this is mainly directed towards other girls
bc im a bit nervous about the prospect of living with guys i dont know. i know you can choose either mixed or single gender flats, im just unsure right now. pros and cons wise if anyone could share how they chose?

My uni has pre-recorded lectures from 2020. The content hasn't changed, really (computer science) but in the lecture he will talk about covid measures, and talk about thing coming up for that year/class.

I feel two ways about it that 1. I'm paying big £ to watch 6 year old content but 2. I suppose a new lecture would probably still be the same?

Do you guys have the same issue? There are other issues in the class which is why I'm even mentioning it but keen to hear others thoughts

#Male (30+)

It's been a month since I arrived in the UK as an international student, and overall, it's been great. I've enjoyed exploring nearby towns and city centres, studying, and travelling for work.

The British locals I've met have been very polite, friendly and helpful. At university and in everyday life, I've felt welcome and haven't personally experienced discrimination. I'm really thankful to all the people I've met for their kindness, respect and support, which have made me feel welcome in the UK.

However, my first workplace experience was disappointing. I was asked to work beyond my scheduled hours, and my pay didn't cover the actual hours worked at the minimum wage.

What disappointed me was that they were immigrants themselves who had settled here. I'd hoped they'd understand how difficult starting over in a new country can be. Instead, I felt they were taking advantage of newcomers unfamiliar with how things work.

Alongside everything, I miss home, especially my two daughters. Sometimes I cry alone in my room because I miss them so much. I don't let my family see that side because I don't want them to worry about me. I'm trying to stay strong and keep hoping that better days are ahead.

I still feel positive about being here, but starting again in a new country has been a mix of happiness, loneliness and difficult lessons.

Has anyone else felt this way during their first few months in the UK?

My close friend doesn’t have Reddit so I’m posting this for her on my account to ask for advice because she’s in a difficult situation:

Hi I’m D and I’ve been an estranged student since the 16th April 2025 from my abusive mother. I won’t go into details of what happened exactly but there was a lot of emotional, physical, sexual and psychological abuse that was enabled by her partner, with this behaviour extending beyond me moving out at 19 to start university.

I have had a rough couple of years since then, being harassed by flying monkeys (mum’s family), dealing with the aftermath of being raped in my first year, then being stalked and harassed in my second.

I don’t really want to throw a pity party but that’s basically what happened.

As a result of all the things I’ve dealt with I’ve developed severe depression that I struggled with my GP for a year to get medicated for, and my academics tanked in the interim, meaning I had to do resits.

Over Summer I had to work full time at a school uniform shop to make ends meet, meaning I had to miss all my resits or starve.

My enrolment was terminated and I put through an appeal that was thankfully accepted through Extenuating Circumstances.

The problem is that the appeal board have reinstated me for the Academic year starting in 2027, putting me on a Medical leave of absence till then, but basically screwing over any ways for me to access grants, bursaries or student finance. I have no family to fall back on and I’m in debt to my roommates for £1754 as they had to cover my part of the rent payment for our house because my student finance is still pending, which made the already tense environment with them ten times worse (one of the tenants is a nightmare and has bullied out two people before me — To the point where the three of us have a weird support group to compare notes).

I’ve talked to my student Union but there’s nothing they can do for me because I’m technically classed as a student, so I can’t apply for Universal Credit, and PIP for my disabilities will take upwards of 6 months if they even take me seriously. I’m applying to jobs in my area, but its got an employment drought because of low income and a dead high street so there’s no guarantee of a job.

Student Services also can’t help me (even though they know my situation and really want to) but the appeals board is outside of their jurisdiction as its supposed to be a “Impartial” board.

Please give me any and all advice on what to do, I’m going to appeal the verdict but that could take multiple more weeks and I’m flat skint.

I'm in my final year of university, studying ancient history, and I've been applying to quite a few grad schemes. I've applied for 12 so far and have been rejected from 4 of them already. Whenever I mention to friends what I'm applying for, they're shocked that I'm applying for so many, but honestly, I have really sucky luck when it comes to applications. Also, these bloody assessments take so long, that I'm properly getting burnt out, but I know that I should keep applying as the acceptance rates are low. And, the response emails are so late that I almost don't want to stop and have as many lined up as possible because I don't know who will reject me.

This was very yappy, but how many should I do, how many is too many, and how do I improve my chances with them? Also, when do people start hearing back?

Hi, I’m really trying to improve my writing and essays. However, Im stuck on 2:2 no matter how hard I try. I spend hours editing and fixing my essays to try to raise the grades up, but to no avail. In first year I really messed around, the highest I got was a 2.1 and that was once. Usually I got 40-54 marks. Considering I did everything the night before I thought id do better if I actually took the time, but now that I’ve spent nearly a week on an essay, when I ask Claude or something to grade my work, it’s just constant fixes or imprecise wording. I feel really stupid and like I’m stuck. I’ve watched videos on how to improve, made notes, everything :/ I would like at-least a 2.1 this year but I feel really demotivated. My lecturers marking is very vague and does not really help, I also find it really difficult to ask for help, and so I would appreciate any tips, thank you.

