31,286 discussions, 145 guides
Exeter University
31,286 discussions, 145 guides
Exeter University
University of Exeter
Northcote House
The Queen's Drive
Exeter
EX4 4QJ
Tel: (01392) 661 000
1955
Xpression FM
Exeter's Students Guild runs an excellent, and award winning, radio station, which is also accompanied by a good website. If you are interested in a career in radio or any kind of media presenting, Exeter is a great place to be. Go to the website: [/external/?http://www.guild.ex.ac.uk/xpression http://www.guild.ex.ac.uk/xpression]
XTV
This is the Student Guild's TV station, which has seven awards from the National Student Television Association. XTV broadcasts to the various bars on campus, with a couple of shows each week. They are always looking for writers, technicians etc....so get involved.
Exepose
This is the Student Guild's Newspaper, with the motto, 'Probably the best newspaper in the world'. It is free and is circulated around the campus, dealing with University and Students Guild matters, as well as some national issues. The articles are often interesting, and the paper is a lot more 'mature' than many other university newspapers, many of which only deal with trival matters. Their website, listed on the Student Guild's website, is regularly updated.
X-Net
The X-Net team takes care of the Student Guild's website, which is one of the best union websites unofficial-guides.com has come across. It has information on all the union services, and even has a car share service, a job section and a vibrant chat room. If you want to get involved you are more than welcome.
Exeactly
A satirical newssheet that is distributed around campus. They have a website at [/external/?http://www.exeactly.co.uk http://www.exeactly.co.uk]
The University have recently launched a Centre for Climate Change Impact Forecasting, in association with the University of Plymouth.
In Sept 2004, they are opening a new state of the art business centre and Holland Hall, a new hall with 421 en-suite rooms.
Toby Amies - MTV VJ
Anastasia Cooke - BBC Presenter
Paul Downton - England Cricketer
Richard Hill - Former England Rugby Captain
Paul Jackson - TV Producer
Stewart Purvis - ITV Chief Executive
JK Rowling - as in Harry Potter!
Sam Smith - Tennis Player
David Sole - Former Scottish Rugby Captain
Will Young - Popstar
Thom Yorke - Singer (Radiohead)
The Student Guild runs two bars, the Ram Bar in Devonshire House, and the Lemon Grove in Cornwall House, which includes the Ewe Bar. There are also smaller bars in four of the Halls of Residence.
The Ram Bar - Situated in Devonshire House, this is busy day and night. It is open from 11am until 11pm every day. In the summer, most people relax out on the lawn and some students have be known to sit out there all day...what a shock! The best thing about this bar though, is the range of beers and ales. Besides the usual national stock, they regularly change their guest beers to include local West Country brewers. If you like ale or cider you should definitely try the Ram Bar. It does have an old West Country pub feel...and if you don't like this then you can try The Lemon Grove.
The Lemon Grove - Situated in Cornwall House, this is the main function room of the Student Guild, which includes the Ewe Bar. It has recently undergone a £40,000 face lift! It is now an ultra modern bar, especially popular at the weekends, when The Lemmy takes places. This is the weekend function, when 2000 students party, party party! The bar is also popular with the Sports teams because of the Big Screen TV.
During the day, however, the Lemon Grove is more relaxed and serves as a coffee bar.
There are two weekly functions run by the Students Guild. The Lemmy is on Friday night, costs £2.00 and takes place in the Lemon Grove. The second is Club Tropicana, also in the Lemon Grove, but it costs £2.00 before 10:30pm and £3.00 thereafter.
The Lemon Grove is also the venue for the many live bands that come to Exeter, however, the larger bands, like Skunk Anansie perform in the Great Hall at the University. The Students Guild manages to attract many famous musicians, such as, Beth Orton, The Saw Doctors and the Lightning Seeds. The cost of Ents rises, when bands come, to between £6.00 - £10.00, depending on the group.
During the week, students tend to socalise in one of Exeter's many pubs. There are also a few clubs in the town. See Local Area section, under Accommodation.
According to the Exeter Students Guild, "We're big on balls!" It also happens to be true. Like Oxbridge, Bristol and Royal Holloway (University of London), Exeter attracts a more than the average number of private school pupils, and according to reputation, a high number of students who did not make it to Oxbridge. The former might go some way towards explaining the high number of black tie functions.
