UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Bristol is a truly international university. International students currently make up 16 per cent of the student body. Students come from over 100 countries and add greatly to the educational and social experience available at the University.
Why Bristol?
Bristol is firmly established as one of the premier universities in the United Kingdom, and has a world-wide reputation for its academic achievement and research. All league tables consistently place Bristol in the top ten out of nearly a hundred universities in Britain, and for British students it is one of the most difficult universities to get into. Anyone familiar with British universities will be able to confirm Bristol's excellence and reputation.
Student life at Bristol is full and varied. Students are automatically members of the University Union, which provides facilities for over 150 clubs, societies and sporting teams as well as housing the International Centre and Study Abroad offices. Study Abroad students have a long tradition of participation in sports at all levels, and a number have represented the university during their year here.
The City of Bristol offers a vibrant and engaging environment for your Study Abroad experience.
Accommodation in Bristol
Students who have already been accepted onto the Study Abroad Programme should refer to the email you received when you accepted your offer for the link to the Accommodation Application Form. If you have any query, please contact [email protected]
October entrants to Bristol are guaranteed University housing for their time in Bristol, and January entrants, although not formally guaranteed University housing, almost always get in. The accommodation ranges from self-catered student houses in Clifton (near the University) to large catered halls of residence in Stoke Bishop (35 minutes walk across open parkland). Between these two lie a whole range of housing situations, each of which has its own merits. You will be asked to choose between two main categories of accommodation - catered or self-catered. Past experience suggests that the catering plans on offer are rather more restrictive in both portion and menu than you may be used to, and not suitable for people who have any sort of dietary restrictions. Self-catering is very easy, and a popular choice for international students. Nonetheless, catered halls represent reasonable value for money and a good alternative for those who do not enjoy cooking. They also tend to be very sociable places as most Bristol first year students gather there, and if you fancy a break from cooking the University refectory offers meals at reasonable prices.
Your application for accommodation will be sent to you when you have been offered a place and given confirmation of your acceptance, and you should submit your form as soon as possible. The halls of residence will inform you directly when they are offering you a place and will send you the appropriate information. Once you have been assigned accommodation, if you have any queries please contact the hall directly. Queries regarding Student Houses should be directed to the University Accommodation Office, email [email protected] .
All students in University accommodation are billed in the first two weeks of each term. It is possible to pay by credit card at the Finance Office. Hall fees are payable in three equal instalments to help with budgeting, even though the summer term is somewhat shorter. Changing accommodation during the year is unusual, but it can be done, although there may be significant financial penalties should you decide to withdraw from the system once you have committed yourself.
Accommodation Prospectus 2008 (pdf, 1.4 Mb) or http://www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/prospectus/
ORIENTATION!
For each intake of new Study Abroad students a special Orientation is organised. The Orientation is run by the Study Abroad team and is designed to help you not only settle into Bristol but also meet the people who will be working with you during your stay.
While you are at the University of Bristol you will be a “Study Abroad” student. This will be your new identity for the year. Your academic "home" will be the Study Abroad Office and the responsibility for your academic work lies with the personnel of the Study Abroad Programme.
Tory Corin (nee Ribar) Study Abroad Officer
Wendy Davies, Study Abroad Programme Co-ordinator
At the morning session of the Orientation Day programme you will be advised how to go about registering for classes. Please do not visit any departments until Orientation is over.
Orientation Dates for 2008/09 :
October entry: Tuesday September 30th, 2008
January entry: Thursday January 22th 2009
SEPTEMBER 2008 ORIENTATION INFORMATION Autumn orientation will take place on Tuesday September 30th, 2008 in Lecture Theatre 4 of the Chemistry Building (#11 on the precinct map). Please arrive at 9:45 am for a 10 am start.
Hardcopies of all of the documents listed below, as well as some others not available for download, will be posted by 15 August to the address you indicated on your application form. If you have not received this information by the beginning of September please contact us.
