University of Southampton Highfield Campus - Southampton

capymoose

I have been at Southampton for 2 years now and have seen what the university does really well and what it doesn’t do well (as a home student). I hope my review isn’t taken as unfair criticism and rather constructive instead?

The good:
- The student union is very good and is mostly student run. If the student union wasn’t there or wasn’t to the standard it was I think students would be struggling a lot more.
- Good study spaces. The library has got some really nice areas to study in (some of the charging ports on level 1 don’t work though). Common learning spaces and lecture halls are usually very well equipped and kept up to date.
- Some courses have really dedicated lecturers. I’m on a course with field professionals and who genuinely are so supportive and really want you to do well.
- Module choices for subjects is really good. I like that there’s options to minor in other fields, year or semester abroad options and year in industry.
- So much choice for societies and sports for you to join. Again these are student run but having the structural support from the uni to have such things is really nice.

the bad:
- Halls are SO overpriced. I understand there’s a cost of living but in my first year i paid around 7.5k in rent for a small room with a box bathroom where you couldn’t actually open the door ?. Sure, you’re paying for the halls experience too - I loved who i lived with - but oftentimes the kitchen was falling apart and we often had no hot water and the water was coming out the taps grey. Good that the laundry was free though.

- The needs to be a look at how admissions work here when it comes to academic skills and performance. The main issue stems from students not getting the right support because SO many students were let in at the 2024-2025 cohort. For example, some international students do not speak English to an IELTS pass level and it’s difficult to work in group assignments without having your grade bought down. I don’t blame the students but feel that the university should be doing more to support their language skills and stop letting in so many so they get more 1:1 help.

- Similarly, the union isn’t particularly helpful to societies which have international students taking part. There’s no sort of translation service or training for language barriers. Working with people from different backgrounds is part of every day life but we don’t get any help with accessibility

- The high volume of students coming in impacts the local community. I’ve been lucky to get to know Southampton locals through work, and they find that the university is very closed off and makes a lot of money. i see often that locals suffer as a result, often saying they can’t get what they need in the shops anymore nor get the bus because it’s packed!

- Lectures especially in first year are not taught by the lecturers themselves but phd students who don’t have the right training!! One of my modules was 50% taught by a phd student and a lot of content wasn’t covered. each lecture balances out to about £100 of a home students tuition fee, you have to ask yourself whether the quality of teaching is worth this? Unless you’re getting your own internships and experience it’s really not great…

I hope that young people applying to the uni do a bit of research before rushing to apply like I did! My course is said to be one of the best but sometimes I wonder…

Martin Hayward

I've been a resident of Southampton for 54 years. Over the last few years I've seen the numbers of overseas students increase. It's got to the stage now where I can't shop locally because all the food is gone. I can't get a doctor's appointment either. I have to travel miles just to be able to get a week's shopping. The university makes money but the local people in Southampton who made this city, our life suffers as a result.

Arjun Bali ॐ

The University Of Southampton had a very organised and well planned open day. It was amazing. The environment was very clean and the guides were very helpful.

Gunasekharreddy Thummala

One of the best universities in the world. It has more international and students and it’s one of the top universities in UK for MSc Electronics. There are so many courses and very friendly professors.

Sl

Beautiful campus filled with flora and fauna. Sadly the pandemic means classes are mostly online and students dont really have the opportunity to use the facilities like labs, gym, SUSU building etc.

Really wish the uni could compensate some of the already exorbitant tuition fees since we're not using facilities at the moment.

Bill Kong

Never have I tried this hard and have received practically no sense of accomplishments from assignments. Whoever are in charge of marking should all be fired. We paid tuition fee yet we don’t get what we want. That’s a scam and you should be ashamed of yourselves. If we’re constantly setting traps for each other, how will society even evolve? No amount of skills and eligibility can equate to someone being good and just, which are more important for human beings. Social life? Not too bad but could of been much much better. Academia? Downright inhumane.

王周颖

Lovely uni, just sometimes so hard to get a bus to city center , too busy

Andre Govia

First class in every way