University of Salford

As a former student of this university and somebody who lives very near to it and still knows a lot of resident students, I’ve always felt I have the right to criticise it. But there’s genuinely very little to say that’s remotely negative. If anyone is even considering studying in Manchester, I’d advise them to veer away from the red brick and overlook the Met to at least give Salford a fair glance.
When I came here, a naïve 18 year old student fresh out of my little suburban college and having grown up in a village so rural, farmland greeted my back window view every morning, I was a little wet behind the ears to say the least. And it took me a long, long time to get used to pounding the urban pavement. But there’s something about Salford that eases you in, in a way the other two Mancunian universities don’t.
Firstly, the accommodation. Very rarely in Salford are you put somewhere surrounded by city greyness, somewhere bustling and crazy. The halls I lived in were set far back on Frederick Road near some residential buildings, small businesses and a train station. Thus I had a quiet walk to my university buildings each morning, which was pleasant. An actual tree-​lined walk no less, along the Crescent, past the train station and the beautiful Peel Building and Museum and Art Gallery. But there was also the option of Horlock or Constantine Court, halls within the cosy campus boundaries near Peel Park, meaning not only did you have pretty views but a quiet community with a local student shop and an HSBC bank with a bookshop accompanying it. I remember buying my Hershey’s products from the little newsagent there (yes, for some reason they sold American candy) and thinking, what a nice place to live.
That’s not the only option. The IQ Centre and Castle Irwell are gated communities on the edge of Salford, reachable through Peel Park and those who live there have a real sense of camaraderie. IQ is perhaps the posher option with its communal room offering Sky TV, its onsite Subway and its larger rooms with kitchens and lounges decked out in Ikea products. Castle Irwell is slightly more rough and ready. But that’s far from it, there’s even the option of living on what I call the ‘Fame’ campus, the school of Media, Music and Performance which has a couple of tower blocks for local students, Bramall Court, and Matthias for post-​grads. Again, this is set back into a residential area so you’re not constantly harassed by traffic noise. Compare this to Manchester Met, where some accommodation is stationed firmly on a road chockfull of bars and clubs.
But as for the university itself? I’ve found myself inspired, educated and I’ve had plenty of fun along the way. I’ve had desperate needs met in the form of no-​questions-​asked hardship loans and grants, and often when people come to Salford, it’s because they offered a course specifically tailored to their needs. Something with a major and a minor. For me, it was English with Cultural Studies, which allowed me to explore my equally beloved Media and Psychology as well as Philosophy and Sociology. For others it’s something like Journalism with Criminology, or Sociology with Military History. Anything and everything.
You come for the course, you stay for the atmosphere, the easy to navigate libraries, the surprising mix of quiet and bustling, beautiful onsite landmarks like Peel Park, the sense of student community (student societies are out in full force here), the cheapest student accommodation in the UK and the enthusiastic lecturers. As with any university there are some bad apples teaching-​wise, but we won’t let those rot the barrel, as the good ones far outweigh the not so great.
I literally couldn’t recommend Salford more. And besides, what’s better than knowing you’re in the studying in the same town that Morrissey and the Smiths featured in photos and videos?