What Students Say
Likes
- The first thing I would say is the campus, is so beautiful and very well organized, you won't be bothered around asking people where to go. The campus is very close to the beach which elevates the beauty of it.
- How can I miss the library, I spent most of my time there reading and working on group projects, it has all the necessary & Recommended books, and Silent Zone is so good.
- The University is in collaboration with very big and renowned companies like Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Mercedes Benz, GE, BAE systems, etc. Hence you get a chance to work on projects and dissertations with them.
Dislikes
- In my eyes it was good but many people would dislike the examination system because they have 75% per cent of assessments based on written exams which is the difficult part and 25 % based on assignments.
- The second part is the weekly timetable, five days a week classes and everyday 4-6 hours study, that is what most students don't prefer. If you are doing a part-time job and cooking yourself then it's not easy to manage your study for sure.
- Without a doubt professors are good but some of them really don't care about teaching and if you're not studious, you might have to suffer a lot by asking lots of doubts they are not free all the time and they have specific weekdays to solve your query.
- The first thing is Bristol and Glasgow were more expensive for me, and except for Swansea, no other university offered me a scholarship.
- And the second thing is a collaboration with aerospace companies. One friend of mine was studying there, and he got to work with Mercedes Benz, so I decided to go with Swansea, and it is way more beautiful.
Course Curriculum
- Well, this is very interesting because I did not expect that it would be such a bite-the-bullet thing, but it was. The course was so long, and it was mixed but more theoretical that it had 12 subjects and 2 projects in just one year, and you had to submit 2 assignments and 1 written exam for each subject, so in four months, you had to submit 12 assignments and 6 written exams while doing a part-time job, cooking, and other homework. It would have been easy if I had stopped doing a part-time job. Anyway, it was all positive and fruitful, with no negative aspects I can see. The only downfall of not doing the part-time job is that you will never understand the actual meaning of hard work and time management. There are a lot more positive aspects, as I've got to work with the best professors and colleagues who already had a great experience with Airbus and Rolls-Royce. Another one is I got to work with Mercedes Benz on a simulation project and I had a chance to go south Africa for a solar energy project, but there was some financial issue, so it didn't turn out well. One of my friends got a chance to present his research work at the US conference. The only negative aspect I can see is the 12 subjects and many times you have only one day and you have to finish two reports on the same deadline, and there is no way you can finish.
- The usual timings of classes were 9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday. There are at least 3 classes scheduled a day and max 5, Two labs for 2 hours and three hourly lectures; there could be a gap (break) of 1-to 2 hours.
- It is uncertain to state the exact number of students because there are many classes or subjects shared with other engineering students, and some classes include students from both intakes (Fall and January). As a result, the number of students in a class can vary, sometimes ranging from 70–80 students and other times only 20–25. There were not many Indian students; 10-15 max I would say.
Admission Experience
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I applied to a few universities:
- Shortlisted: Swansea University, Teesside University, University of Glasgow, Kingston University, Coventry University, University of Bristol
- Rejected: Kingston University, Teesside University,
- Admitted: Swansea University, University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, Coventry University
- Kingston rejected my application because there were no seats available for the fall intake, and there was no available January intake.
- And I don't know the reason why Teesside rejected my application, as I've been admitted to the other better than Teesside, even though Teesside is less difficult to get into.
- The admission process is very smooth; you just have to apply through their website with the required docs like SOP, LORs, transcripts, IELTS score, etc. The application is free, and you might get an interview if your profile gets selected; you will get your offer letter in your email, and after paying 25% of the fees, you will get your CAS letter. The last step is to get an ATAS certificate that you have to apply for after getting a CAS letter. Finally, you're good to go for the visa process.
- Initially, there were no challenges in the admission process, but after you land in the UK, you have to go to university and enrol yourself in the course; this is a must-do within the timeline; otherwise, you may face some consequences.
- I applied in Jan Intake because I was doing an internship, so I could not get into Fall; another benefit of getting into Jan Intake is you can get 3 months of dissertation timeline in the summer after finishing your first semester, so you can easily work full time, and it is easy to finish the course while Fall Intake students have to finish it at the end of the course, which is annoying.
