At Surrey, the social side is as good as the academic side. The Students’ Union is one of the largest in terms of the number of societies it runs and the active participation of its students. There’s a big sense of community. People like to get involved.

I’ve built up a good base of people I know across the University through the Students’ Union, through my department, and through accommodation. People say you make friends for life at university – it does happen.

I chose Surrey as my University as I loved the idea of taking a placement year in the middle of my course. Leaving university with a whole year's work experience puts Surrey graduates ahead of the pack in so many ways.

Being at Surrey has allowed me to be exposed to things that I don’t think I would have experienced elsewhere.

I was fortunate that Surrey has an excellent reputation and that my employer was looking specifically for a Surrey student – that, along with my involvement with the Student Law Society, enabled me to have access to a fantastic opportunity that perhaps I would not have found otherwise.

I love the range of different places to be able to eat. It is nice to try out new places and different types of food. The atmosphere is great and the campus always kept clean.

The campus is very safe to walk around and most products and services you might need are available on campus, like the Post Office, Laundrette, convenience store and Bookshop.

Surrey has played a massive role in shaping my future. I have gained basic knowledge of my subject and, along with the placement year, my final-year project and my more specialised lectures, I now know the area that I want to concentrate on and base my future career upon.

The facilities available to music students are fantastic. There is a dedicated music block where you can practice, a Mac lab where you can use the latest audio software, and studios where you can record.

The course allows me to choose a huge range of modules that interest me, whether it be dance music, jazz, sound art or film music. They are all taught by academic staff that are experts in their area. One-to-one tutorials give you feedback on your projects.

The class sizes are also small so it really feels like they are providing you with a personalised teaching experience.

You can see what I'm up to on my website

The best thing about my course is the flexibility. You can study a wide range of modules, focus on a specific area of music, composition, learn about the more traditional and historical side of music or learn about the technological side.

The facilities available to produce my compositions are plentiful and regularly updated. Anyone interested in making music, in any style, would be happy at Surrey.

Coming from Denmark, I hardly knew anything about universities in UK, so I made my decision by reading about the University, and receiving recommendations from other students through UCAS. I was very impressed with the excellent communication between staff and students, and the helpful responses I received from the very beginning.

I appreciate the variety of both permanent and guest lecturers throughout the course, as this gives the degrees more variety and pushes us to learn through various methods and different points of view.

For my professional training year I’m hoping to work with a theatre company or an entertainment company such as Disney to see the ‘behind the scenes’ world of the theatre.

My ambition is to become a director or producer, somebody involved in the making of theatre productions.

The Theatre Studies course offers a combination of practical and academic work which allows me to exercise skills essential for performing, analysing and writing.

I have been enjoying taking part in acting lessons and dance lessons in addition to learning the history of theatre, studying characters in plays and being part of a technical team for shows at Surrey.

In addition to all the new skills I am learning, I am developing my writing style and independent study through research in the subject.

Part of what you learn undertaking a creative writing degree is not just how to write, but how to investigate, be selective and self-critical. This task is never completed and I have learned to understand my style and my own ‘writer’s voice’.

The course is excellent at Surrey. Although demanding at times, it is extremely rewarding. Lectures are quite intense the first few years, it is definitely worth all the hard work. Although the programme means that some days you will be spending your afternoon in the library, I still manage to find time to join the swimming and water polo team, join the gym, and work in the Union, all of which take my mind off work!

I take part in Court Life Mentoring in Cathedral Court. A mentor is a friendly face that helps students to feel part of the bigger family that is the University of Surrey. We look after your general wellbeing on campus and are your first port of call if you have any problems, directing you to the massive care network on campus. 

I have had the best years of my life at Surrey.

The Department of Music and Sound Recording is well kitted out, with lots of large practice spaces and three excellent recording studios. The Department is also open 24 hours which means you can practice at any hour of the day! 

