Liverpool isn't half lucky, because it's a city with two standout universities. Founded in 1881,…read morethe city's redbrick offering has always focussed on education that can be applied in future careers, and excels when it comes to courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Dentistry and Business, amongst many more. As per the traditional redbrick standard, the university offers both self-catering and catered accommodation. There's something fun about catered. It makes me think of Gilmore Girls where Rory's at Yale and she and her roommate go down for breakfast into the main hall every morning. Not that I... watch that... Ahem, moving swiftly on, catered options allow for plenty of choice with a pick n' mix continental breakfast or a cooked full on sausage and eggs type one, and evening meals too. They don't tend to do lunch however, but options like these do make halls feel more like 'halls'. A couple of interesting facts about this university - its alumni make up eight Nobel Prize winners, it has the sixth largest financial endowment of all UK universities and newsreader Jon Snow studied there as well as a bunch of other famous people, some of them Sirs and Dames. No pressure then! This is easily on par with the prestigious universities down south and its research facilities really are amazing. If it's the Sciences or the more 'traditional' courses that float your boat, Liverpool University might just be the choice for you.

The University of Liverpool is the main University in the city. It is a well-established…read moreinstitution and is a member of the Russell Group, making it top notch in the research sector. Having spent many years at the University, I had a fabulous experience meeting many students from afar, including international countries and truly tested my own academic ability to the sheer limit! Since I am already familiar with Liverpool, it was a simple choice for me after I left School to make Liverpool my first choice, not that I was being biased in any way. This University has a particularly high reputation especially for Medicine and Engineering subjects but whatever your course, Liverpool will bring many great memories to last a lifetime.

John Lennon Stuart Sutcliffe…read moreBrendan McDermott Ray Walker Margaret Chapman Bette Bright Clive Langer & John Wood Constructed in 1882 and 1910, Liverpool College of Art & Design is an imposing, Grade II listed building on the corner of Hope Street and Mount Street. An integral part of Liverpool's cultural and academic history, it was attended by a stream of influential artists, painters, sculptors, designers and musicians. John Lennon studied here from 1957 to 1960 and forged a friendship and camaraderie with Mersey Beat founder Bill Harry. Legend has it that he also used to play covers of Little Richard and Buddy Holly with his band The Quarrymen in the LCAAD canteen. I was lucky enough to attend film screenings here as part of my degree and the inside of the building is just as impressive as the exterior. Depressingly, I believe the Maghull Group own the site now and have planning permission to convert it into luxury apartments in the future. The Quarrymen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8eqtpLxFO0&feature=related

From the outside, Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts looks like an impressive Georgian building…read morethat is home to important academics. In actual fact, it's an all singing, all dancing facility where students are encouraged to live out their Glee and Fame fantasies! Built in 1825, the building was originally used as a school for boys with past students including Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Hearing the building was empty and neglected in the late eighties, McCartney joined forces with entepeneur and Brit School founder Mark Featherstone-Witty to regenerate and re-open the building as a higher education facility for creatives. After a seven year struggle and mulit-million pound investment, the doors open in 1996 offering students diplomas, degrees and post-graduate programmes in everything from Performing Arts, Music, Dance and Sound Technology to Entertainment Management and Theatre and Performance Design. I've never studied at LIPA personally but if I was in my teens, I might aspire to. Alongside regular classes, there are masterclasses and Q&A sessions with industry veterans and musicians. Previous guests have included Trevor Horn, Malcolm McClaren, Antony H. Wilson, Alan McGee, Cathy Dennis and Will Young.

I lived with 8 LIPA students last year and dealt directly with the institute in helping to set up…read moreand promote performances across the city! I must say, this place breeds talent on a huge scale and I'd never lived amongst such a great group of people before. What's more is they all spoke highly of LIPA and all that it has to offer. LIPA has a huge success rate and many affiliations across the performance industry. It offers classes in singer/song writing, music management, performance, community performance, dance, acting and a wealth of interlinked modules. It's an expensive place to study and can be a hard place to get into due to the amount of applications that the institute receives each year.. But it's a great place, a really sound place (Excuse the pun). LIPA students have a great social community and I was proud to be a part of it as I met some fantastic and talented people from all corners of the globe!

Hope is one of the smaller universities in the UK, and in Liverpool. It is often overshadowed by…read morethe "main" and more prestigious Liverpool University. It claims that the size of the university is beneficial to students as they are able to care and pay more attention to individuals. They offer a wide range of degree options including undergraduate, postgraduate and PGCE courses. They have also been voted the number one univesity for graduate employment in the North West. Some of the staff are decent and some are horrendous - like most places I suppose. In the morning the reception staff are really helpful and kind, whereas in the afternoon, it seems to hurt them to say hello. The canteen.. well don't even go there. The food is disgusting and the prices are ridiculous. There was a sandwich bar, similar idea to Subway which was always extremely popular but for some reason, they got rid of it.

