightlife will vary, as each union will arrange different student nights.

If you are thinking of applying to York St John you will expect to go out to Stone Roses for pre drinks and end up in Kuda Lounge. Kuda is a three storey nightclub with a Tiki Bar in the basement, and a VIP lounge on the top floor. And to add to all this excitement you can grab yourself some food after your night out at the Subway which is right outside the club!

On a Tuesday any students in York can attend the biggest student event, Skint, at Salvation. You can expect £1 drinks and great music; including a dance floor exclusively for 90’s music. Salvation is also open on a Friday with their event Koh Samui. This is an island paradise night out with plenty of cheap drinks and deep house music. Students can also use the shisha bar upstairs on this night out.

The only place open on a Wednesday for a mid week fix is Tokyo with their event Frat House. Undercutting the market, their drinks are just 99p and it’s open till 3:30am for all students in York.

On a Friday students can head down to Phat Fridays at The Duchess and take advantage of the £1 spirit and mixers and £2 Jaegerbombs.

Sounds pretty cheap doesn’t it?

So, What Do You Think?

We have given you the full de-brief and you should now know everything about studying in York. If it was too much for you then we will quickly go over it again. If we really, really, have to. (Sigh) Two universities, loads of heritage, international cuisines, markets, cheap living, and most importantly, student nights galore.

Now that you know all about York, get searching for your perfect course in York with Coursefindr!

Sometimes it turns out that university isn’t the promised land that people make it out to be. We get that, believe us. University can often be like a huge melting pot, and occasionally, sadly, you end up with the burnt stuff at the bottom. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is sometimes. We understand that people have good and bad times at university (mostly good, we hope), and that’s why we want to give you as much advice as possible to get back into the swing of things if you are feeling down about it all.

Remember why you are there in the first place

Take a second to ask yourself why “why am I here?” and by that we aren’t looking for a philosophical answer! As cold as it sounds you aren’t there to make friends, you are there to get a degree. In the grand scheme of things, three or four years isn’t that long a time as far as life is concerned. Getting a good grade in your degree is much more important than anything else right now, and this needs to be made the priority if it isn’t already. It’s not exactly the most romantic notion, but being in this mind frame will certainly help.

Your degree also has another advantage when it comes to fitting in. If you are struggling to make friends where you are living, then a few revision sessions with some classmates might be exactly what you need to fit in elsewhere (or invite them for a pint in the students union bar, either will help.)

Settle your differences

Some people are, lets be honest, not worth being friends with. But, if you aren’t enjoying yourself, isn’t it a lot easier to try and settle your differences with the people that you aren’t necessarily friends with, rather than spending your time struggling to fit in? We know it’s not the easiest thing to brush everything under the carpet and start again, but in this case it may well be a good move.

Your university years are supposed to be the best years of your life; why spend it holding a grudge against someone?

This will take time, and we get it if you don’t want to, but at least consider it. And if you do decide to take this route, then don’t just pretend that nothing happened – make a concerted effort to come to some kind of agreement with the people you’ve fallen out with, it’s not going to work if you don’t put in any effort.

Join A Society

It’s simple, really: shared interests means that at least you’ll have something to talk about in the first instance. The assumption here is that you’re more likely to get along with people who share the same interests as you. This isn’t realistically always the case, but it is a good place to start, and a guaranteed conversation starter.

Friendships aren’t just built on one foundation of shared interest in something, so you need to be pro-active about making the conversation stretch further than just society related topics.

Many student unions have tons of “exciting” societies to join, and they are normally at a low cost too. The best way to find out about them is to visit your universities students union website, or get in touch with them during Fresher’s Week. If they don’t have anything that you are remotely interested in, then why not start your own society? I mean, it’s not very easy, but it’s an idea to get you going.

Societies are great for taking your attention away from your studies as they often have work-ish based projects, as well as social activities. It keeps you busy, focused, and gives you the opportunity to cherry-pick the people that are on the same level as you at university.