- The process is not so long after applying you can get your decision in 7 -15 days, and then they will give you around 20 days to pay 25% of the fees, as soon as you pay it they will give you a CAS letter and after 5-7 days you will get your ATAS certificate. Finally, you can apply for a visa and within 25 days you could get your visa. For me, it was a 1.5-month process until I got my visa.
Faculty
- As I said earlier, it is not fixed, so I would say 1:35. So this is average, I told you but it does not impact the quality of education because classes are big enough to get all the attention students want from the faculty and you can easily watch them teaching with a whiteboard. But some professors have different styles of teaching that you might not be so comfortable with.
- Yes, absolutely. Course content was great and all the projects I got were very relevant to the field of aerospace engineering, but you got to be equipped with such skills to get hired. The university conducts seminars and industry visits, and even big companies like Airbus & RR come there every year to recruit the best talents.
- Finding a part-time job is not easy in Swansea, but you can apply for in-campus jobs, and every student has their provided mentor who guides you along the way, like for jobs or any financial, physical, or mental issue. You can talk to your mentor and your problem could be solved.
- I mostly loved my mentor and project supervisor, Prof. McFadzean J.K. and Prof. Ben Evans, who is like a celebrity professor in Wales; he has done the research of the world’s fastest car run by rocket engine.
Campus Life
- Campus experience is wonderful and mesmerising; campus was more beautiful than what we show online. Swansea Uni has two campuses, Singleton and Bay. Ours was Bay campus because of a large inward sea line is very close to the buildings of the campus; hence they named it Bay campus, and Singleton campus is the older one. both are very far to each other. Both campuses have the library, cafeteria, prayer hall, and places for food like Greggs, Subway, and Tesco Express. Singleton campus is famous for School of Culture and Communication, Social Sciences, Health and Social Care, Psychology, Biosciences, Geography and Physics, the Medical School and the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law. Bay Campus is famous for Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Sports, Research & development. Bay campus is new and has a new accommodation facility close to the uni and has a large basketball & football court.
- There were many clubs & activities going on throughout the year. Clubs like Swansea Uni Live Music Society, Drama Society, Swansea Snow Riders, Hiking, Road Cycling, Equestrian Club, Islamic Society, Dance Club, Skate Society, Swimming Club, Golf Club, Student Union, Surf & Rowing Club, K-Pop Society, LGBTQ+ Society, Indian Society, and various sports clubs & societies, and many more I'm not aware of. You can find all the media & photos on social media like Insta or Facebook; I'm sorry, I don't have it.
- We celebrated almost all Indian festivals with my international friends, like Diwali and Holi, Chatth puja, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, EID & Ramadhan, etc.
- We often used to go hiking and cycling to the most beautiful location in Swansea and it was the most joyful time I ever experienced. Swansea is a combination of both mountain and seaside beauty.
Part Time Jobs
- Well, there are not many because the city is not so big so you might have to juggle hard. I don't have any in campus experience but I worked at many places like warehouses (DPD, Amazon, UPS), restaurants, car washes, petrol pumps, fast-food eat-in places, etc. One of my friends was working as a student support member at a university, and it was for only 6 months, and another friend of mine worked as a research assistant, and later he got the PhD opportunity.
- So working on campus is very nice but a little far from home if you're not living on campus; they pay you well (performance-based); the usual rate was 10.44-11.44 GBP per hour; it's the lowest you get following the government regulation and you don't have to work pathetically hard. Work only 20 hours per week but you can easily manage yourself financially but you are planning to cover your tuition fees; that is never going to happen.
- It is not easy at all to get a part-time job on campus; there are so many international students applying, and obviously their English is much better than Indian students , and they are very personable; hence they got the job. I tried and failed in the interview because initially my English was not good. The application itself was so annoying and long that many students gave up applying.
