I arrived in Sheffield two weeks prior to commencing university so I could explore my surrounds, do a few sightseeing trips (ie. to London, Leeds, Manchester etc) and attend my pre-enrolment sessions. It was great to have time to settle in and see a bit of England before university pressures surmounted, and the latter was simple yet informative and helpful in my transition to Sheffield Hallam. The International Staff at Sheffield Hallam are incredibly helpful, as are the general English student body I found. This was a first impression which carried through the entire semester.
During my semester abroad I studied four units, which only had one assessment piece (100%) each which was a much easier work load than the usual three assessments items per subject at QUT! Despite the smaller workload, the subjects I studied at Sheffield Hallam were extremely similar to those at QUT both in delivery and content. The majority of English universities use BlackBoard and other administrative processes and teaching methods, such as assignment hand in procedures, CRA sheets and lecture and tutorial sign on, were also similar to QUT. This aided immensely in the transition to university abroad, and the smaller workload gave me extra time to travel.
Sheffield Hallam consists of two campuses, both within 30 minutes’ walk of each other; however, all my classes were located at the city campus. The city campus is ideally located right in the middle of the city centre, surrounded by shops, eateries, the train and bus station and student accommodation. Additionally, both campuses have a range of facilities such as computer labs, libraries, printing and copying services, resource rooms, eateries, sports venues, gyms, etc.
