Advantages: Freeview BBC
Disadvantages: Can you think of any ?

...***INTRO*** University Challenge a TV quiz programme now over 40 years old and worth watching. 1st started in 1962 and originally by Granada Productions for ITV it was dropped in 1987 after 978 episodes. Brought out of retirement in 1994 by Granada for BBC 2. The show has had 2 and 1/2 hosts? : Bamba Gascoigne (1963 - 1986) specials 1993, 1998. Jeremy Paxman (1994 - present). And the 1/2 Angus Deayton (comic relief specials). And 2 co - hosts providing the voice over: Jim Pope (to 2002) Roger Tilling (2002 - present) The original broadcaster Bamba Gascoigne was only 27 years old when he got the job. At its height the programme had 11 million viewers for ITV. Former alumni include Stephen Fry (writer/actor) Malcolm Rikkind (MP). ***THE PROGRAMME*** SET - UP Two teams of 4 students each team drawn from 1 University... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great people, small campus feels like a little villager.
Disadvantages: Not highly rated accademically...

..., a newly built canteen offering a good range of meals at very reasonable prices and a library that houses a vast array of books, journals, previously written dissertations and plenty of computers to access. I very rarely had a problem finding a computer, usually if I did struggle it was because I had 3 or 4 friends with me and we were all looking for one, our fault really. The exam process is very well organised and the University makes it very clear where you need to be and at what time as to avoid anyone missing those all important exams. The exams are very challenging and definitely test your knowledge of the entire syllabus. At the end of each year the University put on a big event called pav fest, in my first year it cost £5, second year £10 and third year £25! The third year was the best because it was on the day of England's first... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fit study in with other commitments.
Disadvantages: It can be difficult to motivate yourself to study alone.

...I applied to a red brick university in 2003 , got a place and was due to begin in September 2004 , however I then discovered I was pregnant and the university staff advised me that they did not think it would be a good idea for me to do the course as I was due the day the course started ! I was pleased to be having my baby but was a bit disgruntled that I wouldnt be going to university because its something I had been wanting to do for a while but never had the courage to do it. Those of you who have had children will know that signing up for all your pregnancy and baby freebies means you will also recieve hundreds of leaflets and advertising information, usually I just put it all in the recycling bin, however the leaflet for the OU caught my eye. I sent off for a prospectus and was amazed to find that the OU had hundreds... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Paxman's style, interesting and fun
Disadvantages: Makes me feel stupid :)

...Britain has many national institutions – football, that classic British comedy style, fish & chips – the list goes on and on. However, within this menagerie of many and varied classics, it's easy to forget one of the best of all – University Challenge. University Challenge has been going for years now – it first started in 1962 with Bamber Gascoigne, and was presented by him until 1987, when it disappeared until being revived by the almighty BBC in 1994. I wasn't around for the majority of the original run, so I can't tell you an awful lot about that, but suffice it to day that the format has remained pretty much the same to this day. For those of you who don't know, University Challenge is played just how it sounds – a challenge between universities. Two teams of four students from two universities come... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Open to all. No age limits. No formal qualifications required. Flexible. Fun. Challenging.
Disadvantages: Requires dedication, commitment, persistence and discipline

...****************************************************** RESULT!!!!!! Passed the last exam and will become the proud owner of a Certificate proclaiming my BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences with Biology and Environmental Science in June 2003!! The only problem that I have now is... What do I do with all the spare time that has suddenly come my way!!! ****************************************************** INTRODUCTION I have been studying with the Open University (OU) since 1995 and should complete my BSc in Natural Sciences (Hons) this year (assuming a successful exam result). I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience of the OU and thought that a synopsis of my experiences might be useful to anyone considering this route to Higher Education. WHY THE OU? As a teenager, I was predicted straight A’s in my A Levels... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Challenging, informative, entertaining without being frothy
Disadvantages: Interruptions sometimes mean you don't hear the full question

...I tend to be rather selective about watching television, but one programme which I regarded as a must for many a year was ‘Mastermind’. Call me fussy, but I have a rather low tolerance threshold for the more frothy, funny [sic] games show-type quizzes. The genial Magnus Magnusson, the black chair, deathly theme music and those memorable catch-phrases, were essential viewing. (I even applied to be a contestant three years in succession and finally got an audition, but that’s another story). In 1997 it was retired, and I started watching ‘University Challenge’, a programme I knew little about and had for some reason never bothered to try. Now that’s become a must as well, or should I say instead. ‘University Challenge’ first hit the screens in 1962, and for 25 years it was presented... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The superior quiz
Disadvantages: Some question topics very obscure

...When I was young I used to watch I used to watch University Challenge with Bamber Gascoigne and dream of one day appearing on the programme. As the teams were introduced I would give my name and where I was from and what I was reading probably something like ‘polydeuces from Manchester reading frantically’. I did have normal dreams too but sadly I never made as a popstar or as a footballer either. Still I didn’t realise what a joy working in the plastics industry would be and that those dreams would be so comprehensively eclipsed. After a gap of a few years University Challenge returned with exactly the same format as before. The only significant change was that dear old Bamber had gone to be replaced by Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman. The questions still begin with the starter for 10 –surely one of the first... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Intellectually stimulating, the chance to test your general knowledge
Disadvantages: Obscure subjects

...OK, fingers on buzzers please, here's your starter for ten: Which politician was asked the same question twelve times by Jeremy Paxman during an edition of Newsnight in May, 1997?............. Well, that was over eight years ago, of course, and while not exactly having mellowed with age, Paxman has at least become somewhat less relentless in his quest for the truth, and a little more merciful towards his victims, in his parallel role as question-master in the long-running BBC2 quiz series, aptly, if uninspiringly entitled, University Challenge. Paxman is only the second person to host the show during its long history - the original quizmaster was of course, the impeccably mannered and slightly reserved Bamber Gascoigne, who presided over the programme from 1963 until it was taken off the air in 1986. I can remember gathering around... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Study from home, budget account, well structured
Disadvantages: Can easily fall behind

...I completed my degree at Glamorgan University in 1998, and decided last year that I wanted to complete further studies. I decided that studying from home (distance learning) was my best option this time round, some colleges and Universities offer this option but not to the extent the Open University does. I wasn't sure in what subject I would like to do further studies so sent for some information. Open University sent me comprehensive brochures and booklets, which not only listed the courses and modules offered but what they are worth and how you can build them together to form diplomas/degrees/postgrad. qualifications. I also found out that to study OU diploma and degree modules you do not need to have a certain level of educational qualifications, in fact, you don't need any at all. I opted for a Linguistics module (U210), as I had... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: excellent courses, good support
Disadvantages: expensive

...I have spent the last three years studying for my BSc with the Open University. Having studied for a time at Lancaster University (in my much younger days) I would have to say that the standard of support which I have received from the OU has been far better than anything I ever received from a 'conventional' university. Admittedly, when you are 'distance-learning', more of the material has to be delivered to you in the form of preprinted course materials. However, I believe the content of the OU courses to be of a far higher standard than that of other universities, and I know that this opinion is shared by many who have studied in both. It has at times been suggested that the OU is some sort of 'sub-standard' alternative to mainstream university. If anyone still feels that way, I challenge them to undertake a course... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful