The course in general
How many contact hours do you have in the average week?
25

Ideally, what 3/4 subjects would you recommend doing in order to be in the best position for your course?
English, Maths, A social subject

Why did you decide to study your degree programme?
I thought it would be the career that I would like to follow and thought it would be best to do this instead of a general degree.

Explain the things you wish you'd known about your degree before you applied:
How old-fashioned it was. How bad the facilites were. How bad placements would be. The sheer amount of pointless paperwork. How nasty and unsupportive the tutors are on tutor visits. The fact there are no jobs at the end of it.

Describing your average day
Explain how your day is made up. For example, do you have labs/seminars/tutorials/lectures?
It's usually a lecture followed mmediately tutorial that goes with that lecture.. sometimes a double tutorial. Sometimes there is a massive time gap between a lecture and classes. They aren't lectures every single day or week, but definitely the majority - I'd say 80%. You never get a day off, even in first year. There is always something scheduled.

How much extra work/reading are you required to do out of lectures?
Probably not quite as much as other more "academic" courses. But there definitely still is reading - sometimes in preparation for a lecture.. and they definitely like to catch you out and ask.

Is there anything else you think is relevant or that you would like to add in respect of your course?
If you are going to do this, do it at Edinburgh. I have a friend on the same course there and they are worlds apart. Hers is amazing and they do 10% of the workload that we do at Strathclyde. And they are no worse off for it. They also have three day weeks.

The best and worst parts of the course
What do you like best about your degree programme?
The people I met. The R.E. staff and the Educational Studies/Philosophy staff.

What do you like least about your degree programme?
Pretty much everything - the timetable is horrific, most of the staff are pompous and unhelpful, placements are a complete and utter joke with little support or structure and unmanagable workload and the course has extremely poor organisation. There seems to be no sense to 80% of the stuff that you do on this course - definitely quanitity over quality.

Academics and course content
What do you think of your university's academics and facilities?
TERRIBLE. THE WORST. This course is at a separate campus - Jordanhill. An old falling apart building in the middle of nowhere facility wise stuck on top of a mountain. The place is dismal and crumbling, the rooms barely have any furniture. It's either heating full blast or freezing cold. THE FOOD IS HORRENDOUS - limited choice VERY LIMITED, expensive and disgusting.There is nowhere else nearby to go.

Explain how you expected your course to be and how it compares to how it actually is. Give an outline of the content of the course.
The content is too much - you probably do 12-13 separate classes over the whole year instead of just splitting them over 2 semesters. Expect mass confusion and having to figure out on your own where you need to be and when classes start - sometimes they don't even provide the most basic of information. The content is fluffy really - teaching and learning, maths, language, "environmental studies" which cover sciences and social subjects, educational studies, re and then some electives.. and I'm sure I've missed some! The only interesting ones are educational studies (psychology/philosophy based and more removed from the teaching side) and R.E. (REALLY NICE GUYS who make it very interesting) and some electives. The rest - just forget it. Expect having to do pointless class tasks every single week. Expect a relentless amount of group presentations. Expect very little mental stimulation but a huge workload.

ERASMUS scheme, study abroad and work placements
Have you been on a work placement/year in industry? How has it benefited your study and career prospects:
There are numerous placements throughout. Most people love the nursery placement - it opens your eyes to how boring and monotonous the school is!