University of Portsmouth www.port.ac.uk

Having completed a degree at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies I can confirm this has been the worst experience of education so far. Staff are not helpful and, at times, hostile to students. I did not feel well supported on their distance learning programme at all. The library is hopeless in terms of journals which are important to essays and dissertations.

University of Portsmouth - I first decided to come to Portsmouth after working for a year for an engineering company. I made the decision purely on a recommendation from my manager figuring that if he is recruiting graduates he must know the best places to study. I was very apprehensive about making the step to university but felt reassured by the level of personal commitment I had received from the University when going through the application procedure. The University life was fantastic!!! I always look back on my time at Portsmouth (as do all the other students who graduated in the same year as me) as being a great period of my life. Southsea (where you live) is a great place to hang on - lots of quirky shops, good skatepark (stay for King of Concrete in the summer!!!). After visiting my other friends who went to different institutions I realised how lucky I was to be in such a great position, close to everything in a city, living in a community of other students (or techies/ex-students/IBMers). I did enjoy the course and was fortunate enough to win an industry sponsored prize (British Telecom) that looked good on my CV. The only downside is a general comment on the transport, driving is a nightmare!!! I needed to hop onto 3 trains to make it home (or a 9 hour coach journey) - but this changed when they started the direct train service to my home town :).

I am studying Electronics at the University of Portsmouth and have found the course to be excellent. The facilities and teaching have been quality and I really enjoy studying in the city. First year in Halls was fun as most places. I have been most impressed by the fun and exciting teaching methods here in comparison to many other places. The university was so much better organised than everywhere else I looked at.

If your main aim from university education is primarily a degree, at undergraduate level, then this is a great place to come to. Portsmouth is a small city, by the sea, and the university offers a good range of courses, most in modern buildings, from accounting-psychology, police studies and teacher training. However, the university's library is old and tatty, and if you don't have your own computer you'll never get your work done as it doesn't have enough computers. The overall quality of the teaching is good, but like most things, has room for improvement.