Liverpool Hope has always struck me as a great place: the joint Anglican-Catholic foundation is a…read moregood start, sending a positive message about ecumenical links; and the buildings, greenery and setting are all very pleasant. I have attended dozens of business meetings here over the years, and had several lunches and breakfasts too. It does a good line in conferences and meetings here, and rightly so: they look after you well and the catering is generally of a high standard. Certainly the staff were friendly and eager to help. I only knew a few of the academic staff there but they always seemed to be very positive people. The University has a deservedly good reputation for the quality of its teacher-training in particular and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to prospective students. Hope has a building at Everton too (used for some of its Arts courses, I believe). It's not in such a green part of Liverpool but it's a spectacular building and makes a great venue for concerts. All in all, a great place to study or to come for a meeting.

If you attend University and want to get your books all shiny and new (this ideal lasts for about 6…read moremonths of your first year or until you realise you need new books all the time and it's cheaper to go to Amazon) this is the bookshop to head to. As an English and Philosophy student, I quickly found that the excuse "I've not done my work because the shop didn't stock that particular book" fell on deaf ears - my tutors would take their reading lists over to Blackwells at the start of semester and make sure there were enough copies ordered in. Hence everyone began crying poverty and the new excuse was "I couldn't find it online/in the library" - much fun ensued. Anyway, as an educational bookshop Blackwells is pretty damn good, and as it also stocks used books for more affordable prices, it's hard to find an excuse for why you've not got the books these days. There is also a smattering of stationary and cards etc if you want to give your eyes a break from raking the bookshelves, and a lovely little cafe upstairs. Pretty decent really.

Blackwell's is the ideal place for students to purchase their books. It is opened especially to…read moremeet students' needs and located in a busy student area (on the University of Liverpool campus). Whether it's a certain book you require or not, the bookshop makes decent browsing. With the upper floor also hosting a café, it is an ideal place to share a drink or muffin with colleagues whilst on your lunch break. Since it is a shop dedicated for students, they do student discount offers if you have a valid student ID card. Plus, if you have any unwanted books, you can trade them in for store vouchers provided the book is in good condition and on request by Blackwell's. In addition to books, you will find other items such as small gifts, stationery and audio CD's.

For a wide range of day or night courses, over a wide range of subjects, and taught at a wide range…read moreof times, look no further than Liverpool Community College! This place has done a few mates of mine some huge favours. Mates that dicked around too much in school and then suddenly got to 19 and 20 and realised that they were a bit knackered if they didn't get some qualifications behind them. This is the place that gives you a second chance! They cover a wide range of qualifications, from GCSE through to NVG and AS and A level. I'm sure they have affiliations with adult language courses too! If you want a change and want to give your education another chance, I can honestly say that I've seen Liverpool Community College change lives around!

Nice to see a place like this which is almost a sort of alternative form of education rather than…read moresticking to the traditional routes. This is a place which aims to help the creative talents which inhabit Merseyside really flourish and it appears to be doing an excellent job thus far. Inside this place is smart and the staff seem friendly and most importantly of all they are very passionate about what they are doing which is really refreshing to see. The Green room offers opportunities and why not Liverpool is famed for many things and one of them is its creativity and here it will blossom healthily. Overall great to see somewhere which is providing options and encouraging people to follow their dreams.

I attended this college for two years, I found my the tutors were friendly but all had no…read morebackground at all in the media industry. Instead of focusing on our course i was made to feel like the college pays more attention to the drama students than any of there other courses. I dont recommenced going to this college as before you graduate they pull you aside and try to convince you to take there higher education course after you graduate your BTEC. I didn't feel welcomed and wasn't offered any help. Topics are not explained properly and overall the course is not taught very well. Consider another college instead of this one.

The Faculty of Business & Law is based at Mount Pleasant and combines the Business School and the…read moreSchool of Law. Postgraduate degrees as well as undergraduate degrees are offered and both schools offer excellent staff who are very knowledgeable in their subject and also approachable, which is an important bonus. The Mount Pleasant Campus is situated in a popular student area with many shops nearby and on the Mount Pleasant Campus there is the Aldham Robarts Learning Resource Centre, which is currently being updated to provide more facilities for students and should be a great improvement. The Aquinas Building is nearby and offers welfare advice for students and is the place where assignments must be handed in and the dreaded fees sorted out! The Student Union (very important to students for numerous reasons!) is just past Aldham Robarts LRC and they offer many services including of course food & drink, takeaway or eat in at reasonable prices.