Askham Bryan College - York

Millie

I came here for my last year of uni after transferring, was told a few weeks into the course that I wasn't allowed to do my dissertation as I didn't have the "requirements", I passed my previous course but i didn't get a merit or a distinction so I didn't fit their requirements which is unfair as its not giving opportunities to students and its just singling people out. So I was basically paying for a course where i couldn't even do half of it, which is an absolute waste of money. The students on my course were very clicky with each other and the staff, it was incredibly hard to fit in and i felt nothing but uncomfortable the entire time. I've never known anything like it. The course manager who was quite new to the uni was the only one who was actually supportive and tried his best to help. Everyone else just focused on the students they already knew, i felt so out of place there. I left in the end and its the best thing i ever did. Plus the transportation is ridiculously expensive, when I came here for college in 2018 the buses to the college were free. Now you have to pay ridiculous prices, its disgusting we are STUDENTS some who are FULL TIME, our parents cannot be expected to pay for us either. You get enough money from us anyway, greedy.

Galya M.

Small zoo,lovely animals and some great hours out 🙂 Askham Bryan Wildlife & Conservation Park, Askham Bryan College, Askham Bryan, York, YO23 3FR

Blippy1657 C.

CULT-LIKE ENVIRONMENT and Lowest paid college in the country

Managers don't listen to staff concerns, they're happy enough to pin point all the things you're doing wrong and then they do the exact same thing to themselves. They don't like it when you don't feed into their egotistical personality, very clique and antagonistic environment. The only 2 good things about this place is the staff are genuinely nice people (frontliners) and it's good place to get experience with teaching but don't settle here as you won't be appreciated or acknowledge long term by your managers. Managers are unprofessional, not trustyworthy, don't respect you and will hold you accountable for things that don't go their way and they go wrong even when you've asked for support.

Donna A.

If this university had a 0 then that would be too good. Horrible experience from start to finish (Veterinary Nursing).

1)No support from tutors- this is probably why their nursing sector had to skill up when they had to take a break for a year due to a poor rating the previous year.

2) They put you in accommodation the send emails to tell you, you haven’t been paying enough so you have to stress over then taking the full amount out of your bank without asking and leaving you with no money so you have to spend most of your study time contacting them.

3) If you’re a student that might not be an A* learner then DO NOT attend this college because the majority of tutors, or at least the ones I had, gave no support at all.

3) Correspondence when trying to claim a rebate in council tax for my parents was a joke. They would not give me any certificate of proof to say I was attending university even though the council tax office said there was no reason why they shouldn’t unless they were being difficult. I had to get a copy of my student residence to qualify for a rebate, something which would have taken 10minutes to do.

4) Their was also an incident where I took an empty jotting pad in to an exam with me. It was on the table where everyone could see it and I also asked the invigilator if I should put my notes in to the exam. I then got a letter at Christmas telling me I was under investigation for cheating and had no way of defending myself until the meeting 3 months later.

5) After so much hassle and not doing as well as I could in my exams, they advised me to take a year out in which I have as it’s made me so poorly. No support for students is bad practice and my health has suffered because of it.

Charlotte W.

Firstly, Ignore the previous comment by Lynsey Cullum - she was a student in the same class as me who didn't show up to lessons and had a "teacher best do it for me/I don't need to attend lessons to learn" attitude. Enough said there.

But on to the main review.
Been on two courses here: Level 3 Diploma in Animal Management & Foundation Degree in Veterinary Nursing.

The new renovations to the campus are awesome! My last year on the Animal Managent course was the year renovation started on the animal management department - the animal unit is so much better laid out with more animals, which is great.

Most of the teachers are very helpful if you actually approach them for help (as opposed to expecting them to mind read and KNOW you have a problem); granted there are a few that have some attitude problems, but they appear to be being weeded out and replaced with genuinely nice people.

The canteen provides gorgeous food - even if it's just chips, they're pretty tasty.
The library is well stocked; book, magazine and journal wise. And the library staff are super sweet! Never in the three years I've been there have I not been greeted with a smile.

The majority of the kinks that were in the previous course plan seem to have been sorted out over the holidays - unsurprising as they have a student council specifically in place to see where anything can be improved.

Overall, a very good college.

Melissa G.

I attended level 1 and 2 of the employability skills course, and the group was amazing, I really enjoyed every bit of it, the tutor's were very welcoming and understanding of everyone's different levels of knowledge, I would love it if they introduced a level 3. I would definitely be attending. Thankyou for all your help and support. It was great to learn some new skills : )

Amalie O. H.

School is good, but some stuff with Accommodation is bad. And canteen food is ok but weekends bad. Payed for food, then get to know they don’t have it can’t refund me, so I get something else, that was worth half the prize lost money.

Paul O.

Absolutely shocking, booked on for motorsport course and find out 2 days in that it’s not full time its a 2/3 day course per week. 3 hours for lunch and teachers cannot make it full time as they are over subscribed with people who didn’t get the requirements for the course !!