Sheffield University?

[Suffolker]

It doesn’t seem to crop up very often on here, so I thought I’d see what people’s experiences/opinions of it are.

We went to an offer holder’s day today. Dd has been offered a place for geography and seemed pretty impressed with the course/department. I’ve always thought of Sheffield as a great city, friendly and accessible. Cheap and plentiful accommodation, lively (but not too lively) and easy access to the beautiful Peak District.

Just curious as to why it doesn’t seem to get mentioned on here very often? Manchester/Leeds/Newcastle seem to be more popular. Interested to hear any views!

Im not sure as dc in y12 but is doing the access ro Sheffield course and we had the disability talk a few weeks ago. They quoted something like 25% of students having a disability that they have been made aware of.
They had a few students explain their difficulties and what Sheffield had put in place. I realise these will be the satisfied ones but they did seem to have a range of issues and different support. For example one had automatic extensions on all course work not to be used all the time but when needed but it saved the trauma of repeat requesting. One had no public speaking even in small groups and did large lectures online and not in person. One said about disabled accommodation being good.
The team we've met seem very approachable and said they assess before you get to uni so everything was in place when you start (better than where dc1 went and it wasn't sorted till second semester).

Feel free to message me.

My DD is on her internship year as part of her Bio med degree. So she’s back next year in Sheffield for her final year. She’s having the best time, course is full on but a good one. Lots of links to industry. The halls are nice and not too pricey and lots of decent properties for years 2&3. We live down south - she won’t be back . She’s a northerner now 😊

@SpottyAlpaca Have they learned to be so rude about other people from you? Or just picked it up at school and university? It’s appalling when you think about it. They need to be inclusive and friendly. Yes, Sheffield is not a great favourite of privately educated dc and it’s dc like yours who probably keep them away. It’s very sad and you should be ashamed. How would your dc like if if they were called state school twats? I guess they would not like it. What will they think of privately educated people at work? Will they even know? Maybe they need to grow up and be more mature around others. It’s utterly shameful.

DH did engineering at Sheffield. We have two privately educated “twat” daughters.

My daughter is studying geography at the university of Sheffield (about to do a year in industry in London come June) and my son is doing a masters there (Microbiology and Biotechnology). He also did his degree at Sheffield. My daughter changed to Sheffield after starting but not enjoying Exeter.

They both love it and are having a brilliant time. They are also both doing really well (son now applying for a PHD) and the geography lot have just returned from a week in Berlin. There seems to be enough night life and sport societies. And my geography DD loves the easy access to the peaks. I'm not sure my son will move back south unless he has to for work as he has twigged that you get more for your money up north and he likes the people - mind you he is dating a Sheffield native!

I also really like going there to visit them. I always enjoy the city. People are pretty friendly too.

No regrets from this end.

A friend of a friend studied geography at Sheffield, although it was a few years ago he absolutely loved it!

Haven’t RTFT but I’m also a Sheffield uni alum! Graduated over 15 years ago. Brilliant uni, made some lifelong friends and it does well in league tables.

It often gets awarded university of the year based on being a great all rounder - good for academics, strong union, nice friendly city etc

Fair point 😂 another plus in Sheffield’s favour. I didn’t have anything to compare it to but I did get the impression the student population was more down to earth than some unis. As a Scottish student I’d have struggled in somewhere like Edinburgh or st Andrew’s for example.

DS has certainly noticed a difference in that respect between Birmingham and Sheffield.

@Fishchipspeascupoftea could you tell me a bit more about the Access to Sheffield course, my DD is determined to go to Sheffield and is autistic. I'm a bit concerned about her ability to ask for help or acknowledge that she needs it. It would be good to have an idea of what support is available.

https://sheffield.ac.uk/schools/programmes

Details of access courses are here.

I did my undergrad and masters at Sheffield and am currently doing my PhD here too. The support from the disability service here is fantastic.

See the link that @AquaViper posted.
Its for y12/13. Need to fit the criteria and dc applied in the September of y12, had interview in October and then started the programme in January. They go to the University about once a month. They do a 6 week 1:1 mentoring, a couple of online information events, offer them access to uplearn (mine is doing a stem subject dont know if that affects what is offered). Then theres a two night event in July to experience University life. They're then offered a reduced offer (if applicable). In y13 I think its mostly academic support/writing ucas help etc.

Thanks @Fishchipspeascupoftea and @AquaViper the Access course looks brilliant, DD wouldn't qualify but it's great they do this. It looks like a more local scheme. DD wants to go to uni far away from home! It's a relief to hear the disability service is good.

My daughter did geography at Sheffield some years ago. At that time it outranked Oxbridge for the subject. She loved Sheffield and would happily have stayed in the area.

Sheffield does not outrank Oxford for anything. At least not in any respected table ! CUG - Oxford ranked 1, Sheffield a respectable 10. Entrance to Sheffield is much easier!

Back then, it did.

If course it's harder to get into an Oxbridge college. My DD interviewed at Cambridge but didn't get a place. But Sheffield was very much a leader in research etc back then.

Yes my DS’s GF has applied there for engineering and has an offer. Very highly rated but not decided yet what her firm and insurance is yet!

My eldest is at Sheffield studying Maths. He started off doing Mechanical Engineering, but quickly realised it was the wrong course for him and switched. He was around 6 weeks in and the uni let him as we had a death in the family as he started there so there was a lot going on for him. However, they then didn’t support him in any way to get caught up from those missed 6 weeks - he ended up failing his first year.

He made the decision to repeat the year and is now coming up to the end of his second year, and doing really well.

So on the whole we would recommend the uni but just be certain the course chosen is the one they/you want to do!

@saraclara I’m afraid I don’t believe you. That isn’t to say Geography at Sheffield is not decent and DH went there. It’s not Oxford though and obviously not as competitive for places - even back then!

Went with my son about 10 years ago to see the engineering dept. I really didn't like the vibe of the area around there. Loads of graffiti and vagrants. Found it quite intimidating for 10am. I didn't say anything as I didn't want to influence my son. However, when we got back on the train he said he didn't like the place and couldn't imagine living there.
Maybe it's changed in recent times but we were not impressed and he went elsewhere.

Eh? The uni is in a nice part of the (West) centre, Far less gritty than, say, Manchester. The area students live in is about as middle class as you can get.

Life expectancy in this part of Sheffield is 87 which signals considerable affluence. Hop a few miles over to East Sheffield and it drops to 77.

I love Sheffield and used to work there, would happily live there. I took Dd for an open day and she hated it, said it felt unsafe. Admittedly there was some junkie kicking off in KFC when we nipped in. She went to Manchester instead 🤷‍♀️🤣

Great attitude, cancelling 7% of the population. Some twats are state-educated.

We didn't go near the centre to be fair. Parked near the uni and then went to the accommodation.

Sheffield is where I was mostly brought up. It already has a lot to recommend it but there's more in the pipeline for the city centre: integrated public transport (about time) and e-bikes, an upgrade to The Crucible so it can continue to host the annual World snooker championships, the redevelopment of Castle Gate (markets, outdoor spaces), and Urban Splash redeveloping the former John Lewis store into a multi-use space.