Universities in the UK have high standards of learning facilities for all of their students. These include general facilities such as libraries and computers and also specialist facilities for particular academic disciplines. You can expect that you will have access to a well-stocked library with up-to-date books and journals in your field, and to a computer network that includes on-line learning services and access to the internet. Many programmes now make use of virtual learning environments, which means that you can access resources for your programme, communicate with tutors and other students and find details of teaching sessions, notes and assignments through the computer network. It is now very common for access to the network to be available from student rooms in halls of residence or through wireless technology.
You can also expect good facilities for the study of your subject or programme, whether this involves laboratories, specialist technical facilities or simply teaching rooms and lecture theatres. However, this varies from university to university and from programme to programme in detail, so you will need to check through prospectuses and the website to find out exactly what the facilities are really like.
Study accommodation refers to the facilities within the university that are available to postgraduate students. Once again, this will vary between universities.
For Masters level students few universities will provide you with your own dedicated desk/workspace or computer, and you will be expected to use the general study facilities of the university – workstations, libraries, study areas etc. Some academic departments may have shared rooms equipped for Masters students to use with suitable study and ICT facilities and, possibly, some social facilities, but this is quite rare. This means that you should identify from the prospectus, the website and perhaps from student publications or independent guide books what the study facilities are like for Masters students.
For Doctoral students the study facilities will probably be somewhat better. In many cases full-time research students will be provided with their own desk and, probably, their own or a shared computer, probably in a shared office or open-plan area. This is because research students are often regarded as being almost part of the academic staff of the department and so have access to facilities similar to those for full academic staff. However, the exact arrangements vary between universities and often between departments and disciplines within the same university – so you need to check the information in the prospectus or on the website.
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