As mentioned from my previous post, I am now working on an app called Unibuddy to answer people questions as part of the ambassador job. In the following, I selected 10 frequently asked questions.

How to apply to University of Surrey?

For undergraduate degree courses, you can only apply through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. You can find more information here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/apply/undergraduate/how-to-apply-through-ucas

Please be reminded about the UCAS deadlines. 29 January is the application deadline for all courses, except for veterinary medicine and science which has a deadline of 15 October. 30 June is our final application deadline. After this date, we’ll consider applications for Clearing. On 25 February UCAS Extra opens. If you have used your five choices and do not hold any offers, or you have declined all your offers, you can now add another university of your choice.

You can apply for a postgraduate taught or postgraduate research course at Surrey using the online application form. Here is the link for postgraduate application.

One more reminder especially for international applicants, there is English language requirements for different courses and students are expected to apply for a Tier 4 (General) student visa. Once you have been offered an unconditional place on one of our programmes, we will issue you with a reference number called a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). You will need to enter this number on to your visa application. You can search the entry requirements here.

Good luck to every applicants and hope to see you soon in Surrey!

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What is Professional Training Years (PTY)? What is the advantage of taking a placement year?

There are courses with PTY opportunities available which allow students at Surrey to work in the UK or abroad for up to 12 months between the second and third year undergraduate study. If you are interested in doing PTY, please be reminded to extend your visa into course with ‘sandwich’ year.

There are more than 2300 national and internal placement partners from the university-operated job-search website Surrey Pathfinder. Surrey will support and give advice to students throughout the whole application process. It is a valuable opportunity for students to experience in a real-life working environment. This helps students shadow and understand their career path while improving their employability. You could find out more information here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/professional-training-placements

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How will the course be delivered for the coming academic year?

Teaching will be delivered through face-to-face tutorials, seminars and laboratory sessions, supplemented by online delivery, including all lectures. It is expected for all students to return to academic activities from 28^th September.

There are only two exceptions which would allow students to complete online learning only, outside of the usual process for students who are not able to engage in their studies for a limited period, and this would only be for the period where these exceptions persist:
1. If you have symptoms of Coronavirus or you are being asked to self-isolate due to any Government track-and-trace initiative.
2. Where travel restrictions in the country or local lockdowns in a region of the UK that you are currently living in, mean that you are unable to travel to get to campus.

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How is Guildford town? How is your student life in Surrey?

You can find everything you need in the Guildford town with ease. There are supermarkets like Waitrose, Sainsbury and various restaurants. It is really convenient to just take a train to surrounding cities like London, Reading, New Malden.

I like the environment at Surrey where there is lots of greenery, not like a concrete jungle. Teachers and staffs are helpful to give guidance and advice to students. There are lots of supporting services for students like the personal tutor, mentoring service and more. I met my life-long friends and I had an enjoyable student life in Surrey.

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Is it easy to make friends at Surrey?

Yes, definitely! People are really friendly and I made life-long friends here. Also, there is a wide range of societies and sports team to join at Surrey. You can extend your social network and get along with people who share the same interest or background like you. At the beginning of the semester, students’ union organises Freshers’ fair for students to join the societies and try out different sports activities! Here is the list of the societies and sports team.

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How can I apply for university accommodation?

New students are identified as students who have not previously studied at the University of Surrey, at any level of study, including on a Foundation Course. They are guaranteed with university accommodation. The deadline for new undergraduate students to apply accommodation is 25^th July 2020, new postgraduate student by 1^st August 2020. You can start your application with this link ams@surrey.ac.uk. You are required to list your band preferences. Furthermore, special requirement can be provided when applying. Result will be released by mid to the end of August 2020.
If you have any questions please contact the Accommodation team at accommodation@surrey.ac.uk

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How is the accommodation?

Here is the list of university accommodation with attached video and floor map, sorted by bands.
What you expect:

• All courts, as we call the halls of residence at Surrey, are self-catering with shared kitchen facilities, except for the studio flats (Band F) at Manor Park.
• All rooms have broadband service and personal belongings insurance included in the rent.
• All rooms are fully furnished with a bed, desk and chair, reading lamp, bookshelf and storage for clothes
• Cleaning of communal areas, at least weekly
• All kitchens are equipped with cooker, oven, fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle, toaster, iron and ironing board
• Most flats are mixed gender but we do have single-sex flats in most courts
• All communal areas and bedrooms are non-smoking

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What types of jobs are available to students?

There are restaurants and shops in town for you to apply for a part-time job. You can also consider working as a student ambassador like what I did 😛 You will be responsible to assist students to know more about Surrey. For example, you will hold campus tours on Open Days and Applicants’ Days. You can check out more information about student ambassador here.

*One reminder to Tier 4 (General) student visa holder, international students can only allow working no more than 20 hours every week.

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How much do you spend every month?

For monthly expenditure like grocery shopping, transportation and hangs out, I normally spend around £300- £400. I will try to save money by cooking by myself than dining outside. There are quite a lot of student discounts when you do shopping! You can download the app Unidays for discovering more discounts promotion ~

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Is there any place I can do workout?

Yes! You can pay for a Surrey Sports Park membership or take interest classes from an array of sports societies to stay active. The Sports Park membership allows you to access the gym or to take part in classes.

Hope my answers help you guys understand Surrey better! See you guys soon!