University of Bristol

Overview

The University of Bristol has been around in some form since 1876. It originally existed as the University College Bristol before becoming the establishment we know it as today. Nowadays it is seen as one of the UK’s top universities and regularly rankly highly in uni league tables.

The city of Bristol is situated in the southwest of England and is the largest in the surrounding area. It’s known for its friendly atmosphere, quirky culture and independent nature. The main university campus sits in the heart of the city, making it a key part of its make-up.

It’s known to have a vibrant nightlife with plenty of pubs, music venues and nightclubs, as well as independent cinemas, theatres and comedy venues.

An active Students’ Union means there are over 400 clubs and societies to join, as well as various on-site facilities, including a pool and theatres.

Bristol is an easy city to get around on foot and by bike or bus and no journey within the city will be too taxing. There is an international airport and two well-connected train stations, meaning access to and from Bristol is good. You can get to London in around two hours for example. It’s also easy to get to Cardiff and to explore the English and Welsh coastlines, especially if you have access to a car.

The University of Bristol offers a wide range of undergraduate courses, making up both single and joint honours degrees, allowing you to tailor your studies to your interests. Single honours degrees give the chance to specialise in one subject, while joint honours programmes combine two or three subjects.

Joint honours often provide a broader level of learning. For example, it’s fairly common to study a humanities course, like history, alongside a language, such as French or Spanish.

The length of your degree depends on what you choose to study. Most social sciences and arts courses at Bristol, for example, take three years to finish, leading to a bachelor’s degree. Science and engineering courses, however, usually offer the choice of including an integrated master’s year which leads to the course lasting four years. Medical degrees like dentistry and medicine usually take five years to complete.

Many of Bristol’s courses include a year in industry, usually in third year, and some courses can involve a year spent abroad, either studying or working. In these instances, your degree length will be increased from three to four years.

All degrees include optional modules, as well as core modules, meaning you can study the degree topics you’re most interested in.

Bristol accepts several UK qualifications, such as A-levels, BTECs, Cambridge Technicals and the International Baccalaureate. The most common qualifications are A-levels and in general, Bristol’s standard requirement for undergraduate courses is three of them. If you’re applying with different qualifications, you’ll need the equivalent of three A-levels.

Many courses will ask that you’ve studied specific subjects. These can be found online in the university’s course details pages. For example, to study maths at Bristol you’ll need an A* at A-level (or equivalent) in maths and an A grade in another maths-related subject, like science or economics.

General studies, global perspectives and critical thinking are subjects that are not accepted as A-levels and therefore can’t be put towards an offer.

To study a degree in accounting, finance and business, you’ll likely need A-level grades of A*A*A*–BBB (or equivalent qualifications). For science and maths degrees, you’ll probably need A-levels of A*A*A*–AAB (or equivalent qualifications) and to study for a degree in the humanities you’ll usually need A*AA–ABB.

It should be noted that entry requirements can change so you should always confirm these with the university before applying.

You’ll find a range of accommodation options at Bristol uni that cater to different budgets and requirements. A number of the residences are situated in the heart of the city, giving great access to the university and everything Bristol has to offer.

All residences have a dedicated facilities team and the uni has its own security services team and police officer. The halls are split across three student villages – the North, East and West villages.

Rooms vary in size and facilities. You can choose from basic, standard and standard plus room categories and will have the choice between single-occupancy, en-suite, twin-occupancy and studios.

Most of Bristol’s halls of residence are self-catered, meaning you’ll have access to kitchen facilities and will prepare all of your own meals. It should be noted that you’ll have to bring your own pots, pans, crockery and cutlery in the self-catered options. If you don’t fancy having to cook for yourself, there are also catered accommodation options, providing two meals a day – breakfast and dinner during the week and breakfast and lunch at weekends.

If you don’t want to stay in halls, the uni will give you in-depth advice on how to go about renting private accommodation.

The University of Bristol has a careers service that supports its students and graduates in a number of ways. For example, it has several resources to help you explore different career options based on your degree. A specialised course is available to help you better understand yourself and what career is best for you.

The service’s sector guides and labour market information reports will help you learn about areas of work you might be interested in and there are plenty of resources to teach you about networking. The Bristol Connects service even allows you to connect with previous students to help find a mentor who’s been through it all already.

The careers service can also help you look for internships, part-time work and work experience while you’re studying at Bristol. This can give you valuable experience and help you find employment once you’ve graduated. The SME Internship Scheme allows you to find paid internships and the City Challenges programme sets students up to help work on real-life challenges in the local community.

As a student at Bristol, you’ll also be able to get plenty of support writing CVs, cover letters and job applications, as well as preparing for interviews and assessment days.

There are plenty of scholarships and bursaries available for students who meet the required criteria at Bristol, to contribute towards the payment of student fees and living costs. Scholarships and bursaries are given on top of student loans and provided directly by the university. They don’t need to be paid back.

Scholarships and bursaries can be awarded to students who excel in various areas, like academia, sports, music and drama. They are also given out based on personal circumstances, such as household income, background and geographical location.

Bristol’s Alumni Foundation music bursaries, for example, award up to £500 to talented musicians from outside the music department. The bursary is to go towards the cost of instrumental or singing lessons.

The Alumni academic achievement award is worth up to £1,000 and is awarded to the highest achieving first-year undergraduate students in each faculty. Eligibility for this funding includes being an undergraduate in your first year of study and being identified as an award-winner by your faculty.

Additionally, some scholarships and bursaries are available from specific subject departments. For example, the Blake Memorial Fund is worth up to £1,000 for students in the department of electrical and electronic engineering who are experiencing financial difficulty.

All scholarships and bursaries have their own eligibility criteria that must be met to receive them. You can find out more about the funding opportunities, and their eligibility criteria, on the uni’s online funding pages.