University of Sunderland Reviews 

Please Avoid this University of Sunderland in London wasting time at all, they suspended me from the University at the end of course after paying them the whole course rubbish staff unprofessional doesn’t help you if you want to do some changes, bad communication with the Tutor not answering at all nothing…
They failed me with some of exams about misconduct breaking that’s not fair, if they want is anyway can help you is just a discrimination it’s like lottery if they like you they will mark you pass if not kick off. I asked many times them to allow me to resend the assignment and doesn’t work with this for them is to complicate to help, just keep telling same things the most easily answer is unfortunately for students from them… I did the dissertation as well and didn’t want to answer me , spending time on my paper work with dissertation with no answer and any results…

I have just completed my PGCE on Sunderland’s Distance Learning programme. I had a fantastic personal academic tutor, Bruce Forster, who not only provided me with in-depth comments and suggestions on my assignments, but was hugely reassuring and knowledgable with my teaching experiences as well.

A lot of fellow students found the course quite challenging and found the support quite sparse.
However, from my experience, I think that the lecturers are approachable and if you are a student who takes initiative and works hard during the year, you can only thrive under this programme.

All lectures are recorded and available at your convenience, which was great given the time difference. There are forums to chat to other students, and workshops to help with academic writing and assignments. I was able to study at my own pace and succeeded doing so.

I just completed my Master degree with UOS. I won’t say this Uni is perfect but the teaching is excellent , the standard of the tutors are v high , friendly , knowledgeable and quick to reply .

I wish they could run more courses on distance learning mode.

This place is cheaper than 3rd class, rubbish and rude customer service and no standard of education.
avoid this joke place

Signed up for the online MA in Data and Computer Science, about half way through and to be frank the provision is inconsistent at best. Some tutors are unresponsive, some units are poorly resourced. Feedback is also inconsistent - some tutors take the time to write detailed feedback but some don't, writing what feels like the bare minimum of 4-5 short sentences for a project worth 65% of a module - not the most helpful if you want to learn and improve!
Scores of technical issues as well including the current assignment requiring a zip file to be uploaded but the online submission tool not taking zip files - all causing massive amounts of anxiety.
If I'm brutally honest the course feels just like a cash grab from Sunderland University and I feel like my progress is unimportant to them.

I have been distracted from learning about my subject with a general computing course. I've been misled and lied to from the start. Outdated/irrelevant subject matter and dangerous cyber practices (e.g. insisting on Microsoft products, Packet Tracer, VMWare, Teams MS Office and more!). I've provided several warnings and evidence of my claims over the years. For example Microsoft let 750 million customers down with a data breach that included leaving millions of customers details in plain text for all to view(including bank card details!). Now we're subject to another breach. The Uni was considering hybrid 'teaching' before 'Covid-19'. I've had a few relevant hours of lectures, and I'm in my 2nd year. I've been distracted with fluff/padding I feel, and I've nothing to offer a placement. I've heard that the courses are changing in the future, and will be possibly useful, but I'd steer clear unless you want to learn 20 year old disciplines at your own time/expense and guess which language to submit in etc. Also, I don't know how C#/HTML5/JS without guidance or expectations can be beneficial. I'm going to have to unlearn it all for my career, and then learn the relevant skills and disciplines. This has cost a fortune! Now I'm expected to stop tapping a table (real lecture event!) so that I can write a CV and learn how to apply for a role as a mature 'student'. I can't slam my experience enough!! Please consider just going for CISCO certs and getting free experience anywhere that you can!!! I even had a lecturer encourage my class to laugh at my disability. I'm left trying to regain my old skills and look for work in unskilled roles to get away from this hell hole! I've had exams on software I've not been shown, and on pcs that have been hacked, and can't keep system time. During one maths exam a party was going on. During another assessment a stall with an F1 simulator was outside our lecture room going full volume. Existing students are treated like scum, yet prospective students get shown toys they'll never use, and take our lecturers' time up, when they should be fixing problems with machines/teaching students.
UPDATE: Had a 'lecturer' encourage the class to laugh at my disability, and not impressed with the bullying culture. Made many complaints about lack of learning, just to be ignored! This place is a joke at the expense of students!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! They've cost me a small fortune, and a career in computing. I'm going to be shelf-stacking thanks to these thieves/liars!

The customer service from the enrolment team is excellent. The enrolment team are really helpful and gave me all of the information (and more) that I needed. It gave me the confidence I needed to click the apply button. Thanks!

Sunderland is 2 for 2 in getting it wrong with me. I let the first one go. Not the second one - now its all out on the table.