There are plenty spread throughout the year, the best of which is the St. Luke's Summer Ball. Cost is around just £20.00, which is very good when compared to some other universities, where comparable balls can be as much as £60.00! It includes live bands, dodgems, bouncy castles etc. There is also the The safer sex ball, a fetish ball on world Aids day organised by Rag. It is supposedly the biggest such event in England. Everyone goes in highly bizarre fetish outfits up to and including just chocolate or in the buff. Quite fun, as you might imagine. All sources tell us that this is an unmissable event. One to avoid might be The Powderham Ball where tickets are £50 and include dinner and all drinks, not bad you might think but we heard that the food was cold and inedible and that the drink ran out by about 9. We also heard that this was bollocks and that there was plenty so it's pinch of salt time all round. Many sports clubs and other societies organise formal functions throughout the year, so we advise you to go to Exeter with either a Dinner Jacket or plenty of dresses.
There are sports clubs and other societies to cover a range of interests and disciplines at Exeter. It is also easy to start a society, should you and some like-minded people feel like doing so. Full details of soceties can be found on the Student Guild website, or at Freshers Fayre. For those who are worried that Exeter is all rah and cheese, and we know there are plenty of you, don't be. Join Breaks and Bass Soc, they organise coaches to Legends of the Dark Black in Plymouth, a brilliant night. They have their own nights on in the Cavern too.
Guaranteed: 100
The University guarantees accommodation for all first years, if they want it. There are some horror stories though as accommodation is often over-subscribed and some students get temporary accommodation in libraries and common rooms and even kitchens! This is usally for a maximum of a couple of weeks but we did hear that some students got left in a condemned annexe all year. Oh well all the more motivation to drink I suppose.
Accommodation at Exeter is either in Halls of Residence or Flats. First years are usually allocated catered halls, which, with the exception of St. Luke's Hall, are near the main campus. Meals are provided three times a day, seven days a week - so you can put off learning to use the oven for another year.
The standard of the rooms is high, especially in the newer Halls, but so are the prices. Each room includes a bed (obviously!), a desk, bookshelf and a wardrobe. Most have telephone / college network access. The university even supply bed linen and towels, which are regularly washed for you. You will learn nothing you soft nancies. All halls have a common room, bar and basic cooking facilities (ie a microwave & toaster). There are also laundry rooms for your clothes.
Birks - Supposedly the best halls at Exeter, consisting of three houses: Raddon, Brendan, Haldon. It's not the best looking halls, but it does have a great atmosphere. The Boot is the popular hall bar.
Duryard - Consists of 4 houses (Hetherington, Jessie Montgomery, Moberly and Murray) and Thomas Hall about 10 minutes walk from campus. The rooms seem to be a little larger than the other halls, but beware of the exposed brick walls. Duryard attracts the Sloane types and has several formal functions during the year. There is also a bar called The Welly, how telling.
Exeter Halls - This is the one Unofficial-Guides liked best. The halls are converted stately homes. With a relatively small size it has a friendly atmosphere, some rooms are en-suite. It's close to The Lemmy, the campus nightclub, and has its own small bar, The Badger. Oh, and it has a tennis court.
St. Lukes is, not surprisingly, at St. Luke's campus. Most of the students there study at the St. Luke's site, but there are students from the Streatham campus. It has a good social atmosphere, but there are complaints about its distance from the main university campus.
Marodn Hall - about 130 people, very sloaney and shared but recently refurbished with pool room ,tv room, library and bar. Closest to campus.
Flats are self-catered units and are usually given to non-first years and postgraduates, though Freshers do have the option to choose flats. They consist of between 2-12 rooms per flat (some en-suite) and have a common room with TV, kitchen, etc. Compared to catered halls they don't seem to be great value for money, being only £20.00 cheaper on average plus you lose out onn the social element quite a bit.
Finding private accommodation in Exeter is not a problem. Many students with cars find beautiful houses in the countryside around the city. However, if you wish to be closer try St. James and Pennsylvania, near the main campus and Newton, near St. Luke's.
Exeter is in the heart of the West Country. It's not a big city but it is certainly a beautiful one. According to the EU it has the highest quality of life of any English city and when you get there you can see why. Pub crawls are hugely popular, as it only takes half and hour of staggering to get from one side to the other. The downside is that, for many, by the time you get to your final year you really are ready to leave.
There are numerous pubs worth a look like: Victoria Inn, The Walkabout Inn, an Aussie theme bar, and the Jolly Porter, The Artful Dodger, The Imperial (huge Wetherspoons) and the Hogshead. If you like live music go to the Bowling Green, and only if you like Royal Marines, head for the Turk's Head...otherwise it is like pissing on their territory. For great pub lunches by the river head for Double Locks. Expect to pay over £2.20 for a pint.
Although, not full of clubs, Exeter does have a few. As many potential students seem to suspect, mainstream and cheese rule the roost but contrary to some reports the city does have a decent non-mainstream scene now as clubs and promoters have responded to the gap in the market.
