What’s your favourite campus university and why?

[Blueisbetter]

Just that really. I’ll start off by saying York - two lovely campuses and very close to the city so not isolated. I am biased though coz DD is there!

Nottingham followed by Birmingham. The new(ish) York one is nice too, is it Heslington?

Exeter

DD is starting at Stirling in September and it is indeed lovely.

I was at Stirling many years ago.

It is a fantastic setting

Yes it really is, and the area around it - beautiful buildings and the Botanic Gardens as well.

I've not been around that many university campuses; Exeter is nice although hilly, York is nice (not sure where the PP's hills came from as it is flat), Warwick is a bit of a concrete maze but I have only been there on grey days in the winter. Royal Holloway has a fantastic building. Reading has a nice campus too.

Not been to Stirling but I know it has a parkrun on site, so it must have some amazing parkland to run in.

The newer bit is Campus East (which also has its own parkrun - which is Heslington parkrun).

Stirling. Has a wee loch, castle, golf course. Woods and the Ochils at the back.

I like UEA - the 60s brutalist architecture is striking, the grounds are well kept, lovely lake, a park and sculpture scattered around associated with the Sainsbury Centre within the site. And rabbits - lots of rabbits 😁

Agree Nottingham and Kent are nice. Didn't like Reading or Birmingham though.

Warwick is nice but nothing compares to Stirling for me...beautiful campus with great facilities, loch, castle, wildlife, near countryside but also within easy reach of big cities. I used to open my curtains in the morning to see the Wallace Monument rising out of the mist. Wonderful!

From our open days over the past year:
Exeter - gorgeous grounds and views. Buildings fine but nothing special. Hilly

Bath - Nice grounds but buildings very ugly and concretey

Loughborough A bit non-descript

Nottingham. Lovely grounds on main campus but Jubilee campus was soulless.

Southampton -Meh

Birmingham (ds and my favourite) Good mix of new and old attractive buildings. There has been a lot of investment in the past few years at the campus and it shows. The middle area of the campus was lovely and seems to be a real focal point that the other Unis lacked.

I’ve visited a lot of universities for work purposes and I think a campus university has different levels of appeal depending on the weather. First time I ever went to Nottingham university it was absolutely chucking it down and it was much less appealing walking for half an hour across campus than it was 20 years later when I went for a drinks reception at a conference in the early evening sunshine.

Reading is lovely. It’s the grounds of an old estate with some amazing planting, you can walk into “non University” easily (compare eg with Keele that is miles from anywhere), and has lots of things in site. But I’m really glad I went to a city based University with bits of real life between univeristy buildings.

Stirling

University of Kent, really good facilities and range of accommodation and it’s very near to beautiful Canterbury.

Winchester is fabulous!!

I also found Jubilee Campus at University of Nottingham soulless but they are building more on there, hopefully bring some life to it. Their Sutton Bonington campus was lovely. I had a vet school tour and saw the animals, very nice.

Their Kings Meadow Campus is quirky. It's an old TV centre for Central Studios and like stepping into the past.

The best UoN campus is University Park. Well maintained, beautiful grounds with a mix of old and new buildings.

Edgehill campus lovely lake and woodland nice gym and the library has a rooftop area with fantastic views

Reading is beautiful - the Harris Gardens, Foxhill House. Some of the new identikit residential halls should never have got through planning though.

Lancaster was bloody awful when I went - a concrete wind tunnel.

UEA... simply beautiful.
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Just kidding, it's a total eyesore but a great uni nonetheless. And the lake is nice!

Another vote here for Nottingham!

York is nice (not sure where the PP's hills came from as it is flat)

The part behind the library is built on quite a steep slope.

York’s original campus (Hes West) has awful concrete buildings everywhere so on a grey day it looks miserable, but on a sunny day the lake and grounds are lovely, especially over by Heslington Hall, and there’s lots of waterfowl.

Best campus - Swansea, mainly coz of the beach!

worst - Lancaster.

I've never been to a university campus and now I feel like I'm missing out!

I love Nottingham and Stirling now but as a student I wanted an inner city experience!

Purely on the way it looks, Bangor

Exeter