I'm all for being an ambassador for other institutions with which I've had a relationship, as I told the Vice Chancellor ("VC"), but that cuts both ways, doesn't it, Sir? I have no issue telling it exactly how it is about this laughably poorly run university.

The Admissions team dropped the ball on my application in the first instance. It was getting close to the start of the course for which I'd applied, and I'd heard nothing, so I queried them.

First, the Admissions team sought to blame another unnamed colleague for not sending me an email about the application. Admissions danced around explaining the issue of no action being taken on my application, seeking to deflect attention from this error by rushing through the assessment of my documents, until I made clear the matter was not going away.

They didn't have my academic documents (or, it seems, anything) in front of them, so sought these via email.

Two fundamental failures out of the gate. My academic documents mysteriously missing in a digital void on their archaic e:Vision platform (Where did my documents end up? Who has access to them? It's not as though a postal worker misdelivered them to your neighbour, is it?), and despite their system allegedly recording my application with no supporting documentation included, nobody bothered to query this.

It made me wonder then, what the GDPR implications were; indeed, what Sunderland's overall data hygiene was like. As we will see in a brief moment, it only took a couple of months more to see how comprehensively deficient their systems in actual fact are.

But for now, back to the initial, mismanaged application.

The Admissions team, in a mad rush with the VC's boot on their neck, got my application assessed - in a day - without reference to a CV (this was for an MBA course) and despite my ample tertiary qualifications from a world leading university, decided without the benefit of a full application in front of them (they saw my LLM & a related qualification only), to reject my application.

I got a follow up system generated email a day or two later and when I pushed this back at the Admissions team, they gave me their firm, unqualified assurance that I would receive no further correspondence.

It is of note that absolutely none of the above is contentious, at all - the VC unreservedly apologised, in writing.

Cut forward a couple of months. Admissions were not as good as their word. I receive an email from Sunderland, it seems my email address from the application landed on one of their marketing lists.

Now, unless you've positively opted in to marketing emails, that's not at all acceptable under the GDPR. The Marketing Campaign Manager has already unreservedly, and in writing, admitted this and apologised.

Apparently I wasn't the only person to receive this marketing email when I should not have. How many more people's rights did Sunderland breach, one wonders.

Once again, this second incidence of abysmal performance is fully admitted by Sunderland and it is not contentious.

How did my email come to be on a marketing list, one wonders?

I have submitted a SAR so that we can all have a good look at the atrocious handling of the application and my personal data.

The VC wished me luck in his apology email in finding an institution which would have me. Cheers for that, Sir. I'm now doing an award qualification at an Oxbridge university, seeing as Sunderland's standards are just too high - despite an evident inability to either handle an application competently, or properly comply with the GDPR.

Sunderland's Marketing Campaigns Manager, the DPO, and the VC, have all had their attention drawn to this review and my complaints. Sunderland's response as published, in case it disappears tomorrow, states in part "We believe you are in touch with the University and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment on this forum".

If I didn't want your commentary made publicly, Sunderland, why then would I write this, and invite your response?

Are you concerned about what admitting/denying any of this fact pattern may look like?

I don't blame you, as this is a damning indictment indeed.

The OfS and ICO were each notified on 21/09/20.

The DPO stated on 05/10/20 that an investigation of my e:Vision documents (the loss or apparent misplacing of which were known to Sunderland for months - but evidently this was not actioned by either the VC, or by anyone in Admissions) has determined my personal data's security was not breached, with no further comment. Another ICO complaint now in.

The DPO of this institution doesn't like answering questions about their policies. That says a great deal about their candour and transparency.

A great experience! Studied business and management - I enjoyed most of the classes, the tutors were helpful, the premises were new and modern. However, there could have been more free time activities for students.

I studied Electronic and Electrical Engineering and graduated in March 2012. It's really wonderful to be part of the University for a life changing experience. All the modules were structured well, and the mode of teaching was good and I enjoyed that all the way.

UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND IT SYSTEMS ARE TOTAL RUBBISH.

FROM APPLICATION TO REGISTRATION TO EMAILS AND SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS.

NOT A WEEK GOES BY WITHOUT HAVING SOME KIND OF ISSUE LOGGING ONTO CANVAS OR SENDING OR RECEIVING EMAILS.

AS THE SYSTEM IS CONTRACTED OUT IT SUPPORT IS NOT THAT GREAT EITHER, AS YOU ARE WAITING FOR THE THIRD PARTY COMPANY TO GET BACK TO IT WITH A RESOLUTION.

WHEN YOU JUST GET OVER ONE ISSUE ANOTHER ONE FOLLOWS, STARTED IN SEPTEMBER QUIT MY COURSE IN NOVEMBER AND NOT A WEEK WENT BY WITHOUT ISSUES.