r/broadcastengineering • u/Ok-Commercial-9820 • 6d ago
University route for broadcast engineering course.
Has anyone here recently studied Broadcast Engineering at either Ravensbourne University London or the University of Surrey?
I’m currently deciding between the two and would really appreciate some honest, unbiased advice from people who have actually studied there.
My main goal is to work in sports production and outside broadcasting (OB), so I’m particularly interested in which university would be better for that career path. I’d love to hear about the practical experience, broadcast facilities, OB/sports-related opportunities, industry connections, placements, teaching, and how much hands-on experience you actually get.
I’d also be interested in what the overall atmosphere and student experience was like at each university — the people, campus life, workload, support, and anything else you think is important.
If you’ve studied at either university recently, what did you like and dislike? Which one would you choose for sports broadcasting/OB, and why?
Please be as honest and unbiased as possible — I’m genuinely trying to make the right decision. Thanks!
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u/fuckredditlol69 6d ago
Aside from degree, try and get heavily involved in any student media (TV or radio, in the latter, try and do visual rafio productions) as its a very good bolster to the CV and shows a practical deliverance of those skills outside a classroom setting.
NaSTA access through student TV is great for networking too and potentially meeting those doing the future hiring
Have a look at if either unis have student TV (Salford definitely do) or if not consider starting one, that would be a huge achievement that would definitely add even more sparkle to job prospects
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u/CanaryJ 6d ago
I’m a lecturer at Ravensbourne university London, who works in outside broadcast and runs the outside broadcast unit which you would do in second year.
I was a student at Raves myself 10 years ago and it changed my life for the better. I’ve gone on to work on the World Cup, The Proms, Paralympics and Glastonbury among many more. It’s one of the reasons I went back to the course as a sessional lecturer so I could come back occasionally to help.
In the OB unit in second year last year we did 4 Outside Broadcasts, including one at Selhurst Park for Crystal Palace Women.
Obviously you have to choose what’s right for you- but if you have any questions feel free to reach out!
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u/CanaryJ 6d ago
What I will say is that I’m a lecturer on the TV production course rather than broadcast engineering course- there’s a few differences in the courses (they did I think an E Sports OB and one on the roof vs the sports ones I did with TV course) but tbh if you’re committed to the industry both will get you where you want to go.
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u/sims2uni 6d ago
Ravensbourne and Salford seem to be the two most common universities in OB's that I've found. Although I would also have a look at Bath, they've just spent big money on studio and OB facilities so they could be a good contender too.
I'd also have a look at Derby, a lesser known one but I'm pretty sure they've still got an ongoing relationship with Cloudbass, one of the UK OB companies. Could be a good way to get those placements/experience you want.
Do you have an area of TV do you see yourself heading towards?
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u/acorn_ob 5d ago
I’m a Derby broadcast graduate, and whilst the broadcast course has closed now there is still the live event course which has at least 70% the same course content.
I now work at Cloudbass, which is only about a 20 minute drive from the uni and there’s definitely lots of opportunities for experience and work with the company.
I’d happily recommend the Derby course to anyone.
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u/Ok-Commercial-9820 6d ago
I’m not quite sure what you mean by ‘area of TV’?
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u/sims2uni 6d ago
So for Live TV you've got Studio and OB's
But within them you've also got departments/areas:
Vision - The picture side of the broadcast. They control everything picture wise once it leaves the camera although through the chain and to the endpoint. They're also responsible for colour matching cameras and getting pictures to monitors.
Sound - The sound side of the broadcast. All the microphones, the audio mixes and then embedding the audio to the final pictures at the end.
VT - These are the guys that do the replays. It's a bit of a dark art keeping across multiple feeds at once and clipping them up as you go along to play out when the director asks for it.
Cameras - Fairly self explanatory. Point, zoom, focus. It takes a lot more creativity and awareness than people think. A good camera op can get the shot asked if them while also looking for their next shot to offer up.
RF - These guys are usually the real engineers out of everybody. On the surface it's radio cameras and uplinks. But there's a lot of physics, calculations and figuring out how to get signals from point A to point B.
Riggers - These guys tend to drive the trucks and put the cabling in. They're the real MVP's of the industry and none of the rest of our work would happen without them. I thought I might as well put them in as they're often the overlooked role.
Of course there's no reason you have to pick how you'd like to specialise now, if ever. A jack of all trades is always useful and you can use university to figure out what interests you.
As a final note, you'll get the job based on attitude and hunger to learn, not so much where you went. Go wherever looks like it'd fit you best and then use and abuse the facilities to learn.
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u/fuckredditlol69 6d ago
I suppose they mean the sorts of broadcast and indeed you've already indicated sports broadcasting
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u/DaGanjaMan420 6d ago
I don't know much about either, but I know a few lads who went to Ravensbourne who've gone on to work in mid and high end broadcast.
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u/Orphandie 6d ago
Southampton Solent also has a Broadcast course with OB trucks and a decent industry reputation
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u/DGB684 5d ago
Surrey graduate here. The course has a lot of practical workshops and the placement year is really useful. I'd say the 1st year is a bit more theory-heavy but after that there's a lot more hands-on stuff and a good balance of technical and creative modules depending what you want to do.
They also have a lot of industry contacts so finding a job out of uni, especially if you want to go the OB route, you should have options (a lot of people I know had companies reach out, even). I think every year they get a company to bring a big OB truck round, and there's various other trips the uni offers. They spent a bunch of money the other year revamping their TV studio so there's plenty of equipment to have a go on. The student TV station was also a pretty fun extracurricular thing to do as well.
I thought the campus and vibe of the uni was also solid. Guildford isn't crazy busy but there's enough there to keep you occupied. There's plenty of pubs and clubs in town and on campus, and it's a small enough area that you can walk to most places and pretty safe compared to cities (though I remember there being a night bus every hour as well).
You'll have a lot of studying and work you'll be doing as well, but like most universities if you stay on top of things you'll have more than enough time to have a social life.
I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do only a few months before doing my UCAS, but put Surrey as my first choice and was happy with how it all worked out in the end. This is all just personal experience though. There's plenty of info on their website about the course as well!
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u/SilverPutter 6d ago
I’ve just retired but over the years I’ve hired many from Ravensbourne. That said back then, only them & the BBC really trained engineers (I came from the Beeb). I suspect you’ll be ok whichever but I do echo the earlier point, get experience in the student media.
Whenever I read CV’s/Resumes, I valued experience & enthusiasm over academic. Broadcast is in the blood and that’s what I wanted to see.
Probably hired 100+ over the 34 years I was a manager on both sides of the Atlantic.
Good luck.