The University of Edinburgh — Attraction in City of Edinburgh

This is a horrible university, they really do not care about their students. About the appalling student conditions at this university, you can actually find a lot of information just by Googling 'University of Edinburgh is bad.' However, I still plan to add my two cents here just to help more people avoid choosing this university.

I once studied in the undergraduate program of Cognitive Science, which is a collaborative program between the School of Informatics and the Department of Linguistics and Psychology. Theoretically, I could choose any courses from both departments to form my undergraduate degree. Hence, I have experiences from both the School of Informatics and the School of PPLS. First, the problem with Edinburgh's School of Informatics is that they admit too many students and simply do not have the capacity to train so many. During my study period, from 2019 to 2023, there were over 400 undergraduates in informatics, and with master's students included, a higher-level course could reach up to 600 students. Professors do not have the capacity to spend time on so many students, meaning that by the time you complete your program, your professors might still not know you, which is no different from watching Coursera. If you're looking to apply for a Ph.D., the University of Edinburgh is terrible. Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, it is hard for professors to provide any strong letters of recommendation because they really don't care about or know you. Secondly, because the university has admitted too many students, there are no resources for undergraduates to engage in research, which is essential for applying to Ph.D. programs, especially in the U.S., which often require research experience and even published papers. But the University of Edinburgh does not provide any academic resources that a university should offer undergraduates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the university's performance was nearly fraudulent. During the pandemic, the university simply showed us old previous recorded lectures (recorded about ten years ago) and did not offer any office hours. And the course materials are out dated, especially for cs. UoE still teach Symbolic AI course from the Minsky era (like the tech needed in 1980s, OMG)

Regarding employment, since the University of Edinburgh admits too many students, the employment data is also very poor. Can the UK job market really absorb 400 Edinburgh CS graduates each year? That's a joke.

The Department of Linguistics and Psychology faces the same problems, where professors only care about their research, do not prepare for courses, seem to look down on their students, and even prohibit their students from participating in research projects.

The most ridiculous thing is that professors from the School of Informatics collaborate with study abroad agencies (namely, ggu consulting世毕盟留学中介) in China to sell paid research opportunites to Chinese university students to guide Chinese students publish papers and make extra money, while neglecting their own undergraduates. I dare say this method of making extra money definitely violates the code of conduct. From the president, Peter Mathieson, to the professors, everyone in this university is irresponsible...

I worked at this university for nine years and eight months until April 2016.

At first when I started working here I was as proud as I could have been working at one of the top universities within the UK. However, as time progressed it became absolutely hell to work for this institution. I worked within Central Biological Services within the corporate services. I was an animal research technician, it was my job to look after the animals that were having research done on them.

Throughout my time working here I saw many things that should not have happened, including animals being glued to the side of their cage after having their tails cut off, animals not being given food or water for days and almost dying, animals being put into airtight spaces after having major surgery and forgotten about for more than 48hrs and many other things. Having brought some of these situations to managements attention I was threatened with the prospect of loosing my job.

After finding some rats with no food and water and in a very sick condition in March 2016 and this being covered up and myself being bullied to keep quiet about it I decided to resign in April 2016. Subsequently the university did an investigation into this after I had left which was a complete whitewash which I in turn then dissected and found that the staff who were interviewed were infact asked loaded questions. This investigation was such a farce that the university then employed an independent QC to investigate, they have as yet declined to share this report with me.

I know that in this report other staff have came forward and told of their own distressing situations- including one member of staff being stabbed in the hand with a pair of scissors and being bullied into not reporting it by his manager.

There is at least two members of staff that have been so distressed by their employment with this institution that they have came close to committing suicide and are now on very strong anti-depressants - myself being one of them.

In my view- this university is more about making money and power, rather than looking after its staff or the animals it does...

Positive reviews of this university often focus on its appearance rather than the quality of education or the attitude towards students. If you're considering it, here's a firsthand account. We recommend thinking twice before choosing the University of Edinburgh for your education. My daughter spent two years there studying architecture and was shocked by her experience.

Firstly, during her entire first year, the teachers were mostly on strike, yet full payment was required, and it is not cheap. Secondly, they periodically brought in individuals without any background in architecture to teach, who also lacked teaching skills. At the end of the year, with minimal guidance, students took exams and submitted their models in April, only to be told that they wouldn't know the results until September! The results finally arrived at the end of September, less than two weeks before the start of the second year. All the paying students failed the first year without any feedback or reasoning, while the local, non-paying students advanced to the second year. When asked for support, the student support team offered no help, coldly suggesting they could provide a dropout form. Meanwhile, they were very efficient at enforcing payment for studies for the year 2.

Year two was not much better. Although results were delivered more promptly, the quality of education remained low. Despite having all the results and our early request to change the direction of studies, and despite their promise to respond promptly, we have heard nothing from the university as of the last working day in August 2024. Yet, they continue to send reminders to pay and register. Fortunately, recognizing this attitude, we found a better school that was happy to accept my daughter, and the communication there has been excellent.

This information can be easily confirmed by the trends in this...