University of Northampton - Sunley Hotel

To be honest, anyone studying with thousands of 18-21 year olds will be to find some fun.The students will find their pubs, and a night club or two, and populate them in packs. Yes it might not offer the glitz of a big city, but there’ll be places to hang out with mates all the same.

My DD had just completed her first week at Northampton Uni and loves it. We really liked the Uni when we looked round, it's a lovely new campus, in a very peaceful, waterside location, with a 5 minute walk into town. Go and have a look round and make your own mind up, there's also a Premier Inn with walking distance that will be cheaper than the Sunley Hotel.

No not clueless at all @Year13novice I can see how my post was a bit misleading.

Agree re Lincoln and also might be worth looking at Leicester - my DD was there and I was impressed. Their listed offers are often higher than the grades they will accept IME.

I know Northampton well and my son has attended the Uni and been really happy with his course. The town is run down in places but also has some lovely parts to it too. For nightlife there are some good pubs / bars, live music venues (roadmender, picturedrome, black prince). Birmingham, London, Milton Keynes are all easily accessible by train from Northampton for nights out.

yes I agree, possibly view it on social media sites or uni website first of all. It's a very bleak town and an overnight stay should be carefully considered!

What a load of tosh.

I can't say it's the prettiest place I've ever been but it's far from the worst. The university is a new multimillion pound affair by the river. The students always looked happy and engaged. It has a good reputation. My son (and a fair few of his friends) graduated with 1st class honours and he (ds2) came top overall in the whole country of the course he did. The tutors are willing to engage with parents if necessary and they went out of their way to keep in touch with the students during covid, unlike Ds1s RG Uni who abandoned the students and went on strikes instead.

Go and see for yourself.

Missed all the rest of the replies and just posted about the sunley.

DS2 loved his time in Northampton. Had no problems at all either on or off campus. His student accommodation was fab (and cheaper than his brothers elsewhere), the following 2 rentals reasonable and all inclusive of bills. The town centre is a bit more run down but he was out and about all the time and had no issues.

The uni was also fab. Supported them properly through covid. Interested, and engaged tutors. All new campus and well situated for easy access to everything. He was very happy there.

Brighton is party central.

I did my undergrad at Sussex Uni and lived in Brighton then (many years later) my masters at Northampton.

The two are worlds apart.

Lincoln , OP

Business and management at Hallam is 96 pts (=CCC) in clearing this year so might be a shout. I also recommend (really this time) Canterbury - a friend's DD liked it so much she has stayed in the area.

Brighton is nicer than Northampton tho I believe v expensive; UWE in Bristol is worth a look maybe or perhaps Worcester - know a couple of people there and they say it is a vey supportive uni if that's important?

Ermmmm...
Yes! I was.

@Year13novice we've stayed there 3 or 4 times when taking/collecting ds from uni and we stayed for 2 nights for graduation.

It's clean, comfortable and friendly. Bar service was a tad slow but everything else was just fine. Perfect location too. Enjoy.

nooooooo I and i suspect @Piggywaspushed as well was listing places that are soulless and grim.

Please don't consider Middlesbrough. Not only is it a really long way away from you, it is also really really grim. And Peteborough and Kettering are less enticing than Northampton tbh.

Ah Northampton is not that bad. At least not totally.

The cultural quarter is lovely, some nice shops on the Guildhall and lovely architecture in that part. There are lovely parks - the Uni is next to Beckets Park / Midsummer Meadow and close to Delapre Abbey.

The bus service is pretty good and there are good out of town shopping options at Sixfields and Rushden Lakes.

Student accom is good in new blocks by the campus.

No uni in Boston or Gainsboro as far as I am aware tho. Sorry for theflippancy @Year13novice

Can I also add Middlesbrough (where a friend's DD is at uni!), Boston, Gainsborough?

Apols to anyone who lives in and loves those places. I am allowed to say them as one is where I am from, one is near where I used to live and the other is where DH went to school.

Not sure what the course is but it has a genuinely solid reputation for health care.

Gosh.

May I recommend Dunstable, Kettering, Bedford, Corby, Peterborough....?

I think the university is probably OK but the town of Northampton itself is indeed bleak beyond belief as another poster has observed. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a more soulless, depressing place.

The university itself has a new multimillion pound campus on the river. so it's a hell of a lot better than it used to be.

I went there as a mature student in a 'local uni for local people' kind of a way. Quite a few people on my course had done their undergrad there and seemed happy enough.

Academically it won't blow anyone away, it's just your bog standard ex poly, really.

Hi OP so sorry you are disappointed. Can you say what your DD wants to study and what her predicted grades are? People might be able to give you a steer on some better choices.

Tbh I have never heard of Northampton uni an the town is not the most exciting. IME there are unis in dullish places but which are themselves well worth attending (Lboro, Lancaster, Warwick); but there are also unis that are less highly rated but still pretty good, but that are in places that are exciting, busy, interesting - these might suit your DD better?

Under that head I would class Sheffield Hallam, Notts Trent, Leeds Beckett, City of Birmingham, UWE, Uni of Kent. There are others of course.

You don't say where you live tho and I infer that she is looking for somewhere close to home. If Northampton is close bc you are in the south, most of my ideas are a bit unhelpful. Kent is good tho if you are SE.

Btw I wouldn't class a two-hour open day trip as requiring a hotel stay necessarily (tho you may have other reasons for staying over); IME you can see all you need to see in a day from 10-3.

I really don't think Northampton is a dump. It's all relative to where you come from... certainly it has a lovely theatre (currently closed ...RAAC) and a county cricket ground.

I do think it's rather dull.

Northampton university is where a lot of the local students go and apparently it's pretty good,infact a friends niece who moved up to Nottingham really didn't get on there and changed to study at Northampton.
The town isn't great,it's a dump infact. Says alot when I prefer to have a coffee out in Daventry, but Milton Keynes is close and there are some really good pubs and places to eat,it's just the town centre and shops really are not great.