The short answer. The best way to find out what a course is really like is to talk to someone who is on it. There are four routes worth using: your school's former students, the university's own student chat services, student forums and review sites, and a booked one-to-one conversation with a current student on your exact course. Used together, they turn a prospectus into something you can picture.
Key points
- Read the course page and the prospectus first, so your questions are specific.
- A conversation with someone on the exact course beats general advice from anyone else.
- Ask about the work and the week, not only the social side.
- Decide what you want to find out before you start, or you will finish without asking it.
Why is it worth the effort?
A prospectus describes a course. It cannot describe a week. How many hours are you actually in a room with other people? How much reading is set, and does everyone do it? What happens when you fall behind? Is the department welcoming in the first term, or does it feel like everyone already knows each other?
Those are the details that decide whether you enjoy your first year, and they are the details students talk about openly. Nobody at the university will hide them from you. They are simply not the sort of thing that goes in a printed brochure.
Who is worth talking to?
- Someone on the exact course you are considering. Same course, same university. This is the single most useful person to find.
- Someone in the year above at your school. They often remember exactly what it was like to be in your position, and they can tell you how the move felt.
- A recent graduate, from your school or from a family friend's circle. They can look back on the whole course, not just the first term.
- Someone at the university on a different course. Useful for the town, the halls and the social side, which matter more than people expect.
Where can you actually find them?
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The direct route, and the one we run
Already Doing It
You choose the course and the university, and you get a 30-minute one-to-one video conversation with someone who is on that exact course now.
- Sixth formers aged 16 and over book a 30-minute one-to-one video conversation with a Uni Insider.
- Uni Insiders are current university students and recent graduates, on the course and at the university the student is considering.
- Uni Insiders are identity verified and complete a mandatory safeguarding assessment.
- Uni Insiders are paid by Already Doing It for their time, never by a university, and no university tells them what to say. They share lived experience, not advice.
- Hundreds of Uni Insiders across UK universities and courses.
Book a conversation at alreadydoingit.co.uk
Already Doing It publishes this site.
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Your school's former students
Ask your careers lead or head of sixth form whether former students have offered to talk to current pupils. Many schools keep a list, and it is usually underused. Do this in Year 12, not the week before a deadline, because people are busy and replies take time.
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The university's own student chat services
Many universities run pages where current students answer questions, usually linked from the department page or the applicant section. Look for wording like "chat to our students" or "ask a student". Some run them all year, others only in applicant periods.
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Open days and applicant days
The people on the stands are usually current students, and they are there to be asked. They are also the least likely to tell you anything surprising in front of staff, so use them for the factual questions: the timetable, the reading, the assessment, the year abroad.
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Student forums
The Student Room is a UK student forum where applicants and current students discuss courses, universities and applications. Older threads often answer the exact question you have, and you can ask your own.
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Student review sites
Whatuni publishes student reviews and university profiles, and StudentCrowd publishes reviews it says come from verified students. Read a range of them. One furious review says more about one person's year than about the course.
What should you do before the conversation?
- Read the course page first. The module list and the entry requirements are on the university's own website. Asking about things you could have looked up wastes the time you have.
- Write down two questions you genuinely want answered. Two, not ten. The first one will lead to others.
- Decide in advance what would change your mind. If nothing could, you are looking for reassurance rather than information, and that is worth knowing about yourself before you apply.
What if you cannot find anyone on your course?
Two things to try. First, ask the department's admissions team whether you can speak to a current student. Some will say yes, especially in the applicant period. Second, widen the net by one step: someone on a similar course at the same university can still tell you about the department, the town and the workload.
If you want the person to be on the exact course, that is the problem our conversations are designed to solve. You choose the course and the university, and we match you with someone who is there. Read how it works on the Already Doing It site.
Questions people ask about talking to students
Is it rude to message a student I do not know?
It is not rude, but it is easy to ignore. Ask through a route where the student has volunteered: your school's list of former students, a university chat service, or an organised conversation. That way you are asking someone who agreed to be asked.
What if the student is negative about their course?
One person's year is not the whole picture. Ask what they would change if they were choosing again, and then talk to a second person before you decide. If two people on the same course say the same thing, take it seriously.
Should I ask about the social side too?
Yes, and most students will happily answer. Just make sure you also ask about the work: the reading, the contact hours and what the first term is actually like. The social side is the part everyone already tells you about.