I love all the extra curricular activities you can do within the Department such as the Chamber Choir, Composer-Choreographer weekends and recording in the Department’s studios.

The private instrumental lessons are great too and the teachers are very helpful.

Involving myself with the University community has provided me with much opportunity for development.

Networking with other music students for ensemble opportunities and collaborations has allowed me to develop intra-personal skills, along with my participation in some of the many clubs and societies on offer.

The programme is so varied there is definitely something for everyone!

I would undoubtedly recommend Surrey to other music students – the opportunities for performing are particularly good, especially for recording experience due to the number of sound recording students in the department.

From a more academic aspect the modules are diverse and stimulating, and support is always offered if needed.

During my professional training year I worked for Nutricia, who own infant milk and food brands Cow & Gate and Aptamil. 

Working for the nutrition team, I developed my ability to translate my scientific knowledge into an understandable context for non-nutritionists/scientists.

The professional training year gives you a great advantage when looking for a job post-graduation as you gain basic skills that others may not have been able to develop yet, which employers find desirable.

As a languages student I split my professional training year between two very different locations; Brussels and Peru.

I spent six months in Brussels working for the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA). I was able to hone my translating and linguistic skills as well as learning about web design while restructuring parts of both the English and French websites. 

In Peru, I worked on environmental awareness projects with young children. It showed me that many people working together can pool limited resources and use ideas constructively to achieve their goal.

After the first year of university, everyone should be at the same level and you can then choose which modules appeal to you the most. Whether it’s mechanics or statistics that takes your fancy, there’s definitely a module available to further your understanding of the subject.

Being able to understand how people in the workplace are managed, along with learning about fundamental financial accounting and business finance, will enable any mathematician to apply logical thinking to a business situation.

While Surrey is placed highly in the league tables for Business Management, the main selling point of the University was the ability to have a placement with a company in the third year of the course.

Not only was this unique among the other universities that I applied to, students have previously been placed with big multi-national companies such as HP and Microsoft, with the prospect of being offered employment once you have completed the fourth year of your degree.

The most special and exciting part of the second year is choosing my placement for next year. One of the main reasons I chose Surrey is because of the high number of undergraduates in employment after graduation.

I am currently looking for placements both within the UK and abroad. With the excellent support I have had from my personal tutor and the Psychology Undergraduate Office in the past, I’m looking at America for a placement with confidence.

Surrey is a multicultural university and I am able to keep in touch with my cultural background celebrating Iranian New Year with friends of different backgrounds and cultures.

I do a lot of work with the Education Liaison department of the University. I am an outreach ambassador, involved in running sessions aimed at encouraging people to come to university.

Within this role, I work with a variety of people, from year 6 to year 12. It is a very fulfilling experience. My work with Education Liaison has improved my confidence and communication skills, as well as giving me links to other departments and opening up many more opportunities.

The first year of all business courses is standard for all students. This means by the end of Level 1, we all have the same knowledge level, so don’t fret if you’ve never done business or economics before!

We have regular lectures to prepare us for our year out, as well as CV assessment and interview help.

Surrey is top for graduate employment and is in a brilliant location for lots of the UK’s biggest companies. The School of Management has some really strong links with some of them, and they look to employ Surrey students.

One of the biggest appeals of the University of Surrey is that it is a campus university. I enjoy the feeling that you never have to leave campus yet you are only a ten-minute walk away from the centre of Guildford.

I loved the atmosphere so much that I took the opportunity to show UCAS applicants on tours of the campus. I had been in their shoes only twelve months earlier!

Now, I am proud to be a Student Ambassador for Surrey.

Medical Engineering is challenging because the application of engineering is being applied within the human body, in patients who may have suffered from severe illnesses or been in life-changing accidents.

The mechanics of the human body have to be studied carefully. The job requires a lot of patience and hard-work, as it is the combination of both medicine and engineering.

Solving difficult problems and undertaking major research are key elements of medical engineering.

