thumbs up for Paisley University! (University of Paisley in general)

Member Name: unnameable

Product:	University of Paisley in general
Date:	16/01/04 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wide choice of courses & departments, great student union, part time programme

Disadvantages: Paisley!, reputation

Currently studying a part-time BSc degree in Computing at Paisley University (paid for by my employers - lucky ain't I?).

As I only have experience of the Paisley Campus I cannot fully comment on the other two.

History:

Founded in 1897 as a centre providing purely vocational courses. Degree courses were introduced in the early 1900's and finally University status was granted in 1992 (the university was previously known as Paisley Polytechnic).

Currently Paisley has an excellent reputation for innovation and graduate job prospects (down to the fact that many courses are work oriented). Although it sits very low in so-called 'league tables' of universities, this really doesn't give an accurate rating. This university is one of just a few in the UK which is willing to let just about anyone improve their education. They are not overly strict with entry requirements, and are very flexible with your study needs. All these positive factors add to the reduced standing in the league tables sadly.

Location:

Spread over three seperate campuses; Paisley, Dumfries, & Ayr. Most courses tend to be available at all three.

Focusing on the Paisley campus at which I am studying, it is situated right at the heart of Paisley town centre which makes it very easily accessible by car, train, bus etc. Also there is plenty of parking on campus which makes things easier for lazy people like me who drive the mile and a half in for my evening and weekend classes!

Facilities:

I cannot fault the IT facilities. The university is literally full of computers and helpful computing staff. Rooms upon rooms of machines. The broad range of IT modules available to part-time students truly is outstanding (many more available to full-time students)

Also, the university is very engineering focused and as such has excellent facilites and a huge range of courses and modules in engineering subjects.
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The extensive library is very easy to use, and also has excellent computing facilities upstairs. The online library index is a great tool in hunting down those obscure books you decide that you cannot live without!

Now the important one.... the Students Union. The brand new building which houses the Students Union is a work of art in itself. The bar upstairs is huge and very very cheap (bonus!). There is a wide range of clubs and activities organised through the union, which are advertised all over the campus.

Courses:

The University comprises seven schools: Information & Communication Technologies, Engineering & Science; Education; Media; Social Sciences; Health, Nursing & Midwifery and the Paisley Business School.

Each of these seperate schools provides a range of courses and modules to suit anyone, from someone wanting to get a degree, to someone just wanting to do a single module out of interest.

Also available are home study courses such as the ECDL (European Computer Driving License), as well as further modules available at higher levels.

Summary:

I have found the course lecturers (so far) to be very informative and understanding, as well as excellent at helping those students that need that extra little push to succeed in their chosen courses.

Exams and coursework have been well planned, and fit in well with the lecture material and literature that was recommended at the beginning of the particular modules.

Altogether I would say this is definitely a university to cinsider if, like me, you want to study outside normal hours, or maybe even if you want to study somewhere that little bit different (and a smidge on the scary as hell side).

Contact details:

Paisley: University Direct (for all enquiries) Freephone 0800 027 1000

Website: www.paisley.ac.uk

for part-time courses visit lifelonglearning.paisley.ac.uk

Paisley campus
Uni
versity of Paisley,
Paisley
PA1 2BE,
Scotland,
Tel. +44 (0)141 848 3000

Dumfries campus
Crichton University Campus,
Maxwell House,
Dumfries, Scotland,
Tel. +44 (0)1387 702060

Ayr campus
Beech Grove,
Ayr.
KA8 0SR
Tel. +44 (0)1292 260321


Thanks for reading

Marc

Summary: