Student reviews
What is studying medicine at Aston University actually like?
The interview gets you a place; these reports are about the five or six years after that. Gathered from current student and recent graduate forums, weighted by how many independent sources agree. These are unverified community reports, not official university information.
6 reports
Teaching is broadly praised by current and recent students as personal and supportive, built around small case-based tutorial groups of around five students plus recorded lectures that students can skip live and watch back later.
Several reports · 2 sources(spans several cycles)
Teaching is broadly praised by current and recent students as personal and supportive, built around small case-based tutorial groups of around five students plus recorded lectures that students can skip live and watch back later.
"teaching as well as the atmosphere is very interpersonal, supportive and encouraging"
Medmentor.co.uk, quoting Lareyb Noor, 3rd year Aston medicine student"Lectures are all recorded and optional - perfect if you like to watch lectures from home."
Life of a Medic, first-year Aston medical student blog, August 2020In its earlier years the medical school had a noticeably light timetable compared to applicant expectations of a 9-to-5 medical degree, with only around two lectures plus one group-work session per day, partly because it shared cramped lecture space with the Optometry school.
Several reports · 2 sources(older cycle)
In its earlier years the medical school had a noticeably light timetable compared to applicant expectations of a 9-to-5 medical degree, with only around two lectures plus one group-work session per day, partly because it shared cramped lecture space with the Optometry school.
"The medical school occupies a very small section of the optometry school and has to share lecture rooms with optometry students, making it very chaotic... medical students would expect a timetable of 9am-5pm, but they only had approximately 2 lectures per day plus one group work session."
The Student Room, Aston Medical School! thread (search-snippet paraphrase)"Multiple groups working in one small room posed a significant problem because it was very distracting."
The Student Room, Advice for Aston Medical School 1st Year thread (search-snippet paraphrase)As a genuinely new medical school, Aston has had real growing pains: one detailed student review reported clinical teaching fellows and even professors leaving mid-course, leaving newly qualified F1s who were sometimes out of their depth running group sessions, and described general administrative issues as not handled as well as at established universities.
Single report(older cycle)
As a genuinely new medical school, Aston has had real growing pains: one detailed student review reported clinical teaching fellows and even professors leaving mid-course, leaving newly qualified F1s who were sometimes out of their depth running group sessions, and described general administrative issues as not handled as well as at established universities.
"Clinical Teaching Fellows and professors have left the University, resulting in newly graduated F1s who were sometimes a little dumbfounded during group works... challenges haven't been dealt with well compared to established universities."
EduOpinions student review, Year 1-2 Aston medicine student, posted July 2022There is a documented gap between Aston's stated placement quality bar and reality: Aston says GP placement practices should be CQC-rated Good or above, but some practices actually used had not been inspected by the CQC or were rated needs-improvement, and some hospital placement partners were reported as requires-improvement in nearly all inspected categories.
Single report(spans several cycles)
There is a documented gap between Aston's stated placement quality bar and reality: Aston says GP placement practices should be CQC-rated Good or above, but some practices actually used had not been inspected by the CQC or were rated needs-improvement, and some hospital placement partners were reported as requires-improvement in nearly all inspected categories.
"Some of the practices being used have not been visited by the CQC or have a needs improvement rating... all of them are requires improvement in several (some nearly all) categories."
The Student Room, Standard of Medical Student Placement at Aston University not as stated (search-snippet paraphrase)Resitting first-year modules is common and treated as routine rather than catastrophic: one student reported failing 2 of 8 first-year modules and simply resitting them at the end of August, well within Aston's policy of allowing up to 3 attempts per module.
Single report(spans several cycles)
Resitting first-year modules is common and treated as routine rather than catastrophic: one student reported failing 2 of 8 first-year modules and simply resitting them at the end of August, well within Aston's policy of allowing up to 3 attempts per module.
"A first-year student who failed 2 out of 8 modules had to resit them at the end of August, which is a common situation at the university... students can normally be allowed a maximum of 3 attempts to pass a module."
The Student Room, Failed 2 modules Aston university thread (search-snippet paraphrase)Birmingham itself is consistently rated as a genuine perk of studying at Aston: a young, lively city with easy national transport links, rather than a compromise location.
Single report(older cycle)
Birmingham itself is consistently rated as a genuine perk of studying at Aston: a young, lively city with easy national transport links, rather than a compromise location.
"Birmingham city centre is a great place to live as well as study."
Life of a Medic, first-year Aston medical student blog, August 2020Get into Aston University
10 free practice questions with full AI feedback: no card required.