De Montfort University

It’s left me traumatised mentally. I have been bullied, harassed when I was late with my fees to the point I have told them I am looking at legal action, openly mocked on campus because of the way I look due to disabilities, been patronised more times than I care to mention and just really had my eyes opened that literally all universities care about is money and who makes them the most (clue- 18 year old undergrads)

The Students Union to be fair weren’t bad. They have good staff who were really helpful in the multiple issues I had and their reps were quite good.
However the debacle with the election put me off a bit.

I joined some of them but they’re mostly for 18 year old undergrads- something which I am not! The people I found very cliquey and the social events I went to no-one spoke a single word to me and made it clear that I wasn’t welcome so I gave up.

The library is good- I like the individual study rooms. The shop and Subway are good too.

It’s quite easy to state what I liked most as there was very little. One particular module the module leader went out of their way to make adjustments to help me- this was the module I missed the entire seminar programme for as I was bedbound with a flare of my physical condition but there was always a way round which I appreciated.
This course is supposed to contain aspects of English Language, Literature and Creative Writing but the taught seminars are about 99.5% English Literature. The name of this course is extremely misleading-It should be called MA English Literature as there is very little in the seminars relevant to anyone studying Language. I was also astonished at the vast majority of the class who had come from the undergrad English degrees at DMU and had to be taught shockingly basic things like how to Harvard reference and how to search for a journal relevant to their subject.
From someone who had been taught this in first year of my distance learning undergrad degree I was shocked.
I feel sorry for some of the lecturers, particularly my supervisors as they are grossly under-resourced and there is not the time to support anyone or anything who doesn’t fit their ideal- as I discovered.
In short- if you want to do a Language topic or Creative Writing- don’t.
The seminars aren’t relevant and you will (apart from the limited support your supervisors can provide) be left on your own. Not a problem for me as I had come from distance learning and I preferred it- I didn’t want or need my hand holding but if you do- forget it.

I’ve lived in Leicester for 13 years and I’m 37, living out in the county so I’m not an 18 year old only interested in clubbing. From a bitter local- I hate it. It’s not a nice place to be!

Absolutely nothing. Postgraduates (particularly disabled ones like me) appear to be invisible! At one careers fair there were two companies who had opportunities for me as a physically disabled student- they don’t think about stuff like this. Nothing in the way of careers advice and all the transferable skills I have came from my undergrad which clearly wasn’t here....

The only person I’ve found who was any good was my mentor and she isn’t employed by the uni.
As I’ve already mentioned academically the tutors are limited in certain areas but it’s not their fault.
As a disabled mature student with multiple disabilities they were clueless what to do with me. The support they shouted about was good but the support I got was very different. My tutor actually told me that they weren’t used to those who ‘had got their degree and were at uni late in life’ (I’m 37) and so at every possible corner there was an obstacle deliberately placed pretty much trying to get me to give up as I definitely got the impression that the only students they want are able bodied 18 year olds.
I refused- however and instead made more noise. It’s sad that the whole experience has severely exacerbated my mental health conditions and left me really ill.