Abertay Dundee University

What’s it like as a place to live? Dundee as a whole is a great place to live. It may not be as big or as flashy as larger cities but with two Universities it really is a student friendly place to live. A real hidden gem.

How’s the student accommodation? Accommodation is really quite good here, particularly at Abertay. I’ve had my room with them for 3 years and still stay there as Student President. Students have a varied choice of accommodation too, both Uni and privately owned that seems to cater for all tastes and budgets. Our Students Association always gives plenty of advice on finding the right place.

What’s the student population like? Abertay has a hugely diverse student population with representatives present from all over the globe; plenty locals and those across the country to as far as India, China and beyond…

How do students and locals get on? Like all cities there are areas that wouldn’t be recommended for students, but these are few and far between. There doesn’t really seem to be much interaction; we both on the whole co-exist quite happily.

What’s it like as a place to study? Abertay is a great place to study; famed for its computer based courses, often at the forefront of advances.  A very contemporary institution that constantly adapting to the ever changing face of the student body.

What are the teaching staff like? When I speak to my counterparts at other institutions some of them tell me what a struggle it is to get the universities support or attention but I have found that here, the staff try their best to think of students at every stage; my job is almost done for me! As with every Uni, there are some staff that you can’t help but fall asleep, but for the mainstay, the lecturers are engaging and have novel ways of getting their point across.

What are student societies like? At Abertay we have 16 Societies and 3 more on the way. We have just over 600 students registered as members of these societies and with around 4000 students, this is quite a good number.We have a wide variety of societies; from the law society and the Christian union to the circus society and Rock Society, we have something for most tastes but there’s always room for more, our Vice-president’s door is always open for students to suggest societies and hopefully start a few up.

What’s a typical night out?  There is a wide variety of things to do, Dundee has rock clubs, dance clubs, cinemas and an ice-rink, Abertay has all of these bar the ice-rink.

And how much does it cost? Depending where you go, it can be anything from £20 (Abertay) to upwards of £40 (Nightclubs)… but that’s entrance, drinks and a taxi home too.

How can you get home safely? I’m sure it’s the same everywhere else but, the taxi drivers know where the most fares are going to be and so, there are several points in town where there is normally a line of taxis.

Is it an expensive place to live? That’s a hard one to answer really, its different from student to student I guess. All depends on how much money they have, what bills are like, price of rent. As with everything there’s a mix.

Average price of a pint?  On average £2.

And the price of a takeaway? £5−£7.

What’s the part-time work situation? The university runs the JobShop which is used as a point of contact for local businesses wishing to employ workers. With 2 institutions in Dundee, employers see students as a hard-working, flexible, friendly source of workers. The downside is, with such a large pool of potential workers, there is no incentive to offer much more than minimum wage.

What’s the best feature about the place? Not too big, Not too small

And the worst? GIANT SEAGULLS!

Maurice Malpas (footballer), Andy Nicol (rugby player), David Jones (Inventor of ‘Lemmings’), Stuart Wilson (golfer).

Ring UADSA on 01382 308307 or check website www.abertaystudents.com.