In our experience meeting people and making friends is an exponentials process – the more people you meet and hang out with, the more you’ll meet in the future. It all happens very quickly after the first few people; especially when you become a member of a society.

Be More Confident

Yeah, yeah, we know how horrible the cliché is. But if you’re not feeling particularly confident – we know it can be hard to be like that when meeting new people – try and fake it! It sounds strange, but it is very true. Fake being confident, and in time it’ll come naturally.

You just need to think to yourself:
“This person doesn’t know me, what have I got to lose?”

You need to find that confident person inside of you, and talk to new people about things they are interested in – even if you are not! It just gets the ball rolling a lot quicker and then bang, you are a confident student making friends! Easy.

Just for the record, try not to go overboard. Too confident can be a real turn-off, and not just in the sexual sense. Be confident; don’t be Russell Brand – you don’t have the hair or the teeth to pull it off.

Stay In Contact With Your Friends From Home

Your friends back home will be missing you just as much as you miss them – give them a call sometime and just have a good long chat, or even a Skype. They might be having similar problems to you or they might be very much enjoying their life at the moment. It doesn’t matter – they’ll be happy to hear from you either way. How do you think our friends know we love them at 4am? Drunken phone calls of course!

It can be immensely therapeutic to get in contact with the people you were talking to before university – it’s not like they’ve disappeared, and they probably have a lot to talk about too. If you don’t want to talk to them about all of your problems, then just listen to what they’re up to! You don’t have to be active in something to enjoy it (think television) and it’ll be great fun listening to all of the other shenanigans that have been occurring without your knowledge.

Besides, your friends will always offer much better advice than we can, purely because they can give you personalised advice that will apply to your personality. Sorry guys – its not possible to know each and every one of you!

Stay In Contact With Your Family

The same thing as with your family applies, though of course we don’t expect you to tell them everything. Maybe a visit home is what you need? Home comforts and mum-made dinners is always a therapeutic way of dealing with problems at university. Everyone’s family set-up is different, but for the most part it’ll surprise you how much they’re ready and willing to do for your sake when you need it.

Get a job

The workplace is also a great way of making friends, as well as earning some money to fund some of your university life. There are many jobs suitable for students from bar work to retail work, which are all very social and demanding in terms of customer service. Obviously if you have a lot of university work then this isn’t the best option for dealing with your problems, as you are there to get a degree, but a sensible amount of part time work usually has no effect, and starts to build your CV for when you leave university.

Talk To Someone

If you’re having a bad time, you have to talk to someone. As mentioned you can choose to talk to your friends or your family members as they know you the best -unlike us!

Your university will also provide a list of people you can talk to if you are struggling to fit in. Whether it be your course, living arrangements or generally just your feelings, they will be able to help you. You shouldn’t turn your nose up at this kind of thing – what’s on offer is a private opportunity to talk to someone who will listen to you and keep what they hear confidential.

A lot of the time – even if you don’t realise it – what people want is just to talk to someone, anyone. As we said, it’s an evolutionary thing – we’re social animals and our bodies and minds think that we should communicate; they’ll flood the system with chemicals until we do. So talk to someone – it will help more than you would believe.

University isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on it – there’s more help and opportunities to make friends out there than you think. Be pro-active and the rest will come naturally. Good luck and have fun with it! You still have time to make more of your university life.

Finishing university can be as terrifying, complicated and difficult as starting it. Finishing your degree is a tremendous step, and there will be a lot more doors open to you than when you started all those years ago. The trick is deciding what door you want to go through and how to start making the decisions that will send you in the right direction. There are a lot of options out there, but first things first: decide what you want to do! Here’s our guide to the options out there and the advantages of each.

When To Start Doing Stuff

Practically, you want to start thinking about where you want your life to head at the start of your third (or last) year. Yes, you’ll be very busy with everything else but you need to try to get ahead and take the bull by the horns as best you can. It’s a lot of work and it’s not great to pile more stuff on top, but if you don’t you could find yourself spending 6 months after you graduate scratching your head and living back with your parents (if you’re lucky enough to have that option).

