Any recent experiences of Sussex? Especially non-drinking and neurodivergent students

[Tuhafeni]

DD has all her offers in for economics and (in a bit of an about turn) she is seriously considering firming Sussex. She is autistic, non-drinking, Christian but gets on with all sorts of people and loves a dance and socialising.

There is so much she (and we) loved about the uni. The quieter, campus setting with beautiful surroundings is perfect for her and we really like the accommodation. She does not mind Brighton and I think a lot about the town will suit her, although she is not as keen on it as Norwich or York. The support services were really ‘on it’ in terms of the support they appear to offer. Lots of good opportunities for singing and an active CU. She also prefers the course at Sussex which allows focus on public policy and development economics (she is hoping to go into health economics and already has her eye on the York masters, but York is too far away for her undergraduate.)

I wonder if anyone has any recent experiences of Sussex University and how it has been for them. Especially for non-drinking but sociable students, and neurodivergent young people. I would love to hear any experiences to share with my daughter.

I wonder if anyone has any recent experiences of Sussex University and how it has been for them.
Ask Professor Kathleen Stock.

Friend’s son who doesn’t have additional challenges as such but still had a fairly awful experience of school, has absolutely flourished at Sussex, about to graduate and off to do a Masters elsewhere. I honestly think the non-drinking characteristic is more normal than not for that generation. So it’s a tick from me. Is she considering a year out? It was the making of my friend’s son - I would count the next few years as still Covid-affected and I think that time to mature is extra valuable for them.

Unfortunately, that was my first thought, too.

DS2 had Sussex as his Insurance for History of Art in 2021 and I am just so glad that his A level grades meant there was no question of not getting into his Firm choice, which was UEA.

This.

The campus authorities did little to stop a group (not all students) harassing Prof. Stock, letting off fireworks, and people being verbally attacked & physically intimidated if they tried to defend her. Some of the pictures & footage were awful - it was like stormtroopers on campus.

Sussex was fined half a million pounds for their lack of free speech on campus. A young gentle Christian might find the atmosphere all rather difficult.

My daughter is at Sussex. She doesn't drink or go clubbing. But she loves it there. She has made loads of friends and it seems that there is a lot of support for all students. There seems to be plenty to do with loads of different activities (she still goes to the bar as she enjoys playing pool).
It was definitely the right choice for her, she has made loads of friends and is loving her course. She will be moving off campus next year with flat mates and friends she has made. We recommend East Slope accommodation!@

@PermanentTemporary and @CakeIsMyFavouriteAndBest that sounds really positive.
She’s set on no gap year (although not a bad idea) and I think will be okay, it seems very supportive of more sensitive young people.
Good to know there’s a wide range of activities. We didn’t get much past chamber choir, show choir, CU, Quakers and the dog walking club on open day which was all she needed to know for it to feel positive from that point of view.
She liked the East Slope accommodation and it was very well maintained. She also likes that three years in halls is a possibility just in case she doesn’t meet potential flatmates.

Yes to this. And the University’s leadership has got a lot worse on gender and academic freedom since then.

Sussex Uni has very much swallowed the GI bug and is still in trouble for it.
I believe that they are still arguing against a free speech fine that was put on them.

Not Sussex but daughter currently at uni and on a medication which it's inadvisable -although not forbidden- to mix with alcohol.

When I asked if this would be a problem she said many of her friend didn't drink anyway and none of them would think of pressing alcohol on a student who didn't want it.

So hopefully that's the attititude at most places.

The lesson at Sussex is - pick your friends wisely and don’t get mixed up with the wrong students. Therefore I’d look at her ability to stay away from persuasive fellow students! Economics students might be less interested in GI politics but if she’s easily led and develops an interest in such matters, be very careful. I doubt the whole uni has any “atmosphere” but finding friends might be ok if she joins the right societies. Brighton has a lot to offer!

Mmm. I really don’t know why so many youngsters (including my son tbh) are so anti a year out. It did such a lot for me, I was a bit sad when ds didn’t go for it. It was far easier living away from home for study when id already done it for shorter less pressured courses and jobs. Also helpful to earn some money.

As for the gender stuff, I don’t believe Sussex is particularly worse than anywhere else if I’m honest. Whatever cohort of students was obsessively harassing Prof Stock will be long gone too.

@PermanentTemporary It’s not easy getting a job. They are delaying getting qualifications. They feel university offers more if work is not available. My DDs wanted to get on with it. However they had boarded so could live away very successfully and were mature.

We went to one of the Open Days there when there was a demo against Prof Stock several years ago. It was really scary and intimidating. DS (autistic and quiet) came out of the toilets and said the graffiti about climate change etc was pretty extreme and he'd be scared of saying the wrong thing to someone and getting cancelled even though he is generally inclusive and environmentally friendly. He couldn't get out of there fast enough. Also when we went to find the learning support people to talk to they were tucked away in a tiny corner away from the other stalls and went through a very generic checklist and didn't seem at all interested in DS's specific needs (he had an EHCP through school). So I was quite relieved to get out of there too.