Peter England, a final-year Law student on the UK's smallest - but possibly most flexible - university with multiple course start dates each year and a two-year fast track undergraduate degree programme.

Being a student at Buckingham

The University of Buckingham could be described as a ‘hidden gem’ in the field of higher education for a number of reasons. The university offers multiple start dates in January, July or October, which is very flexible for students and the two-year honours degree provides a fast track route to a degree without compromising on quality.

It has the highest proportion of foreign students of any university in the UK at around 65 per cent, adding to the cultural mix. It is also the smallest university in the UK, currently supporting 800 students in their academic work.

Buckingham is a market town and has a good selection of high quality shops and restaurants as well as the usual high street chains like WH Smith, Woolworths, Boots and Tesco.

The town boasts a good public transport service with regular buses linking the town to Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge. The X5 bus service that runs on the described route operates every 30 minutes making it a popular method of transport for students. Tickets cost from around £2.65 for a single with Student ID.

Milton Keynes railway station is 20 minutes way from the university and there are regular trains to London.

Study time

Studying might be the least important topic of conversation but it is one of the most important things to consider about a potential universtiy. At Buckingham students are expected to work hard as the two-year honours degrees cover a lot of ground quickly - but the academic ethos is centred around supporting students.

The campus is divided into Hunter Street, which includes the Business school, and Verney Park which houses the Law school. The libraries are well staffed by a team of professional librarians who are very willing to help students. There are no waiting lists for books, which is a huge advantage compared with other universities. There are also plenty of study places that students can use and only fill up when exam season starts.

Computer rooms are located throughout the campus and there are always free PC workstations for students to use.

It should be noted that courses at Buckingham place far greater emphasis on exams as an assessment method rather than coursework.

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