Courtauld Institute of Art

Very good. Paid a set amount to attend all the events and they were fun. £££ party is particularly good Duchy House is a really nice place to live, crazy to be able to live on the strand. Kitchens are small to be shared between 16 The Courtauld is small so there aren't sports areas or a union building ofc but there are centralised uni of London things. The library and other facilities are very good Interesting subject matter over a wide breadth of periods and locations No better place to study art history than London. It is very expensive though

It was really small and quiet. Not many fun things to do and not many people came to most of them. A few of the events were practically empty. A few events were very far away from central London were most people live. Duchy house had loads of problems with heating, wifi, internet and hot water but it was still a fun experience because of the people I meet there. Not many other student had the same opportunity since that was the only uni-run accommodation. In the Vernon Square campus most of the rooms are small. They feel more like a sixth form than a university. The library and seminar rooms can't always fit everyone so they class are often quite small. The student union has nice people running it but they don't do much. The course is extremely interesting. The lectures have a broad range of topics and focus points. The lecturers are often really nice and supportive. They truly care about your education and want you to feel enriched by the course Living in London is great. There's always stuff to do and place to go to. Because of the location of the student accom you can get to all the good clubs, bars and restaurant. It's been weird because of covid but still fun because of my friends.

The worst part about first year is that they try to cover too much in too little time; instead of doing one topic per term in depth, you do a new one every 2 weeks! I found it really tricky keeping up with the reading, as you never really get enough time to get your head round a topic. The point of going to a specialised uni should be that you get the best lecturers, but we are taught by postgrads instead, just like in bigger universities. Some of the postgrads are actually quite good, but it'd be nice to have some time with lecturers - you don't get many contact hours as it is! You only get around 8 hours a week in the first year, which really isn't enough.

I like the course at the Courtauld a lot, they have a lot of really great and experienced lecturers and if you are passionate about the history of art you will enjoy it. The social aspect is a bit strange because the University is so small, if you have gone to larger highschools or colleges in the past it will feel really tiny. It is also very privatley educated and can feel quite elitist at times.

Started 2023 with high hopes as what was sold to me before starting the course sounded so exciting and promising. Furthermore, the chance to live in London and integrate myself into the art world was something I was looking forward to.

Unfortunately, I am a disabled student, teachers weren’t aware of my condition despite it being on my records until second semester after almost begging for my minimum support requirements, this inevitably made studying really hard for me.

The course quality itself was good and took advantage of what london has to offer but however assignments in my opinion were tentative and unclear to me as well as the student VLE page being disorganised making it hard to actually see when your assignments are due.

I’m also from a working class background and I felt so out of place as a uni that focuses on the arts and celebrates the history different cultures I’m so suprised that a good 80% of their students live in Home Counties 20 miles away from London, it would be nice to see an improvement of giving working class students the same opportunity to engage with the arts. There was a clear divide between me and the other students making it hard to relate and engage with the other students inevitably making the social aspect of uni difficult.

The facilities were good due to the partnership with KCL giving us access to their libraries and student union.

In short - the faculty and supposed student welfare support team don’t care about the students at all.

I was due to start studying an MA in Wall Painting Conservation here around the start of the pandemic, and obviously it was delayed for three years. I expressed concerns over financing it after the pandemic caused some financial difficulties for me, and the head of the course told me I could commute to London so didn’t have to pay London rents and could keep a part time job while studying. I trusted him. When the course began, both of these turned out to be lies, and no lectures could be attended remotely. When I asked if they could accommodate be while I looked for a place in London, just if they could set up a Zoom or something so I could listen to the (very small classroom) talks, they wouldn’t. I had to drop out. I had risked a lot just applying to that course, breaking away from what my parents insisted I should do for a career, and now I have no hope of ever even doing the job I risked so much to try and gain. There was no support, or even the least hint of apology or regret, from the university. It all destroyed my mental health, which meant I couldn’t work for a few months.

My absolute hatred for this university and the people working there cannot be expressed in words. Do not study there if you have the least chance of any difficulties arising or hope for some vague pastoral care.