Manchester Metropolitan University Arvostelua 

Bar Training Course.

Oh. Where does one start?

MMU Barrister Training Course: Apparently the first assessment is finding the bloody course.

I enrolled on the Barrister Training Course expecting difficulty. LAW difficulty. ADVOCACY difficulty. PROCEDURE difficulty.

Wonderful!

Give me rules! Give me cases! Give me a judge looking disappointed because I’ve somehow cited the wrong paragraph of the White Book!

THAT’S WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR!

What I did not expect was:

“Where’s the material?” “Where’s the feedback?” “Where’s the class?” “WHY IS EVERYBODY NEXT DOOR?”

Because apparently at MMU, locating your own education is part of the vocational training. One day I went to the room on my timetable. Early!

Foolish, I know.

Reckless behaviour.

The class had moved next door.

Nobody told me. No email. No communication. The worst time for my crystal ball to be registered as absent.

So I sat in the room MMU had officially instructed me, as per the timetable, to attend for around half an hour.

And then I was marked absent.

BEAUTIFUL. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

That isn’t poor attendance. That’s an ambush. And later I got:

“You managed to make it this time.”

OH, I DID!

Amazing what happens when the university and the student occupy the SAME ROOM AT THE SAME TIME.

We should publish the findings.

Then there’s Moodle.

Moodle is less a learning platform and more a test of whether desperation can develop sentience.

Everything is apparently there. Somewhere. Probably.

You click one thing.

It takes you to another thing.

That thing contains a document explaining where the original thing has moved.

By the time you find what you wanted, you’ve forgotten why you wanted it and have somehow enrolled on a seminar from 2023.

Then we arrive at my favourite phrase:

“Independent learning.”

YES!

Independent learning is important!

You’re training future barristers, not golden retrievers!

But there comes a point where “independent learning” starts sounding suspiciously like:

“Here’s a video. Watch it at home. Good luck.”

EXCELLENT.

I’ve paid university tuition fees for somebody to introduce me to streaming media.

What’s next?

“Have you heard of Google?”

“£9,000 please.”

That's not teaching, people! That is CONTENT DELIVERY!

Support, meanwhile, is always described as “available.”

AVAILABLE!

Lovely word! Very comforting! Oxygen is available on Everest. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring a bloody tank.

The relevant question isn’t whether support theoretically exists somewhere within the institution.

It’s whether a student can actually ACCESS IT when it matters without beginning a side career in investigative journalism.

Then there’s feedback. Feedback is fantastic. I love feedback. Tell me what I did wrong! Tell me what I can improve!

TELL ME WHILE I CAN STILL REMEMBER DOING IT!

If enough time passes, it’s no longer feedback. It’s archaeology.

“Here we have an early example of the student attempting legal research. Carbon dating places this document somewhere around Easter.”

Now, I’m not saying everybody at MMU is terrible. They aren’t. There are helpful tutors. There are decent people. There are people clearly trying to make things work.

But an institution does not become well organised merely because some lovely people are heroically holding bits of it together with goodwill and email.

A professional course should challenge me because THE PROFESSION IS HARD.

Challenge my reasoning. Challenge my advocacy.
Challenge my research. Challenge whether I can stand in front of a judge without accidentally calling them “mate.”

THAT’S USEFUL.

Do not challenge me to determine whether the class has secretly migrated twelve feet to the left.

And please don’t turn failures of communication into lectures about student “engagement.”

If you tell me to stand in Room A and then conduct the lesson in Room B without telling me, I haven’t disengaged. YOU’VE MISPLACED ME.

Would I recommend Barrister Training?

Yes.

Would I recommend MMU for it?

Based on my experience?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

No.

Absolutely not.

Shop around.

Visit other providers.

Ask awkward questions.

Ask how teaching works.

Ask how quickly feedback arrives.

Ask how information is communicated.

And, apparently, ask whether the classrooms remain geographically stable throughout the lesson.

The law is complicated enough.

Your university does not need to become an additional opposing party.

Two stars.

One for the useful things I learned. And one because, despite everything, I eventually found the classroom.

Awful corrupt organisation with an absolutely appalling record of community relations, trying to ban food trucks from Oxford rd near the campus, allegedly moving sexual assault victims from Halls rather than kicking out the rapists, security that allegedly openly abuse neighbours, allegedly a culture of complete mysogeny in all Halls ignored, rats everywhere on Birley Fields Campus, windows that have not been cleaned for 8 years. The place is a dump.

Particularly unhappy with a
Module I picked here. My tutor is very biased in his political views and made me feel bad for not having his views. It feels so pushy for left wing indoctrination here. I don’t speak on my views and feel they should not push on theirs.

Toxic environment

I have been forced to withdraw from my studies at Manchester Metropolitan University because of a toxic, hierarchical culture that prioritises the egos of staff over the legal rights of disabled students.

As a 53-year-old student with a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) for mental health vulnerabilities, who already has a law Degree and wanted to train to be a BArrister,

I expected a professional nurturng environment.
And thre were sevral poeple who were understanding and tolerant.

