Chemistry BSc(Hons): What our students say

"I came to the UK from Japan in 1999 and had been teaching Japanese part-time in a private school, but I found it difficult to obtain a work permit visa with only one subject to teach. This degree is the first step to starting a new teaching qualification with more subjects, in my case biology and chemistry.

"I chose to study at Kingston because I was looking for a university that had a foundation course as I had no educational background in the UK. Since being here, I have found the lectures very stimulating, encouraging and challenging. All the lecturers are very helpful. 

"About the second semester of the second year, I realised that we should not consider each module as an individual topic and that the different subjects are interrelated.  I found I could actually use knowledge from one lecture to help myself understand the topic in another and that was really interesting.

"Compared to college, university is more demanding.  In lectures, we are given an outline of the topic from which we have to start our own study.  It is not enough to only learn what is given in the lectures; we have to do more reading outside the class to extend our knowledge.

"There are many advantages to being a mature student. I am more organised than when I was younger.  I am also more determined than when I was 18 (when I first started university in Japan).  I know why I am doing this degree – I have always wanted to teach and this course is the first step towards my future career."

"I am from France but decided to study in Britain, partly to improve my language skills, but also because I wanted to do a specialised degree straight away. In France you cannot specialise – everybody studies the same things until after they have been at university for four or five years.

"I chose this course because I studied chemistry, but preferred biology. In France I would have to have continued in chemistry. Medicinal chemistry allows me to mix both biology and chemistry and, after graduating, maybe choose to study just biology. 

"I came to Kingston because a friend in France had been here and told me about the University. I like the town as it's near London, there are lots of shops – and it doesn't rain nearly as much as I expected!

"On the course I have enjoyed learning about cells and tissue. It's very interesting.  I really also like organic chemistry. Generally, I find it interesting to talk about the human system.

"The teaching is very good. I like the workshops because we are close to the teacher so, if you don't understand something, you can ask questions. Also, if you need to, you can see the tutors in their offices to go through things.

"I haven't had any problems settling in at the University, although the language can be difficult. I understand what I need to on the course, but one of the teachers is very funny and unfortunately I can't always understand his jokes!"