When students finally finish their 13 years in school one of the first things on their mind is when they can move out of their parents house and get a place of their own. After 18 years, most students are ready to escape from underneath their parents’ watchful eyes so that they can experience what life is like living on their own. It is rather confusing when looking at the different types of student accommodation that most Universities offer, especially if you are the first child in the family to go to University and have no friends who have attended earlier.

Student Accommodation – What you need to know

The first thing to understand about student accommodation is that you will be paying for it. When you pay for University you will need to pay for a variety of things. Your Tuition fee loan is there to cover the costs of education, for example to pay the lecturers, pay for the lecture halls and so on. You will also need a maintenance loan if your parents aren’t paying for your day to day living. This is to pay for your accommodation, your household bills, food and just general day to day living. Oh and don’t forget the all important ‘going out’ fund. You will quickly realise that what you get given is by no means enough to pay for everything unless you really scrimp and save and generally don’t have a life. What is essential here is to either get a job or to ask your parents for extra money. You could try asking them to pay for your rent which would leave you with lots left over to pay for everything else. From personal experience this is always a winner and allows you to do a lot more things.

At some Universities first year students (freshers) can live in student accommodation which is provided on campus. This will come in the form of dorms or just large houses converted into may bedrooms. This is one of the best ways to get used to University life and is a brilliant way to meet lots of new people because you will quite often be sharing with 50+ people.  Living on campus means that you won’t be living on your own and will eventually have a lot of friends which always makes things easier when you leave home. Smaller Universities only allow you to live on campus for the first year but some have big enough facilities to allow you to be there for the full 3-4 years. I found that living on campus for the first year and then getting a house with friends (in my case 7 other people) is a very good because you can have all the partying in the first year and then have a slightly quieter environment in the second and third year to concentrate on work. I say slightly quieter because it all depends on who you live with really...my friends just happened to be the noisiest people around.

Different types of Student Accommodation

Most Universities have a variety of housing options available to students. Those who wish to live in a more communal environment can live in dorms where you have separate bedrooms but share communal areas (the best way to make friends). You may also be given the opportunity to have catered or self catered accommodation. If you are rubbish at cooking or maybe even scared of the kitchen, like I was, then catered is definitely the best option. Well, I say the best option but you have to hope that the canteen is up to standard or else you will be stuck with slop for the whole year. Another option is living in a privately rented house when you may or may not share with other students. Most Universities have a list of approved and regulated landlords so it is worth checking that out because it is sometimes risky renting of people who are unregulated. The final option that I can think of is living at home. This will obviously come with the benefits of not paying rent or bills and not having to do your own cooking, washing or cleaning but you will lose out on the University experience and may well be left out of a lot of social events and just miss the general banter of being with other students.