University of Nottingham — Attraction in Nottingham

I would like to say upfront that this is a review of the summer pre-sessional course which Nottingham University run from June to September each year. I had the misfortune to work on this course over the summer of 2024. The reason I say this is because the Language Centre is highly exclusive, despite the University of Nottingham proclaiming at its website that "Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are vital for our student and staff community". Nothing could be further from the truth. I was a new teacher and very quickly realised that things weren't working as well as they could be and started to voice my concerns. One area that was of particular concern was the fact that many students had extremely poor English skills (most students came from China) and the department was turning a blind eye to this fact. As a consequence of voicing my legitimate concerns, I started to feel excluded. Furthermore, the two managers who run this sorry show called me in for a private meeting and threw unfounded charges at me. As a result of these trumped up charges and where they might lead, I immediately made an appointment with HR. HR listened to my concerns but did nothing, preferring instead to side with the Language Centre Managers. (Don't for one minute ever think that HR is impartial and unbiased because they are paid by the University and are expected to uphold the party line and ensure that no bad publicity is leaked to the wider public. Put simply, they are gatekeepers.) Once word got out that I was a troublemaker, this is when the bullying began and attempts were made to coerce me into behaving a certain way. So much for inclusion and diversity. There are reasons why the Language Centre Managers are behaving in this appalling manner and it is because the international student market has dried up and there is a real possibility that the Language Centre will be closed down. It has been widely reported in the press that the Language Centre will haemorrhage hundreds of jobs because of "financial pressures and the need to prioritise core academic services". The only way, therefore, for the Language Centre to justify its (financial) worth is to feed as many students as it can through its pathway program with the its Chinese partners. This is fine but the issue is that many of these students are unable to complete the assignments without resorting to the use of essay mills or personal tutors who are paid large amounts of money to write papers on their behalf. This is why so many international students are under so much pressure. It is not their fault but the fault of money-hungry universities such as the University of Nottingham who are using a for-profit model to fill their ever dwindling coffers. I for one one would never consider working at the University of Nottingham again. It was a truly dreadful experience. I urge other experienced teachers who are thinking about working there to...

Where do I start. I do not like to leave negative reviews and writing this up makes it even more disheartening. I am a former undergraduate student of this university and I deeply regret going here. The level of institutional negligence is beyond my comprehension. Each year I was registered late due to "technical" errors. This meant that I was starting the course a month later than my peers. This put me in a significant disadvantage, as the course I was studying was very coursework intensive, so any setback would lead to an increasing amount of work loading up. This in itself was a huge discouragement. Furthermore, the content that was delivered in lectures often lacked depth of information. Implying that candidates must purchase the books recommended by the department to gain good grades (books that were written by the department themselves). These books despite their high price tag contained mistakes that shows nobody has proof-read over them. When I try to contact the lecturer about something that I did not understand, I would be lucky to receive a response back within that week. However, I must say that few of the lecturers I came across were exceptional with their teaching ability. When it came to invigilated exams, there were frequent stops to announce that there had been mistakes with the examination paper. When reviewing past examination papers, I observed many mistakes with the marking. When I contacted the module convenor about this, his response was that it was done intentionally to make sure that candidates are not copying. However, this seemed like a cover for the department's embarrassing mistake.

During graduation, my diploma supplement contained errors with the final grade for 3 different modules. This effectively meant that my degree was classified to a lower grade despite my online portal showing the final grade. At this point I felt that I was being sabotaged of my education and it being justified to reach a certain deviation of marks attained by candidates. More than a dozen of my classmates received the exact same marks for completely different answers. Hence my reasoning to suspect that the department was fixing grades. It would not be far-fetched to suggest this since during my time of graduation, members of the institution were striking for better pay and there was a delay in getting back my marks for coursework and exams.

To summarise my point. I feel like I have been duped by the marketing of this university and that they pride themselves in being a Russell group university with great prospects. I did not get this impression at all. I was frequented by countless instances of institutional negligence and this was not only for the department of mechanical engineering and manufacturing, but for the whole administration side of the university. I would have given one-star if it was not for the facilities on campus and the David Ross...

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the misleading communication and lack of transparency I experienced during the application process.

Prior to submitting my application, I reached out to the admissions team to inquire about my eligibility and chances of admission. The response I received indicated that I had a promising profile and encouraged me to proceed with the application. Based on this positive feedback, I decided to apply and paid the non-refundable application fee.

However, shortly after submitting my application and paying the fee, I received a disheartening notification stating that my application did not meet the requirements for admission. This sudden change in assessment left me feeling misled and unfairly treated.

I understand that admission decisions are based on a thorough evaluation of each applicant's credentials. However, the conflicting messages I received from the admissions team raise concerns about the transparency and consistency of the evaluation process.

The initial encouragement to apply, followed by a prompt rejection, creates an impression that the application fee was the primary focus, rather than a genuine assessment of my qualifications. This experience has tarnished my perception of the University of Nottingham's admissions process.

I urge the admissions team to review their communication practices and ensure that prospective students receive accurate and consistent information throughout the application process. This will help maintain the university's reputation for fairness and...