Any experience of Cardiff, Sussex, Kent, Reading & Keele?

[SausageCrush]

Dd will be going to university in 2021 to study psychology and is frustrated by the current lack of open days.

She chosen the above 5 as they all include a placement year.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions or experience to share we would be grateful.

I went to Cardiff! Loved it!
Cheap accommodation, easy to walk between all the main places, Bute Park/the weir around the castle good place to hang out in good weather, generally felt very safe walking around at night, large student population, good train and bus links if you don't want to walk.
The welsh get pretty anti English during the rugby league but it's all in jest - never actually felt threatened by it.

My friend's daughter is studying Psychology at Sussex and loves it. Proximity to Brighton and the coast is lovely and the Uni has helped her enormously with some special health- related requirements she had.

We visited both Reading and Kent for DS2 for a different subject. Probably marginally preferred Reading as it seemed a bit more vibrant and access to London is good.

I loved Kent. Canterbury is a lovely, very walkable city. It's not great for bikes, or if you want a party city. I think there's on club in town and one on campus.

Keele is in the middle of nowhere, it's not called the Keele Bubble for nothing.

DS is at Cardiff and loves it. Great city (very green), cheap accommodation, very walkable. I also love it. Free prescriptions as well despite being English!!

My daughter studied Psychology at University of Sussex. Great course,vibrant campus and Brighton is a great place !!

Reading is pretty nice. Does University of South Wales not have a placement year?

I went to Cardiff (a lifetime ago!) and chose it as I didn't want to go to a campus uni. Loved (and still love) the city, how walkable it is, the green heart, and the sheer variety of cultural life

I went to Keele n loved it. It's on top of a hill with Newcastle under Lyme at the bottom of the hill. Liked that it was a campus but still close to town. Joint homies are available; academic year split into 2 semesters rather than 3 terms. Stil have all the usual uni holidays

Dd is at Cardiff and loves it, although she now says lush

I went to Keele and I loved it. Some of the best years of my life. To be fair we are now talking 20 years ago but it was a good university , decent accommodation (err well in the 3rd year, second year in my day was off campus and fresher halls were interesting but at least it formed friendships!) . It may have got better in terms of fresher halls.

Great two programme degree system that has come in very handy. Good extracurricular.

I went to Keele and studied Psychology there. I loved the fact I could pick two subjects - not sure if it’s still the case but the majority of courses were dual honours and it was great being able to study both with equal weighting. Lovely surroundings, I lived on campus my entire uni life. Close enough to transport links to get around. Great live music venues on and off campus. My one regret is not taking advantage of the amazing exchange program there. I had friends that did and got so much from it.

Keele feels like the middle of nowwhere but its 5-10 minutes on the bust from Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre. Ok, not the most metropolitan of places but I like it.

My experience isn't necessarily recent but funnily enough I did my undergraduate psychology degree at the University of Reading, my masters at the University of Kent and then my psychology doctorate in Cardiff. All three were good locations for uni and living in (I still live in Wales three years as we loved it so much here). Does your DD know if she wants a campus university, if so Sussex, Reading and Kent provide this, which can be a nice feel as an undergrad. Can she possibly travel to any of the cities (socially distancing etc) to at least get a feel for where she'd be living. In all honesty the content of degrees doesn't have much variation from one course to the next.

I went to Sussex, some years ago and loved it: great campus but also close to Brighton. Lecturers were all top of their field in my subject. DD went to Keele and absolutely thrived there. Great atmosphere, good supportive atmosphere and pastoral care. She loved the sports and the fact you can combine different subjects. She absolutely thrived there.

Keele is a very contained campus university which feels quite safe. Fond memories for me.

Ds1 is at Sussex, he loves the campus and proximity to Brighton

I went to Keele and loved it, it's a great university very friendly with great courses.

Wow, thank you all for your replies. It's great that they're all so positive! It hasn't helped to narrow them down, but definitely encouraged us to go on visits

DD went to Reading and had a fabulous three years. So much so that she's now relocating from her first grad job in Brum to go back to Reading.

DS is at Sussex and loves the Brighton lifestyle. Accommodation is expensive though. His 2nd year house share is £500 pm and this year's is an eye watering £585!

DD is currently at Reading and loves it. Close proximity to London (as previously mentioned). Accommodation is expensive there in my opinion. She is paying £550 per month for a room in a house this year, though she probably could’ve found something cheaper if she wasn’t so fussy!

I think dd is only paying about £350 in Cardiff. Really nice houses owned by the same landlord .There is a dodgy landlord in Cardiff that was featured on Joe Lycetts got your back. But DD has a lovely landlord

Cardiff is a capital city - it's a great place to study.

I know the Reading campus, it's very nice.

Brighton is obviously a great place for students too.

Canterbury is a lovely city.

Not been to Keele but it is finding its way onto ds' list as a possible insurance application, as it looks good but doesn't ask for impossible grades.

Sussex, Kent and Cardiff are in the top 20 in the Complete University Guide. Reading is 55 and Keele is 60. I would think seriously about putting these two above the other three based on rankings for a Psychology.

A key issue is who actually gets a training contract to become a psychologist from these courses. I’m assuming that by wanting a year out, this is the end goal. Very many psychology students don’t get anywhere near this but do of course get other grad jobs.

Often the best courses ask for the highest grades because they do attract people who will get the training jobs post degree. Bath for example is a good bet. So try and get the actual destinations of grads - how many actually become psychologists (or similar)?

Of these only Cardiff is RG. Posters don’t always like that but evidence shows RG grads earn more. Therefore if she needs an alternative job, Cardiff might be better.

Thank you all again for the replies.
We are planning some weekends away over the next few months!
Keep them coming - it's lovely to have so many opinions.