- Most Indian students were working in warehouses and restaurants, but if you are working under any South Asian guy, you will get paid much less than other NI jobs. I was working in a restaurant and I got paid 5.5 GBP per hour, insane, right! In Swansea it is hard to find part-time jobs because of the location and new students every semester. you need to keep applying everywhere; Keep your resume updated and do not use your academic resume, create profiles on job boards like Glass-Door, Indeed, Reeds, and Gov.Uks Website registers you and check your mails every day. Apply for as many jobs as you can daily; try to talk to strangers and university students and make connections with them; that is most important. Try cold calling to every shops and eatery; you will get their contact info from Google. There are many agencies that help you get a part-time job, like Hays.
Placement
- I can not say the exact percentage but all my 6-7 friends got the job after 4-5 Months of completion. but they all are working in a different line of work, 3 of them got teaching, one is doing great in Bank as Associate client service. Many of pursuing further studies. Swansea Uni conducts Hiring events and recruitment drive every six months and companies like Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GE, BAE, Boeing, TATA, Many automobile companies like Jaguar & Land rovers, McLaren, any many more come there to hire the best talents. The average salary they offer is vary upon your job role and position but basic range is 22k - 30k GBP starting for freshers.
- As i said before, you should create your profile and register yourself on the job boards like LinkedIn, then Resume is important, tailor your resume and change it for every job roles and company. For networking, the very good time is graduation and industry tours, visits, Seminars, Guest lectures and alumni meetups, try to talk to any professionals make a good impression try to get their contact details like Email or anything.
Accommodation
- It was studio by CRM Private accommodation; we found out it online through a LinkedIn friend. We Lived there for almost 7 months and then we shifted to another house. We spent almost 6 months there; that house we founded with the help of the student property agent—you will find out there are many.
- The studio usually is an expensive option but so much better than sharing a house because here you get your own kitchen and bathroom. Apparently more private and luxurious with all the facilities like Movie theater, Game Zone, Gym, Reading Room, Big Dining hall with kitchen for small events like birthdays and, Bicycle parking; all of this included in the Rent. and the Monthly rent would be around 700 GBP to 1350 GBP. Only one person can live there but if you are a couple (gay couples are allowed but you have to prove it), its better to live together; it would be much cheaper. Most of the Indian students whom I know were living at the studio, but if you are going for the studio, you should better pre-book it. I don't have more photos of it but you can find it online (Abode: Boutique Student Accommodation, Managed By CRM Swansea)
- Commune was so easy for us because there is a bus stop in front of the accommodation so you don't have to walk even for a minute and University bus will arrive there after every 10 min and it will take around 20 minute. Moreover, its in the center of Swansea city anything you want you can get withing 5 min of walk.
- The first month was nightmare for us because we lived in a sharing house and it was 3 bedroom, 1 kitchen & 1 bathroom for 7 people. we didn't see the house before and do not believe anyone Especially South Asian, we deposited in cash and never get back so avoid doing business in cash.
Exams
- IELTS is required, and a minimum of 6.5 bands is required for any engineering discipline. Bachelor completed with 60% of grade.
- IELTS is a requirement for engineering admissions. Essential documents include a Statement of Purpose (SOP), Letters of Recommendation (LOR), a CV, academic transcripts, and degree certificates. While I didn’t get an interview opportunity, my friend did, and it was conducted by the faculty head of engineering. Unfortunately, I don’t have specific details about the interview format, as I wasn’t part of the process.
Fees
- My fee was a total of 20,000 GBP, and I got a 4000 GBP scholarship, so it was 16,000 GBP overall and I paid it semester-wise, or you can pay a 25% installment every 4-5 months. I did not reside on campus. But on campus would cost you around 700-900 per month, including everything.
- My monthly expenses were around 800-900 GBP, including 450 GBP for rent (including gas & electricity), 100 GBP for transportation, 150 GBP for food and groceries, and 50-100 GBP for shopping and nights out and all. Monthly expenses could vary if you are living with someone and sparing the bills would be cheaper than this.
Scholarship
- I did receive 4000 GBP in scholarship; for that, you have to submit an essay for the justification. Just that and they will figure out from your transcripts and resume that you submitted earlier. And yes, 10 other students received the same amount of scholarship. I have no clear idea how many students are getting it each year but the amount is the same: 3000-4000 GBP.











