30,823 discussions, 145 guides
Bradford University
30,823 discussions, 145 guides
Bradford University
University of Bradford
Richmond Road
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD7 1DP
Tel: +44 (0)1274 23 23 23
E-mail: enquiries@bradford.ac.uk
1966
Ramair
Ramair is the longest established student radio station in the U.K. It runs 24 hrs on AM and has a very open policy. There is a variety of music, chat, news and competitions. All students are welcome to contribute, as long as their material isn't offensive.
Scrapee
The charmingly titled two-weekly magazine is full of news and current affairs, there are a number of features and reviews as well as sports results and competitions. It is very political and acts as a point of coordination for union campaigns. New Talent is always welcome.
Ram
This is a twice weekly newsletter that details union ents. It also has a property section where students can flog their wares. The policy is 'anything as long as its not nicked.'
There is a plan in the offing to outsource the running of union bars. There are also plans for a café bar in the main Richmond building foyer. Both of these measures are financially motivated.
Roland Boyes MP - Labour MP
Ann Taylor MP - Labour MP
Richinnyam Amarjargal - Former PM of Mongolia
John Hegley - Poet and Broadcaster
Luccio Buffone - Presenter Galaxy Radio
Ifem Onuora - Footballer
Quite a few other Labour MPs
Bradford University has three sites: Richmond is the main one and has most of the bars and ents. The Laisterridge Lane site is for health related courses and Emm Lane is the location of the School of Management.
Richmond - Main Campus The Students' Union is in the Communal Building and there is also a bar in the Richmond building. JB's, in the Communal Building is the main SU bar. It has a relaxed atmosphere and is popular with the sports teams. It has recently undergone a refurbishment and has an outside courtyard that is well-used in the summer months.
Below JB's, in the Communal Building, is a venue called Escape which is open on Monday and Tuesday nights for Brown Sugar (Monday - R&B, hip-hop and Raga)and Club Soda (Tuesday - pop and chart music). The rest of the week it can be booked by DJs or clubs and societies for small events, a facility that proves quite popular.
The main SU venue, though, is Colours/The Basement which is also in the Communal Building. It has a capacity of 1300 and hosts the main attraction of the week - FND (Friday Night Disco) - with its adjoining bar Colours. This is a very popular night with students in search of cheap drinks.
Biko, in the Richmond Building, is basically a standard bar, that also sells coffee and light snacks from 11 am, it is the only Students Union bar to be listed in CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Good Bar Guide.
On the whole, the Students' Union suffers quite badly from local competition. The West End district of Bradford is close by and there are stacks of good bars and clubs to visit.
Big nights take place at the weekend and the basement of the Communal building is the venue. Friday night is disco night and you can expect all of your favourite cheese classics. This is a very popular event, especially with freshers. Saturday is more alternative with indie and rock being the order of the day. Wednesdays are good as sports teams celebrate or drown their sorrows. Most will start in a union bar and then move on to local drinking spots such as Pickwicks and Lingards. There is also comedy and and a quiz night in Biko Bar, although they are not always on the same evenings each week. The rest of the week is a bit sparse really as the union cannot compete with the life that the city has to offer.
The Colours dinner in March is the biggest event of the year. Term ended last year with a spectacular Beech Party - 45 tons of sand covered the floor in the Amphitheatre, students abused a bouncy castle, there was live music, various other entertainments and some serious BBQing. Other functions are run by the union and clubs and societies in partnership.
All the usuals (over 70) and a cult TV society. Surely The A-Team and Quantam Leap must feature?
Hmmm, lets think about that... Sorry! Don't know.
Of those who want it: 100
The University accommodation is adequate, but expensive when compared to the local area. There are quite a range of rooms, with basic, en-suite, off-site, final year and postgrad all on the menu. All the halls are self- catering and a small number of rooms are available for disabled students. The set up is mainly single study bedrooms (some with washbasins) and shared bathrooms and kitchens. One of the houses in Trinity Hall has en suite facilities, although this is reflected in the rent. If you are a first year you will be grouped with other first years, this ensures that there are no problems socially. Trinity A,B,C or D are all worthy. Getting about is easy, you are never far from lectures and the uni bus service is excellent value at 75p a go. Wardley House is a newly developed hall, it is located in the heart of the city, all the bedrooms have en suite and the shared kitchens have dishwashers! The Union takes new students on a minibus tour of the area to help them get their bearings. We think this is a great idea.
Outside of University accommodation there are some real bargains to be had. Laisteridge Lane and Heaton are very popular with students and you are sure to have friends and acquaintances nearby if you live here. There is an on campus Accommodation Bureau that can help with finding private accommodation. If possible avoid Buttershaw.
The local area is busy and vibrant. The city has plenty to offer in terms of shopping and nightlife. The relationship with the local community is OK. There have been some acts of aggression but no more than you would expect in any fair sized town.
Bradford is also known for its large ethnic community, which adds a great flavour to the city. This brings with it hundreds of international restaurants, many of them Indian and within stumbling distance from campus, so you will never be stuck for food! Even at 4am!!
Bradford also has all the usual entertainment, including cinemas, shops and theatres. There are also some fantastic pubs with good old northern bitter, much of it brewed locally. We also came across a pub called The Blob!! Aparently there are a few of them in the north,...but we can't help think that there is a rude connotation!
Parking is by permit (£15 per term) and there is plenty available but Bradford is a small city and thus a car isn't really necessary.
There's a branch of Natwest with a well used cash machine in the union bulding. If your with another bank don't worry, they all have branches nearby.
Bradford Uni has taken the unusual step of giving a 5p share of every drink sold to a disability fund. Its a good policy in our view, but not one that comes in for huge amounts of praise from the students. This isn't because they are tight, just that they don't agree with it on the whole. Some facilities, including induction loops and ramps, have been installed but there is still much work to be done. The establishment of a well staffed disability office has helped and will continue to do so in the future.
The Communal Building on the main site has a general shop selling everything, a photocopy shop and a travel agency. There are newsagents and a branch of Morrison's, a supermarket, nearby.
There are two dedicated bookshops, a branch of Waterstones on the main campus and a specialist bookshop in the School of Management.
A plethora of sports facilities including 8 tennis courts, 4 astro pitches and 35 acres of grass pitches. Pride of place has to go to The Nautilus Suite. Cancel that membership to a posh health club, everything you need is here! In the local area you can ski, skate, play golf, hike or play bowls...great. Bradford also has a first class cricket team and along with Leeds, is a 'University of Cricketing excellence.'
A partnership with the local council gives students a cheap West Yorkshire travel card. Other than this there is an inexpensive bus service from campus to the city and, in what will become a recurrent theme, at Bradford, taxis are cheap.
There is Horton Park near the main site and the management centre is set in its own parkland. Also the Pennines are close by.
There are three libraries, one at the main site, one with the management school at Emm Lane and another with the school of health studies. The combined collection of 530,000 books is more than adequate. There are 1000 or so study places. The main library provides computer based services together with teaching rooms and rooms for group study. There are also a number of informal meeting places around the campus that are used for groups and meetings that need to make a bit of noise.
One of the highest rates of PCs per student and all halls rooms are networked up. Gold star for Bradford Uni there then.
A health centre and counselling ensure that your mental and physical health needs are well catered for. Help is also available for issues concerning academic work, accommodation and money. Other than that Bradford has nothing out of the ordinary as regards welfare apart from a sabbatical women's officer.
