Student and tutor module reviews

This has been a thoroughly enjoyable module that was required to progress onto another university to finish my physics degree.

The good:

Having physical books is an absolute must for me (whereas some modules are online only) and they are carefully concise and written in a logical way that feels inviting to read. There are many questions, some easier, some more difficult that really helped my understanding while highlighting how diverse, interesting and omnipresent physics is. The level of maths felt perfect and coming from Essential mathematics 1 (MST124), fitted right in with my understanding of the theory. My tutor was generally quick to respond and helped me grasp more complex concepts, so I didn't rely on the forum too much. There are quite a few tutor-marked assignments (TMAs), and each took me a while but helped remove the pressure of passing solely on the end-of-module assessment.

The bad:

These books have to cover a lot of A-level physics, and some university physics, so the sheer amount of content in these books is overwhelming at first, although I feel they have done a good job at condensing as much as possible. However the study schedule suggests a week per unit - as the level of difficulty and amount of content soon increases I found a week was nowhere near enough per unit (25 units in total), and I was devoting many hours every day - it felt like a slog at times! Furthermore, with the priority of writing up TMAs at the same time, this will push you back a bit. I was also juggling SXPS288 as well in that year, so for anyone doing these two simultaneously, know you will likely have little spare time!

In conclusion, this module greatly helped me set the foundations of what's required at university, covering many aspects of physics. I am looking forward to having less volume of work for me at university!

Course starting: October 2021

Review posted: August 2022