UWTSD Applied Computing Blog

Rhys Hiscock is a recent graduate from Business Information Technology at Swansea Metropolitan University. He graduated with a 2:1 (Upper Devision) degree in 2013. Find out all about his university experience below!

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What is your name and what course did you study?

My name is Rhys Hiscock and I studied a BSc degree in Business Information Technology within the School of Applied Computing.

How easy did you find it to apply for your course of study?

I applied through using UCAS prior to the clearing period. I received a clear conditional offer from the university and was pleased with how fast and easy my application was assessed.

Did you do research on the university prior to starting?

Within college I took part on a tour of the Swansea Metropolitan Campus. This allowed me to have a brief idea of the environment I’d be studying in, and what resources were available. The tour was led by a very helpful member of staff who fully understood the position we were all in.

Why did you choose Swansea Metropolitan University as a place to study?

Originally it was due to the location of the University. I thought that I’d be able to access the university through public transportation routes. Another reason why I chose Swansea Met as a place to study was because it had a very wide selection of courses that had interested me. The open day that I had attended helped considerably with the choice of course I had ended up doing.

How long did it take you to complete this course?

I studied the course throughout three years.

Please can you outline the main positive points you believe are best shown within the university (e.g. Library):

The first main point of the university is the location of the University. When living locally it is easy to get too, and its proximity to the city centre allows students to visit the city centre when they have spare time. One other area that I believe is well delivered is information pertaining to the courses available. I was able to find out about the courses well and fundamentally found out that the courses were well suited to my skills. I gathered this information through open day experiences in which the staff members are very helpful. Finally the helpfulness delivered from the staff members is of a high standard. When starting my primary choice I had second thoughts however I spoke to my course tutor and they smoothly transferred me over to the course I wanted to undertake.

Please can you outline the main negative points you believe need to be further developed?

The university has recently implemented an SMS notification system, which allows staff to notify you about absences or changes to lectures. This was a problem I had before, however it has been solved well in my opinion.

In a short paragraph, please explain how the university resources and activities helped you to complete your course:

When there were times where I was unsure about anything, I would attend information days or ask staff directly about any help available. One example of this is the Project Day that was held at the end of my second year of study. Prior to the project day, I had little idea of what my main topic of research would be for my final year study. It helped me decide which type of study I would be doing, and what type of topic that I would like to do. Over the three years however, resources such as the computer systems and online databases allowed me to widen the research that I undertook for my assessments and final project.

In a summary please write a little statement that explains your experience at the University and whether you would recommend it to anyone in the future:

The first statement I would like to make is that prior to attending University I had a good interest in what I was studying with a clear career ambition. However throughout the degree my skills and interests have widened, opening up a wider set of career opportunities. After graduating my interests are now wider and I have a larger range of jobs that I am interested in applying for. As for looking for a graduate job, I feel a lot more confident in taking on a number of tasks and my confidence in some skills has been greatly improved. For example I would easily be able to prepare and present material to an audience, whereas before it would take me a bit longer to get used to the idea. I would definitely recommend study at Swansea Metropolitan University as it’s a small, friendly, fun and informative environment to learn in. In terms of having advice for potential students I would most probably say that the staff are there to help you; and that they are highly approachable when available. The staff understand you and your career interests whilst doing their best to teach and direct you in the correct direction.