Uni Is Not Just For the Young (at least at Kingston) (Kingston University in general)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Kingston University in general
Date:	08/08/05 (1831 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Evening classes, location, English faculty

Disadvantages: Daytime exams, expensive location, parking, Education department

Introduction
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Many, many years ago (back when the dead sea was still only sick...), I was 18. Like many 18 year olds, I went to university. A couple of years later, I was 20. And like many 20 year olds, I dropped out. I wasn't ready at the time for the commitment and hard work that a university degree requires.

Fast forward a whole bunch of years. Now, I was in my 20s. I had a toddler and a husband. And a yen to learn again. As I lived in South West London, I (not unsurprisingly) looked for part-time university courses within my local area.

Kingston University, in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey had a course that seemed to fit the bill. They called it Combined Studies, and it was specifically designed for 'mature' (don't you just love that word) students. The classes were in the evenings, and in the evening you could even park on campus (this is important - parking in Kingston is a real female dog).

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Introduction part II
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As mentioned just a paragraph ago, Kingston University is located in leafy Surrey. It is an ex-Polytechnic, given university status in, I believe, 1992. According to its website (www.kingston.ac.uk): "With about 14,500 students, it is the largest provider of higher education in south west London." (However, only around 1100 of those are part-time). So, it's new, and it's big.

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Structure of the Course
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The course was called Combined Studies - this implies an element of combination. You studied two subjects - either as a major/minor or as a joint degree. At the end of it, if you completed all the required credits, you receive either a BA or a BSc (depending, of course, on what you studied). Depending on how many credits you chose to complete, you could receive this either with or without honours. There are also intermediate qualifications for completing 'levels' (equating to years full time - i.e. Foundation Level is one year full time - usually two part time, Intermediate would be two years full time, possibly four part time and so on).

Halfway through the five years it took me to complete my degree (I had exemptions, since I had studied in university before), the Combined Studies course was merged into the Faculty of Human Sciences, I think it was called. This meant that the choice of courses in the evening was severely curtailed, and that all exams now took place during the day. This did not make me happy, and I did complain, but to no avail. Still, I finished.

So, each year, I forked over around £500 (in my first year, I only paid around £200 because both my husband and I were unemployed).

So, having chosen to study English Literature 'with' Education, I was on my way to a BA. (The 'with' means that I majored in English and minored in Education).

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What This Review DOESN'T Cover
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Well, remember the words 'mature' and 'part-time'. I won't be discussing the night life (I'm not a clubbing gal, myself), nor the student union, nor the halls of residence. None of these came into my sphere of awareness, as it were. Depending on the year, either I drove to uni from home after spending the day with my daughter, or drove to uni from work. Then I drove home (occasionally stopping at The Spring Grove pub on the way - it's behind the Penrhyn Road campus - nice Youngs pub).

I am completely unqualified to discuss Kingston's sporting facilities - I am not sporty - I avoid all forms of exercise, and I was, I repeat, an evening part time student. The sporting facilities never impinged upon my consciousness.

I am not going to describe every campus in detail - I only attended two of the four of them, which I'll describe briefly. However, I never attended either Knights Park or Roehampton Vale, so I know absolutely nothing about them.

Nor am I going to discuss Kingston town centre, except to say that it has a large, pedestrianised shopping centre with a large mall (The Bentalls Centre), a few pubs, a nightclub (never been), and restaurants. It's basically an upper-middle-class shopping precinct, complete with a Costa Coffee and LOTS of bookstores. There are good transport (bus and train) links to and from Kingston (both to London itself and to other suburbs). There are three large parks not far away - Richmond Park, Bushy Park and Hampton Court Park. They have deer. And trees. And other park stuff. Enough said. I'm not a tour guide!

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Campus - Penrhyn Road
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This is the main campus. It's big. It's concrete. It's ugly. It's on Penrhyn Road (a ten to fifteen minute walk to the town centre). This is where I studied English Literature. It has a canteen, which I rarely used. This is because they had a coffee bar specifically for mature students, graduate students, faculty and staff. No youngsters. You got real ceramic cups and plates. There were comfy chairs. I got coffee there before class.

The classrooms, are, well, classrooms. That's what they look like. Which is just as well.

Course - English Literature
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The English Literature portion of my degree pleased me for the most part. I felt I got a good education, mostly with caring tutors (some part-time, some tenured). Foundation English Lit included an introduction to drama, an introduction to poetry, and an introduction to the novel (you only had to take two of the three - I skipped the novel). After that, you could choose from narrower fields - amongst others, I took a Shakespeare class, Romantic poetry, Post Modern poetry, and critical issues. I thought Fictions of Appetite was silly (don't ask!)

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Campus - Kingston Hill
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The Kingston Hill campus is pretty - it has trees and grass and halls of residence. It's the one that appears on brochures, as it LOOKS like a campus.

Course - Education
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Here is where the education faculty is situated. I would like to point out, that the education portion of my degree was NOT teacher training. It does not claim to make you a teacher. What it was supposed to do is give you an insight into English education - the laws, theory and practice. It would be a preparation, if you wished it to be, for a PGCE.

However, I said it *would* be. I can't say enough about the education portion of my degree. It was awful. Truly awful. It was disorganised, badly staffed and badly run. Marking of papers seemed to be arbitrary, with no consistent standards.

I took Comparative Education. A lecture on American education was timetabled, labelled 'lecturer to be advised.' Oh, it was advised, all right. Ten minutes before the lecture was due to start, I was asked to lecture. Me. A STUDENT. For free. I did it, but what did I learn from it? Humph.

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What Did I Achieve?
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After five years (in July 1999), I came away with an Upper Second Class Honours Degree in English Literature with Education. In December 1999, I sat through the most boring graduation ceremony in history. For the privilege of attending my own graduation and inviting my family, I had to pay £16 a guest ticket, around £35 (I think) for cap and gown hire, another £35 for photographs, plus tube and train fares to and from South Bank. Humph again.

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What Do I Think?
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Despite my dissatisfaction with the Education course, and despite the ugliness of the Penrhyn Road campus, and despite the changing around nearly every year of the structure of the course (daytime exams, a reduction of modules offered in the evening, a change to the credit accumulation system yadda yadda yadda...), all in all, I'm glad I did it.

With ANY university - be it Harvard, Oxford or Kingston, you get out what you are willing to put in. I worked hard, and, for the most part, that hard work was rewarding and rewarded.

The staff was, especially in the English faculty, committed and knowledgeable. Most of them, anyway. I didn't always agree with their viewpoints, but many deserved, and got, my respect (the Education faculty is another kettle of fish).

So...do I recommend Kingston University for the more mature student? Well, yes and no. It IS a bit of a lottery - which faculty you get, which courses will be offered in the evening, what you choose to study. But, if you live in South West or West London, it offers a convenient, decent education. So it's up to you. Good luck!

Summary: As with any university, you get out what you put in. I am proud of my degree from Kingston.