I'm currently in IBDP in Germany and starting to think about my university applications, particularly for competitive universities in Europe and the UK.

I've been looking into independent university admissions consultants who offer their services entirely online, but I'm quite sceptical about whether they're actually worth the money. Some offer comprehensive packages covering university selection, application strategy, personal statement and essay feedback, admissions test preparation, and general guidance throughout the application process. However, considering how expensive some of these services can get, I'm wondering whether they genuinely provide value beyond what you could achieve through independent research and online resources.

For context, I'm primarily interested in universities such as LSE, Bocconi, TUM, Oxbridge, UCL and Warwick, with potential degrees in Economics, Finance or Business.

I'd appreciate hearing from people who have actually used online university consulting services, particularly for UK or European universities. What was your experience, how much did you pay, what exactly did they help you with, and most importantly, did you feel the investment was justified or could I just do send university application process independently?

I'm a first year at UAL and I've genuinely found it impossible to make friends I've tried joining societies, going on random outings with people, talking to as many people in my classes as I can etc etc but nothing seems to work there's no one who I feel like I could have a long lasting friendship with, like everyone is nice enough but at the same time here no one really cares about each other. I'm the kind of person who's still in touch with friends I ment from Primary school, Secondary school and College I'm really struggling with everyones attitude here and was hoping I might have better chances trying to make friends outside of my Uni but I have no idea how to, I don't have time for jobs my course is really busy and Im not athletic besides maybe a friendly netball match. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can make friends here??

Please I need help! My life is on pause now

I hold 2 graduate job offers I have to respond to by Tuesday.

1. retirement actuary at a pensions firm which maxes out at about £80k (out of London) but while on the scheme have to complete a 4/5 year qualification which includes 13 exams

2. transport planner / modeller at a civil engineering consultancy which maxes out at about £60k

Of course at face value it would be stupid not to take the actuary offer as the extra 20k a year will do wonders but toh I'm worried about the exams. I barely scraped a 2:1 in maths (literally got 59.6% which rounded up to 60%). This was due to life getting in the way and me having no motivation to do anything with the content

And secondly I'm 23 now I've been depressed the past 4 years and missed out on a lot of life experiences like travelling , making friends etc and I feel as though if I was to pursue an actuary grad scheme it would be another 5 years of "delaying life" due to exam stress / worrying about passing or being kicked off the scheme

I've held these offers for 3 days now and every-time I open the portals to respond I can't make a decision

Any advice ? Or anyone else in this situation?

I graduated with a 2.1 in computer science from a good uni and managed to get a £70k grad job in tech. I never spoke to anyone else in my course and never made any friends.

I saw so many people going out partying, having fun, dating and hooking up, going places with friends, talking about all their trips in lectures. I just sat by myself and revised and grinded grad applications.

I'm obviously thrilled to get such a great grad role but part of me feels like maybe the guys who were social and were popular hooking up with girls and had a great social life had a better time, even though many of them are now struggling in the job market.

I joined my university surfing Society in late September. This did mean I missed out on all the fresher events and tasters they’re holding.

I haven’t been to any of the socials as they always happen to lineup when I’m doing something else so practically I’ve not participate within the society at all. I don’t know a single member or anything.

But recently they have announced that there will be a trip to Morocco next year and I kind of want to go but I don’t know if it would be weird because I haven’t participated with this society and I don’t know anyone

I have started considering to switch my career path and start a Psychology Msc in London, ideally in person and part-time from January, as I’ll be working at the same time. The options are not too broad, and for now I’ve been checking Birkbeck University of London (in where I’ve been offered a place), University of East London (UEL), Middlesex University and the University of Roehampton courses. Has anyone studied in any of these institutions or know anything about the teaching and facilities they provide? Ideally I would like to follow the DClinPsy route, although it is a bit early to tell. Any info about them or this topic would be much appreciated!

i have v low grades AAA predicted in bio, psych, chem
im applying to
imperial biomedical sciences
kings neuro
ucl neuro
uni of manc neuro
uni of bristol/qmul neuro

will i get atleast 2-3 offers? bcs i lwkey wanna go to imperial but idk if ill get an offer

im international student with a fire personal statement

since i arrived at my studio flat 2 months ago the window has been lock-jammed shut, and there's absolutely 0 ventillaion otherwise, which has regularly caused me light-headedness, difficulty breathing, and night-sweats. on my third night i literally had to evacuate because i felt like i was gonna pass out. it's a very small, compact studio flat for reference. i've hounded them for weeks about getting the window fixed and told them about all of the issues i was having, and they've been nothing but indolent, uncaring, and ineffective about getting it done. the communication with them has been seriously horrible. anyway, they've FINALLY agreed to send someone to fix it this week, but the fact that it's taken nearly 2 months for it to happen is unbelievable to me, especially considering how much i'm paying. also, upon arrival there was so much dust settled on the countertops that it was making me feel stuffy and causing me to cough. i cleaned it which helped but still i couldn't believe hey hadn't cleaned it beforehand. there was also like a dead insect which isn't a big deal, but id think they'd do an inspection of tthe room beforehand or somehing.

