I was studying Games Design when the COVID lockdown hit. I had an interest in music and had music programming software on my computer so I just gave it a go. I discovered I preferred making music to gaming, so I asked about switching courses to Electronic Music Production – and that’s what I’m studying now!

There are quite a few success stories of students who had previously studied here. One was Ben Hemsley, which was quite recent. The University Centre doesn’t just have good education standards, they make sure that you have the experience needed to have a career in the industry as well.

There aren’t many courses in Electronic Music Production specifically, at least in the North East. Moving out was also very expensive, so I felt like it was a good option to Step Up from my Level 3 course at Newcastle College, as there's already a good course.

You can access the studios and you can rent equipment as much as you want (for free as well!). This means if you ever want to work on something over half term or over a weekend, you can still use some of the equipment.

It’s also great to collaborate and work with other departments. We did an event module recently where we used the Powerwall in the Mandela building. I've heard a lot of people collaborating with film students too, it’s great that we're able to help each other!

Just being around other people who also make music. It’s really inspiring!

They’re so knowledgeable. I like the fact that a lot of them do other work related to music outside of teaching. They’re more up to date with how the industry works.

I've got ADHD, so the Academic Coaches have helped me with assignments and deadlines. That's helped a lot.

Expanding my knowledge. I now have the confidence to learn and use these systems that previously I was unfamiliar with, such as Ableton and Logic.

I’ve learned it the music business can be quite a cutthroat industry, but the course has prepared me for that by improving my confidence to just go out there and get my music heard. I'm now more knowledgeable in terms of how the industry works.

Make sure you get 100% attendance! It’s too good to miss a day.