But Generally, I encountered tutors—many of whom are practicing barristers—who seem to think they are above the law. And Infer, in a round about way that people with disabilities have no place at the Bar, and hint not to waste our time and money.

The "Barrister Culture" Problem:
There is a massive issue with "positional power" here. I had a tutor who openly state to a class that she "deliberately" ignored all student PLPs (Personal Learning Plans) and that we had to "adapt" as dispabled people dont treated any differetnly in the court room.

This isn't just a "teaching style"; it is a blatant breach of the Equality Act 2010.

Public Humiliation:
When I tried to ask a simple academic question, I was shouted at and ordered to "step outside" like a child. My PLP explicitly states I should never be confronted in front of peers due to the risk of a mental health crisis. This was ignored. In the corridor, I was met with an intimidating "I won't tolerate you talking to me like that" attitude. It felt like being in a courtroom with a judge who has zero interest in empathy or disability training.

Zero Support:
The university culture is incredibly hierarchical. It feels like tutors believe they are owed "extraordinary respect" due to their status, while neurodivergent students are seen as a nuisance. They talk about "dignity at study," but the reality is a hostile, ableist environment where you are silenced if you dare to speak up.

Final Word:
If you have a disability or a learning plan, stay away from MMU Law especially the Bar training Course

They might have the fancy buildings, but they lack the basic human decency and legal compliance needed to support students. I’ve had to quit to protect my mental health. Don’t let them do the same to you.

Inadequate marking process, marked an out of date submission and did not adhere to my medically awarded extension. Not only this one tutor completely missed a submitted clear file and awarded 0 and had to get both remarked. I believe the initial marking of a broken earlier version has biased and tainted the marking of the corrected version. I also note that the remark followed out of process action and the tutors informally remarked within 20 minutes of my email. I have serious concerns about the implications this early marking had on my grade and there is still reference to my earlier submission in the new grading. This is unacceptable and has tainted 4 years of my hard work and will affect me for the rest of my life..you need to make sure tutors are notified when an extension is granted so early out of date submissions are not considered. I also received several rebuttals and refusals to accept the possibility the incorrect version was marked from support staff until I categorically proved it. I will be strongly suggesting to my employment management team that they no longer use mmu as their apprenticeship/upskilling provider. Inadequate extensions policy, bad acceptance from genuine appeals and files missed when marking.

Everything in this university is average and business school is under the average in many situations.

Like the university overall and the teaching is good but my degree staff were poorly organised in first couple of years meaning that slides weren’t put online as they should have been 48 hours before putting those with disabilities at a disadvantage.
Now started my final year and the university have made the decision to move the library so they can clear space to build a new one between now and 2028. This relocation has meant that no books(other than reference books that have to remain on site) are in the library. You have to click and collect them. There are no plans to put books in this interim library as apparently the floors couldn’t bear the weight. Students are unhappy about this, particularly those in final year doing research projects. I think the uni has made a terrible decision, and have underestimated how students used the library and the importance of being able to browse books. Now if you want to do this you have to reserve it, wait until it’s available, collect it (from a far part of library), see it’s not the book you need and return.
I know from speaking to many other students that the lack of library would definitely have been a factor in them coming to MMU had they known it’s not got an onsite library.
The uni do not seem to think this is an issue but instead the new hi tech library of 2028 seems more important than the students who use books and library and can’t get books they need in ebook form(also not everyone likes ebooks)

I started a creative writing MA that was more like a £10 000 book club. It was online and using what was essentially WhatsApp at the time for discussions, even though video software was available at the time. There was no teaching, no theory, no structure. I complained and went through their entire complaints and appeals process. They refused to change anything, and refused to give me a refund, and eventually I quit. It feels like my only shot at getting an MA was stolen by MMU. It seems they had designed a bunch of these low cost(for them), low quality courses in time for the newly introduced MA loan. The course lasted only two years before they stopped offering it. This is scandalous, and worthy of a panorama episode. Universities should not be corporations. I find it chilling that I had no rights to claim my money back for an unsatisfactory product and service, and now I’m paying a load of debt back, probably until I retire. Shame on you MMU.

MMU online MBA

They only want you to inscribe and pay so it is very easy to start the program without prerequisites …but the problems start when you are student…

I attended teacher training during the first lockdown.
I was really disappointed. I know it was difficult for the staff and most did their best but I left feeling ill equipped for teaching, only had one failed placement and then felt ignored until I kicked up a fuss. When problems occured I was basically told to grin and bear it which was not always helpful, especially when you're on placement. My tutor spent most of her time in meetings which, bearing in mind she was our only link to training at this point, was really unhelpful. If I hadn't got us organised to teach each other online we would literally have done nothing. My son had a bad experience in the same university, interior design department. I should have taken his advice and gone elsewhere.

Lovely University as a mature student, loads of support as a history student. The whole department for arts and humanities have been great.

Awful university who are so evil towards those who are mentally ill and suffering.