As you start your last year, your university should be very keen to help you get a job (and by “job”, we mean anything other than “unemployed”) at the end of it all and will host things like graduate fairs and talks to encourage you to get yourself a decent job elsewhere in your degree field. It takes a cynic to realise this isn’t entirely charitable – one of the marks of a good university is the employment rate after graduation, and they want to look good. Whatever the reasons, your university should be very keen to help you find a job, but they won’t be able to hold your hand and set everything up for you – you have to do your own work and research into finding something.

So, the basic answer to “when should I start thinking about life after my degree?” is as soon as humanly possible. The perfect student will have decided where they want to go before they even start their degree. Practically, of course, this isn’t the case. But you see what we mean – start thinking early on, and start doing stuff towards your future at the beginning of your final year. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

What Your Options Are

There are thousands of options for a graduate that aren’t available for someone who has just strolled out of A-Levels. Thousands. But they can be split into two very basic categories; More education or starting real paid work. Of course, there’s some overlap to this. Academics are eventually paid, for example. And many workplaces will take graduates on in training schemes and still pay them. But, in our boiled-down, Coursefindr analogy, there’s two categories. Deal with it.

More Education

More education for most graduates will initially mean a 1-year Master’s course, followed by (if they so choose) a postgraduate course, which will, eventually result in a PhD being awarded. This is certainly exciting stuff, but it isn’t for everyone and only very few graduates from a Bachelor’s course will go on to become a fully-fledged academic. Obvious, we suppose, or we’d have hundreds of doctors running about the place and the title wouldn’t command the respect it does currently.

But further education doesn’t mean you have to follow it all the way up. Often a master’s course will be more than sufficient for almost all of the technical, degree-related jobs that are out there. In a scientific context, for example, a master’s degree will be enough of a certificate to hold almost all of the general “science-y” jobs that are available after graduation – anything higher than that is at best showing off and at worst will make a graduate look like a failed academic.

Find your perfect Master’s Degree

Other education options to consider after graduation are courses run in certain areas that a graduate might be interested in. Often graduates will develop an interest in something entirely unrelated to the degree they studied – now is the time to finally pursue that, if you have the time and money. If not, then take on a job with your degree and try to gain an extra qualification in your spare time. There are hundreds of educational programmes that are nowhere near as strenuous or time-consuming as a degree, but are still well respected in their specific industries.

Finding A Job

By now, most graduates will be sick and tired of education and debt and the constant pressure of exams and coursework etc. etc. etc. After graduation is when most people start thinking about escaping the dreaming spires of academia and entering the real-life world of work. Fair enough – by now your average student will have spent the last 17-or-so years of their life being taught how to do various stuff – from phonics to 4+4 (8, if anyone was wondering) all the way up to essays on Shakespeare’s effect on the English language and the mechanism for a free-radical homolytic carbocation rearrangement – without ever actually having to use this knowledge outside examinations. By now most people want to roll up their sleeves and start earning some money.

Finding a job as a graduate is much the same deal as it always has been. It’s the painful process of emailing and posting CVs, filling out online forms, advertising yourself on websites like LinkedIn and generally bigging yourself up. The only difference between the process 3 years ago and the process now is that your CVs a fair bit chunkier and has a lot more to it. As such, the places you should be applying to will also have a bit more bite to them. But, as far as the actual application process goes, not much ever changes. It’s sad but it’s true.

So, you’re going to be going through the same old process of tarting yourself up, advertising yourself far and wide, and hoping against hope that eventually someone will be willing to interview you (which we’re sure they will – you’re a graduate, after all – that stands for a lot). After that you’ll go through the company’s interview process and that should – hopefully – be that. The thing to remember at this point when applying for jobs is that you should always keep your options open; just because you have an interview booked for two weeks time doesn’t mean your should stop sending off emails to other companies. Keeping your options open and playing the field is nothing to be ashamed of in the least, and you should be constantly be looking for the best job possible – not just the first one you land.

Remember that you’re a graduate now and you probably should be looking towards starting a grown-up life with your own place to live, in the area you want to live in near/far away enough to your friends/family and apply for jobs accordingly. There’s not much point in applying for a job in Wales if you were hoping to spend your time after university in London, for example. It sounds like good old-fashioned common sense, but you’d be surprised how many graduates just panic and go for every single job they see, without worrying too much if it’s a good fit for them or not.

Our final piece of advice for getting a job after graduation is that a graduate should try to shoot for places with some long-term opportunity. It doesn’t have to be the job that you want to spend the rest of your life doing, but right now it pays to choose a job that will look very good on your CV later. So don’t choose something that pays very well but by most standards looks boring if you have the opportunity to wow someone in an interview room five years later with stories of the most interesting job anyone’s ever had. Remember your life isn’t over when you start work and there’s still plenty of opportunity to improve yourself and make that all-important resume look better and better and better.

Other Options

Here’s where the hippy-ish side of Coursefindr comes in – yes, we know how to rock a wooden pendant. There are a few other options that you may well want to consider before tying yourself down into work or education. Put simply, you’ve spent the last however many years of your life working very, very hard. It may well be time for some kind of holiday. So consider doing the graduate thing and spending a year in Thailand teaching English or move to Berlin and work behind a bar for a couple of years. The big important job can wait if you feel like having some fun and not committing yourself to anything for a while.

Whatever you choose to do, remember it isn’t like you’re going to be tying yourself to anything for the rest of your life. You still have a lot out there to see and do, so although you shouldn’t make these decisions lightly, you don’t need to obsess over them too much either; you’ve still got plenty of time. Have fun, and whatever you do, good luck (not that you’ll need it, you clever person you).

Has it ever occurred to you that you don’t have to study your undergraduate degree at home in the UK? You may have to leave friends and family temporarily, but if you are feeling adventurous and independent, and would like to see what else you could get for your tuition fees, then you should definitely consider the possibility of studying abroad.

Related: Start your course search

Why Study Abroad?

With tuition fees in England now costing up to £9,000 per year, going to university is a huge financial commitment and it makes sense to explore all the options available to you. For example, studying elsewhere in Europe could result in your tuition fees costing considerably less, or even absolutely nothing!

Check out the table below to get an overview of tuition fees in differing countries alongside cost of living examples.

The Costs

Tuition Fees – The amount shown represents the annual tuition fee by country. The figures are a guide and could differ depending on the course you chose to study. Where the tuition fee is listed as £0 per year (i.e Norway and Sweden) you can expect to pay a small fee approx £20 – £45 per semester.

Rent– The figure shown represents one month’s rent based on a 1 bedroom apartment in a city centre.

Travel – Travel cost represents a regular monthly travel pass.

Meal for 2 – Based on a 3 course meal for 2 in a mid-range restaurant.

Beer – Based on 1 500ml domestic beer.

Coffee – Based on 1 regular white coffee.

If you think that studying abroad might be for you then we recommend you visit our sister site StudyLink, which provides all the information you need to study overseas.

They’re two sided coins, sandwich courses – on the one hand, they offer great experience, job opportunities, and other benefits. On the other, they can be incredibly difficult, painful, and hard. Seriously, sandwich courses can be terrifying. And they don’t come with free sandwiches (unless you’re lucky).

Let’s start on the positives, though. Here are a few things that you can expect to enjoy as a consequence of a sandwich course:

Job Opportunities

This is the main plus. And it is a big one – after all, that’s why people go to university; to get a decent job at the end of it all, right? If it isn’t, you should really re-evaluate your options. Sandwich courses allow students to gain invaluable experience in a real job, which makes them immensely attractive to employers everywhere – real, honest experience can’t practically be found anywhere outside the workplace. It’s a shame, but that’s the truth.

And the job opportunities can come from anywhere – the cushty one is, of course, at the placement itself. Many companies offer a graduate a good wage and a job straight off the bat from university as soon as they leave. This is, of course, the perfect scenario and what every sandwich course taker should hope for.

