Every Wednesday from the 15th September students can visit the Thinktank owned by Birmingham Museums Trust for free.  Free student Wednesdays will enable any student with a valid student photo ID to enter entirely for free! There is even a student discount in the gift shop. A visit to the museum on a Wednesday will be a cheap but enjoyable trip.

You might be asking yourself: is this student promotion really worth it? I visited on Wednesday 12th January, and I personally believe the museum is definitely worth visiting on student Wednesday.  During the week is a quiet time for the museum industry and as a result, you will have plenty of peace and quiet which will allow you to freely look at the exhibitions within the museum at your own leisure. Visiting a museum is a chance to relax from your stressful university schedule. 

The Thinktank exhibitions are spread out of four floors, with each floor possessing its own theme. Level zero is ‘the past,’ level one is ‘the factory,’ level two is ‘our world’ and level three is ‘the future.’  My personal favourite is level zero as my favourite historical plane, the Spitfire, is suspended from the ceiling on this level. I also enjoy the old Birmingham tram which can be found on this level. On level one you can read all about the Spitfire which I very much enjoyed due to its place as my favourite plane.  

In the museum collections, you can find items that have been made in Birmingham in the past. I believe that students will enjoy learning about Birmingham and its heritage, especially those who have travelled to Birmingham to attend University specifically. Birmingham played a significant role within the history of England, a fact that students can begin to unpick at the museum.

On level three you can find a robot that you can command via a panel. I think students will very much enjoy the robot as you can choose the speak, gestures and expression for the robot. It is definitely rather fun to play with the robot. 

 There is a section on medicine on level two which I believe students who study medicine will find interesting.  The exhibition on the topic is easy to follow and engage with, however, and as a result, I would suggest that students regardless of their chosen subject at university will enjoy learning about how medicine and science have changed. 

Engaging with local culture is important while studying at university and what better way to do that than via a museum.  To visit everything within the Thinktank would take you about two hours and I believe that it is a great way for students to spend two hours of their time! I would definitely suggest that if students are looking for something to do on a Wednesday, they should seriously consider the Thinktank. 

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