Birkbeck, University of London

Delivery: It was fab while it was online. Truly worked for those who have careers. They did not give the promised choice as to whether we could remain remote or not, sitting in a freezing classroom until 8pm during the dark winter is not conducive to good learning, and is frankly unsafe considering the current climate on violence against women.

Structure: Overall it's a good rigorous course but the part-time mode is a lie. It is not made for people who work unless you have a static 9-5 which doesn't have more responsibility. The amount of reading set is too much. The dissertation preparation module was absolutely awful and did nothing to teach us how to do the work. Lecturers were often unaware of their own deadlines and would give conflicting information as to when our assessments were due. Module choices were limited and change each year, the module handbooks are vague and don't let us make an informed choice.

Academics: All my module leaders have been friendly at least. They however would do well to remember that a lot of their students also have careers when they consider how much work to set. One module I had would set on average 90 pages of pre-session reading AND a group presentation each week, and this caused far too much stress. In fact no actual teaching happened on that module - it was all group presentations. I paid to teach myself! Seems to be a recurring theme...

Overall - if you can leave your work at work, this is a great course. However it's not made for anyone who can't do the same amount of work as a full-time student, but over double the time. Totally leans on the 'University of London' brand but realistically offers a sub-par student experience. Should have kept the learning online. It was wrong of them to lie and say we'd get a choice.

Library tech is outdated, classrooms are freezing as windows have to be open to provide 'natural ventilation' to negate covid 19 risks. We were better off online.

I started the course part-time online during the pandemic, and this generally worked well. Module leaders set the same amount of reading for PT as they would FT so being online worked well to allow management of this amount of work. They've now forced us to come back on campus for seminars and it's honestly not easy to manage all the work.

Careers services available for those who want them. I already have a career so do not use.

Accessible via the 'Ask' online software but they take a while to get back. Mitigating circumstances policies are fair. Disability services offer little else than helping with the DSA form - the only support I get from Birkbeck themselves is extra time in exams that I don't even have as part of this course. No consideration of my illnesses by dissertation supervisor.