Other companies won’t exactly shy away from someone with experience, though – any industrial experience is much, much better than none, and anyone with even a whiff of know-how is much more likely to land a job than your bog-standard graduate. All it takes is one year away, and the offers may well come rolling in.

The Experience In Itself

Excuse us for getting a bit philosophical, but the experience of working in the industry is in itself an excellent reason to choose a sandwich course – one of the most difficult choices for a graduate is working out what jobs they’re actually interested in within their field. The academic side of construction and management, for example, will be very, very different from the applied reality. Work experience for a year is an excellent and invaluable way to dip a toe in and see if the temperature’s right.

It’s difficult to over-emphasise just how important it is to know what you want to do in your field after graduation – just strolling into the wrong job could result in a fair few years of boredom after getting a decent degree, which is the last thing anyone wants. The worst part is that it’s difficult to get out of your first professional job quickly without it looking bad on your CV. Employers after this won’t be too keen on employing someone who’s left their job before they should. It’s an issue, and working out what you want to do before you start looking for jobs is an excellent way to avoid it.

Pay

Oh, and there is, of course, the pay to consider. Generally a year in industry will pay a decent wage. This means that anyone coming from their year in industry will have a lot more cash to flash in their last year (if they save properly), and this is a huge advantage where the only thing a student should be worrying about is their grades.

A bit of money tucked away will also come in handy straight after graduation (of course), but this is secondary to making sure you’re comfortable when finishing your degree – most people only get one shot at a degree, and should prioritise that above all else. So when the choice comes between writing up an end-of-year-project and ordering a takeaway to save time or cooking up a big bowl of rice or even working an extra shift behind the bar; a bit of a nest-egg should help make those situations a lot easier and, hopefully, more productive.

Some Words Of Caution

So, generally, taking a sandwich year is a good thing – it gives a student an idea of where they want to steer their career, it vastly improves job prospects, and – if you’re careful – it earns a little bit of money which can be put to use as a bit of a safety net. However, there are a fair few downsides that are well worth remembering. Sorry, but that’s always the way it is – there’s no such thing as a free lunch outside Fresher’s week, and all of these great bonuses come with their downsides. Here they are.

It’s Really, Really Hard

Industrial options are not the easy options, generally: work hours will be long, difficult, and full of nasty surprises, and – horror of horrors – the day will start early.

Students on industrial leave are expected to arrive early, work very hard, and leave late. That’s why the companies employ students in research projects (if you’re lucky) or normal boring jobs – because they’re expected to work very hard in an advanced role for less money than a real, genuine employee might. Maybe this is a touch cynical, but there’s truth to it – if you choose to do an industrial year, expect to be working more or less constantly.

However, it does depend on the course – many courses don’t examinate their industrially released student at all, and instead inspect the results of a year-long research project offered to them by the placement company. The research project is a good way to start specialising in a topic, but that in itself can have its downsides (keep reading – you’ll see).

It’s Very Competitive

Despite the amount of hard work a placement takes, there’s no shortage of applicants, and expect to be one of many students hoping to find themselves in a job come placement year. Your CV should be polished, individual and perfect, and cover letters and references should be pristine. Start working on them as soon as humanly possible, and send off applications everywhere very, very quickly. There’s a lot that needs to get done very quickly; get on top of it now and you’ll vastly increase your chances of getting a placement later.

Email every human resources department you can think of that is in any way related to your industry. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the UK or abroad; it shouldn’t matter if they work inside hell itself – email finds a way. Pester, bother, connive and irritate your way into an interview however you can, and just pray it goes well from there – there’s a lot of applicants, and you need to stand out from the others to get ahead.

But That Shouldn’t Stop You

Nobody said university was going to be easy, and if there’s ever a time to work very, very hard for a few years, it’s now. The success of a degree hinges on a lot of things, and an industrial placement can make or break a student. However, if the student keeps their head, works hard and makes sure to do well during the placement, they can expect a lot of bonuses from a sandwich year come graduation. Hard work pays off; in this case it’ll take a year or two to see it, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Search for Sandwich Courses with Coursefindr here…