ONLINE REGISTRATION OPENS 16 SEPTEMBER 2008 - This process will generate your username, password and email address. It is NOT class registration. You will register for classes during Orientation week.
Study Abroad Registration Guide and Orientation booklet (249 kB pdf) - please read!
Arrival Details: please complete our online form to provide your arrival/travel details when you have finalised your plans
Student ID Card Application Form (47 kB pdf)
Sports Coaching Session Booking form (40 kB pdf)
List of University Societies and Sports Clubs (40 kB Word doc)
BUTEX Scholarship information
Useful maps:
University of Bristol Precinct/Campus Map
University of Bristol Accommodation Map (2.4 MB pdf)
Orientation Day will be filled with meetings on social as well as academic aspects of your time in Bristol, and will include lunch with academic staff and a brief campus tour. There will be time in the course of the next couple of days to deal with your banking and general domestic arrangements. Once the Study Abroad office is satisfied that you have arranged a suitable programme of study and that the University tuition fee has been paid, you will be registered as a full time student of the University and be eligible for all the services provided for Bristol students, including membership of the University of Bristol Union and the University Health Service.
For those coming for the full year and Fall Semester, the Students' Union Fair, held in October each year, will give you a chance to join as many of the 150 clubs and societies as interest you. Union clubs are probably the best place to meet informally with British students - a shared interest, even if only vague, is a great ice-breaker. For students arriving in January the student union representatives will meet with you to help you find the groups and activities which you would like to join. Clubs and Societies are eager to welcome new members all year round. This social involvement is the single most significant feature in helping you feel at home, and the Union representatives are always on hand to advise - the International Office is housed in the Union building along with all the Union offices and services, enabling Study Abroad students to make good use of the combined facilities.
STUDENT LIFE!!!
Social life
The city of Bristol is small enough to get to know well, but large and cosmopolitan enough to have an enormous variety of social and cultural events happening at any one time.
At the beginning of each new academic year, The Students' Union provides a guide for new students on things to do in the city, and there are other listings magazines and websites such as Venue readily available throughout the year, some free of charge, giving comments and recommendations to keep you up to date on concerts, theme nights in clubs, meal deals in restaurants, salsa dance classes . . . the list of possibilities is endless! (However, please note that as things can change, the inclusion of any particular establishment or publication here is not a recommendation in itself, but merely intended to give an indication of what's on offer in the city.)
Daytime
Bristol has a very large number of coffee and tea houses, bars, pubs and restaurants. Up and down Park Street, Whiteladies Road and Gloucester Road, for example, there are numerous places where you can meet friends for a chat over a nice cup of tea, an exotic coffee or a traditional British beer. There are all kinds of restaurants to suit all kinds of diets and budgets to be found around the city.
For a bit of daytime culture you could visit the City Museum and Art Gallery, or take a boat trip around the newly refurbished dock and listen to a commentary on Bristol's history. There are numerous historical places of interest, some with free admission, tucked away all around the city and beyond. The Georgian House, off Park Street is one example. The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a very famous Bristol landmark and just a short walk from Clifton village. Take your camera if you go out for a walk – some of Bristol's scenery and buildings are extremely beautiful.
The Downs are a large green open space situated centrally for Bristol, at the top of Blackboy Hill. In summer you will see people having a picnic, playing softball, flying kites or simply sunbathing. All year round you will see joggers here and people walking their dogs. It is an excellent place to spend free time with friends and is within walking distance of the University's main precinct and many of the Halls of Residence. The views from here can be breathtaking on a clear day!
Sporting opportunities can be found either through the University's Students' Union or the city itself. The Students' Union has a vast collection of different sporting societies from football to canoeing, Tae Kwon Do to skydiving. Many of the Halls of Residence also have their own teams for hockey, rugby, etc. The University has its own sports ground in Stoke Bishop Sports Complex, plus a new sports centre in Tyndall Avenue, which has a gym and hall for exercise classes among other things. The swimming pool is in the Union building and many of the Halls of Residence have squash or tennis courts, table tennis facilities and even croquet lawns in some cases.