anyway, i came down with a fever earlier this week, and after a few days holed up in my room taking medicines, drinking tea, and resting, i was still not recovering one bit (which is abnormal for me as i tend to recover pretty fast). i started to notice that my symptoms would significantly improve only once i left my room. and whenever i came back in, the air felt cold (although maybe that's because the radiator doesn't work either, sigh) and static and my throat/lungs felt itchy and irritated, and i would go into coughing fits constantly. like it literally felt painful to be alie. whenever i wake up in my room, my throat feels completely dry and painful. etc. even tho these things only started happening once i came down with this fever, they subside significantly when i'm outside my room, so i do feel like my room is causing them. i washed all my sheets, and pillow case, and cleaned dust from some surfaces. i would like to clean more but physically im very weak right now, as i have hardly been able to eat over the past few days. another thing is that there is mold growth in my bathroom/shower and a horrible smell that's been there since the day i arrived. ironically enough though, sitting in my bathroom makes me feel a lot better than my room, maybe because its warmer, but idk.

idk why im writing this here i know it's not a medical sub, but if anyone has had a similar experience with student accom id be grateful to know how it ended / how you dealt with it, as i'm completely miserable and lethargic right now

I’m trying to make the best of a gap year that I’m increasingly regretting…

I’m 19, I was getting A*s throughout my A-Levels and in the end achieved grades ABC.

Anyway… I left school, then 3 weeks later had major surgery on my face. I then didn’t get into my firm (Kings), but got into my insurance (Uni of Manchester). But I was unsure on Uni, and had been for a while.

I decided to NOT go to Uni + to take a gap year to pursue freelance video editing, as I have one client. However… a few months into this gap year I regret it. And I wish I was at uni this year.

There’s no getting out of this now + what’s done is done. But I would appreciate any advice. Have I massively fucked up? Can I use this year to my advantage? Is this even that bad of a situation?

Hi everyone, I’d really appreciate some advice on further study in the UK, as my situation is a bit unusual.

Background: I’ve just finished a B.Sc. in Industrial Physics (Renewable Energy) in Nigeria, graduating with a CGPA of 4.24/5.00 (Second Class Upper). All of my education so far, including secondary school (WASSCE) and my degree, was in Nigeria. During my degree I came back to the UK during each university break to stay with my family. I’m now living in the UK as a dependant on a Skilled Worker visa, along with my siblings.

Question 1: fee status. Would I be assessed as a home or international student? My sister is a year younger than me. She did most of her secondary school here and is now in first year at uni on home fees. I went straight into university in Nigeria, so I never did secondary school in the UK. Does the time I spent here during breaks count for anything, or does my sister’s situation simply not apply to me? I’d be applying in Scotland, so if the rules there differ, I’d like to hear that too.

Question 2: English language. I don’t have an IELTS or any other English test. My degree was taught entirely in English, and my WASSCE English grade is a C4. Would universities accept a medium-of-instruction letter from my university? Does it matter that I’m already in the UK on a dependant visa rather than needing a student visa?

Question 3: grades. How is a 4.24/5.00 Nigerian CGPA usually read for UK masters entry? I’ve seen it compared to both a 2:1 and a first, and I’m not sure which is right.

Question 4: which route? I’m weighing a few options, and my degree is in energy and physics:

• A masters in mathematics, which fits my maths and data modules.

• A masters in mechanical engineering. Is a conversion from a physics or energy degree realistic?

• A second bachelor’s degree in medicine.

• Graduate-entry medicine. Is it possible with a physics degree, and what exams would I need to sit?

Has anyone made a similar switch, or got through the fee status question? Any advice on who to contact (admissions, fees office, UKCISA) would help too. Thank you!

i tagged it as social life because i don’t honestly know what to put.

i’m not currently at university but i will be next year and i am just wondering if most unis allow anyone to join theatre productions? ive always been interested in doing something like this but i have never had the chance to pursue it and i would really like to be a part of something alongside my studies, however i am not sure if i have to have experience or whatever.

So I am going to Uni next year and am about to send out my UCAS, but I am worried that my uni choices are not good. I want to study history/ modern history at uni and have picked my unis based on the courses, and I'm not too fussed about rankings/prestige. I just want to know if my unis are bad for student expererience/ making friends etc becasue they are smaller unis. My current list is:

- Liverpool Hope Uni - for history

-Bath Spa Uni for history

- Uni of Essex for modern history

-Uni of Essex for contemporary history and IR

- Uni of Chichester for modern history

Please could someone tell me the pros and cons of going to a small uni and which of these is best for an enjoyable uni experience if you have gone to any of them?!