Warehouse is probably the most popular club overall and has three distinct and independent floors with various types of music. Volts is pretty mainstream, Rococco's is cheese heaven and a bit of a dive but has shot specials cheap enough to endanger your liver. The Cavern - has mostly Drum and Bass at the weekend and deep, dark and dastardley house during the week. There are also some worthy Breaks and D&B nights at The Phoenix. If this is your thing then also try Timepiece on Thursdays where you'll find some indie too. Casbar is gay most nights as is Warehouse on a Tuesday, Lemmy can be a laugh, one of the rooms plays Breaks. There's also a student night at Arena which means that hardened party animals don't have to take a night off all week. It's very popular so getting in can be a problem. For a consistently updated list, look on the [/external/?http://www.guild.ex.ac.uk/information/guide Exeter Student Guild website].
As far as other entertainment Exeter has 'all the usual'. Shops are pretty much the same as any other town with nothing spectacular. There is a 5 screen Odeon, as well as the Picture House (really arty). For food there is the Waterfront restaurant and various Chinese and Indian restaurants. Keep in mind that Exeter becomes very quiet when the pubs close.
A Free parking permit is available to students who live more than one and a half miles away from campus, or for those who have a medical reason. Overall, parking in Exeter is fairly good.
There is a branch of NatWest Bank next to Devonshire House. There are also branches of all the major national banks in the town centre.
Exeter is not good for wheelchair access, due to the hilly campus and access to some of the older buildings. However, there are disabled officers and some of the Halls have adapted facilties. Many of the lecture theatres are designed to cater for students with sight or hearing problems.
The University shop at Devonshire House has recently been expanded, and sells stationery, as well as sports clothing and university souvenirs (like mugs, t-shirts etc.) Complaints about crappy opening hours resulted in new hours of 8.30am - 6pm weekdays.
There is also a travel shop and an insurance shop at Devonshire House.
There is a branch of Blackwells Bookshop, next to Devonshire House. It sells all the major course books and other books can be ordered at fairly short notice. The Guild of Students also runs a second hand bookshop.
The University has a variety of sports facilities in three main locations. The first is the Main Sports Hall and Top Field, which contain numerous basketball, tennis, netball, badminton, and volleyball courts, a five-a-side football pitch, cricket nets, a climbing wall and an indoor hockey pitch. There are also outdoor pitches for all the main sports including rugby and football, a gym and squash courts.
The Gras Lawn is two miles away from the main campus and half a mile from St. Lukes' Campus. In the winter it has three football pitches, while in the summer there is archery and cricket. Duckes Meadow is the largest of the University's sports fields. It is two and a half miles from the main campus and plays host to 4 rugby pitches, 13 football pitches in the winter, and an athletics track in the summer. The University also has a swimming pool and twelve more tennis courts dotted around campus.
The University runs a minibus service for some people with special requirements. Otherwise, it is a case of walking or getting on public transport. Public transport in Exeter isn't great, with less frequent and more expensive services than many parts of the country, but it is fairly punctual.
Exeter is surrounded by countryside, and it is 9 miles from the sea. However, you don't have to travel off campus to find water or green spaces, because there are 2 streams and a pond dotted around. All in all it is a lovely setting!
The University of Exeter Library Service is based over a number of sites and has over 1,000,000 books and 1,800 study places. Most students think the facilities are good, and unlike many universities, the library fines will not break the bank. The University also has good online resources
The Main Library contains the main undergraduate and research collections in all subjects, with the exception of Arabic, Law, Education and Engineering. It is open from 9am until 10pm and has around 700 study places.
The St. Luke's Library contains the main collections for Education and Sports Science departments, because it is near where these subjects are based.
The Law Library holds all materials relating to the law department as well as the European Documentation Centre, which is a useful resource for anyone reading European Law. There are also numerous other, more specialised, libraries all around the campus.
There are five computer rooms with 24 hour access, and around 900 workstations. There is free access to the Internet and each student is issued with an e-mail address. Students can also access the university network from their rooms in halls, but while there is no per minute charge for internet access, there is a flat fee of £40.00 per year. To do this, you'll also need your own PC with an Ethernet card and cable...but the University will sell this to you if you don't have one.
All in all the computer facilities are good, and remote access to the university network means the computer rooms aren't packed all the time.
Student welfare services are good at Exeter. The University runs a medical centre and chaplaincy service, with a high standard of facilities. There is also a Student Counselling Service based at Reed Hall, which offers professional help and support with a wide range of emotional or personal difficulties.
At night during term time there is a Nightline, a welfare service run by students to provide support to other students. They also give out free condoms!! The Students Guild also has a sabbatical Welfare Officer.