Day trips to nearby towns and cities are also easily achievable. Bath, Wells and Glastonbury, for example, are just a short train or bus journey away. London is just over two hours away on the coach and day return tickets are generally inexpensive (visit the Travel Shop in the Union building for cheap fares). If you like to travel in a group, a number of the Students' Union societies organise day trips and sometimes weekends away in pursuit of their particular interest. These can provide an ideal opportunity to see a little of the countryside outside Bristol, in sociable surroundings. You'll need to visit the Freshers' Fair at the beginning of the year (normally held in the Union building) to see what is available, meet people with similar interests and join a few societies. Alternatively, have a look at the International Students' Advisory Service website for details of organised trips.
If shopping is what interests you, then Bristol has plenty to offer. The main shopping centre is Broadmead, where you will find most of the UK's large department and chain stores. There are also small individual boutiques and large discount warehouse shops which are good for household items. Park Street is the place for music, books, clothes and shoes. Alternatively, you can hop on the bus and travel out to Cribbs Causeway (where there is also a large cinema and several different restaurants) and shop in a large, light and airy undercover mall.
There are dozens of other things to see and do in Bristol. You can learn to paint with watercolours, go ice-skating, visit the at-Bristol science museum, use a climbing wall or go to the zoo.
Nightlife
As with most University cities in the United Kingdom, Bristol has a vibrant night life, catering for all tastes. So, it is hard to know where to start!
There are dozens of bars and pubs in Bristol. The décor, seating, atmosphere and prices vary greatly, depending on what kind of place you are in! Be warned, some get very busy, particularly at weekends!
Whichever area of Bristol you are in, it pays to explore and you will soon find your favourite ‘local’. A good, central place to start looking is along the waterfront where you will find a mixture of large franchise pubs, small family-run pubs and cinemas with their own bars attached. Public transport from the centre is plentiful, so it shouldn't be difficult or expensive to get home from here at the end of the evening.
For those who like clubbing, there is a wide variety of nightclubs in the city too, ranging from hip-hop to '70s, drum and base to Indie. Some are very central, others tucked away. Again, it is worth spending some time doing some research to find out what kind of music is played in a particular club. Many clubs play different music on different nights of the week and bring in guest DJs. Check in listings magazines or on websites such as Bristol-online, Bris4U or Bristol Clubbing to see what's on. A lot of clubs have special student nights, where you can gain admission at a reduced rate if you show your student card. Also, you may be handed a leaflet or flyer advertising a special student night. This is a common way for clubs to promote themselves and the flyer may include a money-off voucher so it's worth having a quick read.
For theatre, ballet, opera and musicals, some of the more long-established venues are given here. The Old Vic Theatre, the Hippodrome and the QEH Theatre. Many of the shows that come to these and other venues in Bristol are part of the national and international circuit and are of outstanding quality.
Live music is a thriving area of entertainment in Bristol. Some bands play in pubs, while others play in proper live music venues such as the Colston Hall. Again, there are far too many different venues to mention them all, and it is best to check listings for dates and entry fees. However, some of the more well-known places include The Bristol Academy, The Promenade Wine Bar, The Louisiana, the Old Duke (for jazz) and the Fleece and Firkin, not forgetting the University Union's very own Anson Rooms. Once you become a student here, you can use the free internet access provided by the University to find out everything you need to know!
Bristol has several cinemas, some mainstream, others more arty and even an IMAX theatre. The Odeon is the most centrally located mainstream, and is good value for money. There are several out-of-town, multi-screen cinemas such as the Showcase, Cineworld (which shows some Bollywood movies) and Warner Village, but it can be slightly more difficult to get to these, unless you have a car, or a friend with a car, or you go by taxi. The Arnolfini Contemporary Arts Centre shows less mainstream films including foreign, subtitled films, as does the Watershed cinema, and both are easy to walk to from the centre.
Whatever you find to do in your leisure time, we hope that you have a good time and that some of this information has been of use to you.