On a typical day, I could be lectured in physiology, take part in a dietician-patient role play, give a vitamin presentation to my class and then carry out food analysis in the lab.

I am now looking forward to my placement year in the food industry. Applying for my placement has been an exciting and (almost) stress-free process, thanks to Surrey’s guidance and support.

The varied modules, teaching styles and assessment modes of Surrey’s well respected Nutrition course have maintained my enthusiasm and motivation, helping me to achieve academically.

Assignments come once a week to once every two weeks and vary in size and difficulty, but there are tonnes of books in the library to help, lecture notes on ULearn and academic papers to read through.

The lecturers are always at the other end of an email and have dedicated office hours to helping, so there’s always someone there to help if you really get stuck.

I believe that a student doesn’t need to finish university only with a degree, but also with proper life experience. Employers are looking for skilled and professional individuals that stand out of the crowd and for this, a degree alone is insufficient.

From an academic perspective, students have all the learning facilities they need, including computer labs and a well-organised library.

Most importantly, there are plenty of opportunities to enhance your employability skills by getting involved with different activities from volunteering to a multitude of societies and events.

Living in campus accommodation has been a most valuable cultural experience for me. I learnt to adapt, socialise and foster life-long friendships with students from other nationalities.

Every day at the University of Surrey, new opportunities are unveiled. I am glad that the University has taught me to recognise, grab and pursue every opportunity that comes by.

Business Management is very interesting and keeps the topic alive for people that have already studied business, as well as those who haven’t. The work is a challenging mix of critical thinking and reading textbooks to get to the heart of what the lecturer was talking about!

I have a keen interest in sailing and is something that I thought about when choosing a university. As a Laser sailor and assistant instructor at my local club, I thought I would take time to get involved with the University club.

To my great delight, I joined the club, love the people and the boats and am actually now the Club Captain!

As an international student from Nigeria, Surrey is a long way from home but the University’s warm and welcoming environment has made me miss home less.

The University of Surrey is ranked top of the list when it comes to hospitality and tourism and they definitely do it well.

We enjoy practical experiences like travelling to another country for a specific module in tourism, visiting five-star hotels in London, and working in a real restaurant on campus.

The course at Surrey has been amazing. There is a fabulous variety of modules, all of which vary in assessment. As exams have never been my strong point, I have been able to pick course-work based modules. Some of these modules require group working.

Group work is something I never experienced much until I came to university. I really enjoy taking part in group work, whether being the leader or a member of the team.

It has really helped my confidence and has been a great way to meet new people.

The first year of Business Management was fairly straightforward and I felt there was not too much of a jump from sixth form college to university. All the modules were compulsory and covered all the basics of business management, so those who had previously not studied business could catch up.

Assessments were varied, from group coursework to individual assignments to 100% exams. It gave everyone with different learning styles the chance to succeed.

Having seen a lot of the world, I still felt the place for me to study was Surrey. I fell in love with the campus after my first visit – it is such a beautiful place.

Graduating from an American high school made it difficult for me switch from the American system to a British educational education system. The staff at Surrey were very understanding. They helped me find a course I was interested in.

The support I received made me sure that Surrey was the place for me.

Mathematics with Business has been an extremely interesting degree. The course is made up of financial business modules, including accounting and financial management, and mathematics modules, such as algebra and calculus-based topics.

The course can be extremely demanding and difficult, however the Faculty has offered excellent support when I’ve needed it.

Involvement in ad-hoc analysis, writing macros and producing reports helped me learn a huge deal during my placement. This knowledge will put me in a good position when I apply for a graduate role. 

I would highly recommend a placement year to everyone.

I am in my final year, studying Civil Engineering. I chose this degree because I want to make a change in people’s lives, by helping to reconstruct and develop countries. This can be quite challenging when you are dealing with real life situations.

Surrey has played a great role in finding me a placement year with a great company. Hopefully my experience at Jacobs will give me the edge to find a graduate job. 

