The short answer. The best questions are the ones a prospectus cannot answer: what the work is really like, what a normal week looks like, and who helps when something goes wrong. Below are fifteen, grouped by what they find out. Pick three to five of them, ask in a real conversation, and listen for the details rather than the summary.
Key points
- Ask fewer questions, better. Five asked properly beat fifteen rushed.
- The most useful answers are about the week and the workload, not the course description.
- Ask the same questions to two students on the same course, then compare.
- Write down what surprised you. That is the part you did not already know.
How should you use these questions?
Choose three to five, based on what you are actually unsure about. If two courses look similar, pick the questions about the work. If you are worried about moving somewhere new, pick the ones about the place.
Ask them in a conversation, not as a questionnaire. If you want to find out who to talk to in the first place, we have a separate guide on the best ways to talk to current university students.
What should you ask about the work?
- What does a typical week look like? Ask for the shape of it, not the total: how many lectures, how many small-group sessions, and how much of the reading is done alone.
- How much reading is set, and does everyone do it? The second half of that question is the useful part. It tells you what the department expects and what students actually manage.
- Which modules surprised you? Students often expect to love one module and end up disliking it. Ask what surprised them in both directions.
- How is the work assessed, and when are the crunch points? Exams or coursework, individual or group, and which weeks of the year are the heavy ones.
- Would you choose the same course again, knowing what you know now? The most direct question on the list. Ask it, then listen for the pause before the answer.
What should you ask about the week and the workload?
- How many hours of timetabled sessions do you have, and how does that change through the year? Contact hours can look very different in the second term from the first.
- What happens when you fall behind? This is the question that reveals what a department is like when things go wrong for you.
- How much of the work is done in groups? Some courses are built around group projects, and some are almost entirely solo.
- What would you do differently in your first term if you started again? A short answer here is usually an honest one.
What should you ask about people and support?
- Who do you go to when something goes wrong with the course? Personal tutor, module leader, or a student office. You want to know the name of the role and whether the student actually used it.
- How easy is it to get time with lecturers? Ask how it works in practice, not how it is meant to work.
- How good is the feedback on your work, and how quickly do you get it? Feedback is one of the things students notice most, and one of the things prospectuses never mention.
What should you ask about the place?
- Where do most first years live, and how did you find your flatmates? Ask how the process actually worked for them, including the parts that went wrong.
- What is the place like in the middle of winter? Everyone talks about it in the sunshine. February is the honest month.
- If you could change one thing about the university, what would it be? An ending question that lets the student say the thing they have been too polite to mention.
How do you ask without it feeling like an interview?
Start with one question and let the answer lead. If the student mentions something you did not expect, ask about that instead of moving to your next item. Written questions work best as a reminder for you, not as a script.
It also helps to say what you are deciding. "I am trying to choose between two similar courses and I cannot tell how different they really are" will get you a better answer than any clever question.
What should you do with the answers?
- Write down the three things that surprised you while they are fresh.
- Ask a second student the same questions. Where two people agree, take it seriously. Where they disagree, you have found something that depends on the person.
- Check anything factual against the official source. Students know the experience; the university's own course page and UCAS know the requirements.
Where these conversations happen
Already Doing It
These are the kinds of questions a Uni Insider conversation is for. You choose the course and the university, and you get 30 minutes one to one with a current student or recent graduate who is there now, so you can ask properly instead of guessing.
Book a conversation at alreadydoingit.co.uk
Already Doing It publishes this site.
Questions people ask about this list
How many of these should I actually ask?
Three to five, chosen for the course and the university you are considering. A conversation where you ask five questions properly is worth more than one where you read out fifteen and rush the answers.
Can I ask these at an open day?
Yes, but keep them short and factual, because the people on the stands are usually busy and often in front of staff. Save the honest questions about workload and support for a conversation you have arranged in advance.
What should I do with the answers?
Write down the three things that surprised you, then compare them with what you hear from a second student. The things two students agree on are the ones worth trusting.