The gym facilities are very good.

Lots of extra stuff for if you’re struggling in some of the lecture work

The place wasn’t that great

I'm in my first year at Loughborough university and it absolutely blew my mind. The atmosphere is incredibly friendly and the large campus breeds tight knit communities within halls and an opportunity to meet a huge number of people due to how large it is. The course is well taught and the lecturers are very professional, the committee run everything perfectly and the sports facilities are of course world class.

Several 24 hour computer suites with quality macs and PC's. Library has long hours and is open 24 hours a day during exam periods. It goes without saying the sports facilities are incredible and in a different league to any other university and most institutions of any kind.

The wardens and subwardens of your halls act as the first layer of support and are friendly and approachable even at 4am when you've lost your keys. The student committee's and exec teams are also available as well as a lot of pastoral care options. I have to admit I haven't really used them much. In terms of learning support there are centres to improve your maths/English which you can attend and lecturers are helpful and in continual contact with you through email/forums.

Easily the best Student Union I have ever been to and from what I can tell the best in the country by a stretch. Loughborough is a small town so a good student union is key to nightlife and Loughborough doesn't fail to impress. With 3+ nights on a week and the infamous DBE's 3+ times a semester the student union has given me the best nights out of my life. The major complaint would be the bouncers. I still gave 5 stars as I didn't want to misrepresent how good the student union is but the bouncers are disgraceful. They will kick you out claiming without reason when they're bored. They are rude, violent and threatening. One night a bouncer knocked my phone out of my hands as I got it out to record him threatening me and pushing/dragging me to a secluded area away from my friends. There is absolutely no point in complaining because they all just back each other up. The majority are friendly but its the loud (angry) minority who always get involved and even the head bouncer will not take your complaint seriously. They have a lengthy official complaints procedure which involves sitting in front of a student committee so the bouncers know they can get away with small things, be wary of them and stick with friends and if they kick you out go home. Once again despite all this I'd reiterate what a great union it is and even shoddy bouncers couldn't ruin it.

It's a small town and the locals haven't got the best reputation, however there are around 5 or so clubs which all give a good night. Rest assured they'll be a club open on every night you want to go out, even Sundays. The town itself has a surprising number of decent shops, but it obviously can't compete with cities of course.

Huge number of clubs and societies. Obviously there are a lot of sports ones but there are also societies for just about anything else. They are well advertised and easy to join and all the ones I signed up for were very welcoming. A lot of the activities are a lot cheaper than doing it outside of university.

The course is well structured and plenty of help is offered. The lecturers vary in style and the only complaint I could make was that one module was taught in a very lazy way. We (as a whole class) had to present the majority of lectures to our peers and then mark our classmates abilities in presenting. I felt that this was a lazy way to teach the module and the lecturer gave irrelevant feedback leading me to believe he was essentially dossing off for a semester.

The job prospects for my degree are of a very high standard and was one of the reasons I came to Loughborough. It has strong links with a lot of huge companies - for example a housemate studying business has just had an interview with Goldman Sachs before he's halfway through his first year. The university work hard to make sure you always have plenty of information on job prospects with weekly emails outlining available positions. This coupled with their highly rated placement program makes Loughborough one of the best, and probably the best non-russel group university for job prospects.

The range of accommodation is superb and you can find a room to meet any needs/wants you have. I would recommend Faraday halls but whatever hall you end up in you will love it (as long as it's not Royce!)