I am really excited about life after graduation and look forward to getting involved in the industry and developing economies.

The academic tutors at Surrey are extremely knowledgeable and supportive. They are very approachable and always happy to assist with any questions or concerns you may have.

I have even attended extra-curricular lectures that are offered to students to expand knowledge around the subject areas. There are incentives to excel academically, such as the scholarships offered to students who achieve high marks in their subject areas.

It definitely spurs you on when you have a lot of work to do!

My programme allows students to combine creativity with engineering discipline to achieve unique results to a problem. 

This degree offers such a solid engineering base that the skills you learn can be readily transferred between industries. I am currently applying to several graduate programmes from companies ranging from the MOD to financial houses based in London.

I am also applying to audio engineering firms but the breadth of the degree offers comfort in not being tied to a particular industry.

The lecturers at Surrey always offer me fantastic hands-on knowledge of how the world works beyond the borders of the campus.

The high level of freedom I enjoy extends to my composing too. Weekly concerts and prestigious competitions make getting new music played much easier than one would think.

I would not hesitate to recommend this university to anyone who is considering music seriously as an undergraduate course.

Surrey is the only university that offers a placement year with a law degree. Practising lawyers I had spoken with said a year’s experience in industry is absolutely invaluable. 

Alongside my degree work, I am the Student Law Society’s Mistress of the Moots. This means that I organise all of the University’s mooting competitions, both internally and externally. While this is a lot of extra work, it provides a huge amount of satisfaction as well as bringing me into contact with a large number of law students, staff and practising lawyers.

I am an international student but I did my A levels in the UK, so I was familiar with the culture before I started university life. I always have the support of the University and all the staff are very friendly and helpful, particularly with finding my placement.

Surrey’s Chemical Engineering programme is ranked highly in league tables. The lecturers are very supportive and helpful. As future chemical engineers, we get the chance to obtain a hands-on experience as we deal with real-life problems instead of just learning theory.

As well as having a top-notch education, the Surrey student body have a vast amount of societies to choose from. I am a member of the Music and Drama Society, also known as MadSoc.

Every week, we have workshops to sharpen our stage skills. We also get the chance to meet some important figures in the drama and theatre world for free.

Not only have my language skills developed but also my communication skills, confidence and the ability to work within a team. Other modules in the first year include the history of the country and its culture and society.

Surrey has great links with foreign companies, so the placements on offer in the third year of study are of an excellent quality. 

A Surrey graduate CV will stand out from all the rest when it comes to first-hand experience.

The University’s wonderful free language programme has enabled me to learn Chinese; something I have always wanted to do. Now I am attending these intensive classes for free and I can practise with my Chinese flatmates. 

I adore Surrey for its truly vibrant and international environment, with plenty of events every week and chances to meet people from all over the world.

Getting to know different cultures stimulates me and expands my horizons.

Journalism has been my passion since I was in school and pursuing it in university seemed like the right path for me. Now, as the Features Editor on the University student newspaper, The Stag, I get to meet a lot of interesting people.

I enjoy this role because I can develop my writing skills and help other people to write as well.

My favourite aspect of the course is the diversity of material taught at Surrey and the flexibility of the tuition. 

I would recommend Surrey to prospective students interested in studying mathematics due to the high teaching standards stimulated by regular student feedback, which is encouraged at all times.

As the President of the Maths Society at Surrey, I would advise students to join societies. It is a great way to meet new friends. I am a keen footballer, playing six-a-side in one of the top leagues in Guildford, as well as appearing for Surrey Mathletic the Surrey Maths football team.

There is such a great feeling on campus, whether it is charging across the rugby pitch at the Surrey Sports Park or catching up on some study by the lake. It was a big decision to come to university but the lecturers here helped me realise my potential. 

Next year, I will be on Professional Training on a nature reserve in Canada. The world really is my oyster.