Real-life stories
What I wish I’d known…
Parents and students reflect on their experiences and share their insights on what lies ahead at the start of university life.
E
ven with thorough research and preparation, university life still deliver its own surprises –
especially in the early months. Here are a couple of common ones.
Second-year accommodation According to the National Student Accommodation Survey 2019, run by Save the Student, just over half of all students (54 per cent) rent rooms or houses from private landlords and estate agents. This is most often the case from the second year onwards, and one in five students begin their search for this accommodation as early as November of their first term at university. Sarah Ellis delivered her son Jake to his university accommodation at the University of Kent in late September. She was shocked by how quickly attention turns to second- year accommodation and what that involves. “You’ve just got them off to uni and settled but all of a sudden they’re viewing houses and negotiating contracts,” she says. “Jake and a bunch of lads had
already agreed by the end of October they’d share a house next year, and from the start of November were viewing properties. “Jake’s pretty self-sufficient but you can’t help being involved, as some letting agents insist parents are guarantors for all students in the house, not just their own child. If your teen ends up with a contract like this, you can’t help but feel you need to find out who else is in the house. You’re also forking out for a holding deposit
before paying a full deposit next year.” The financial commitment for second-year accommodation holds further surprises for some parents. Kelly Reid is mum to a student at Kingston University and says: “I wish I’d known that it’s standard for the lease on a student rental to start on 1 July, even if they are not due back for classes until September or October. We just hadn’t budgeted for rent over the summer months.” The good news is universities
generally offer plenty of guidance to students on finding and securing housing through their dedicated accommodation services; this can include lists of approved letting agents and landlords. There are also independent online services that list available rooms in student houses. Sometimes it’s not the accommodation itself that is the hurdle. It’s usually most cost-efficient to share a house with other students, but with action needed so early on in the first term to secure second-year accommodation, deciding who to live with can be tricky for some. Second year economics student
Kerry Stokes, who is at Cardiff University, comments: “I didn’t realise how soon conversations start about who you’ll live with in the second year. It’s difficult if you haven’t made close friends yet. I’d recommend making the effort to get to know people on your course. Joining one or two clubs or societies so you meet people you share some common interests with is also a good idea.
“And don’t be worried if you
don’t have a bunch of ‘best friends’ to house-hunt with. I didn’t know my housemates that well before I moved in with them but after a term of living together we’re a tight group now!”
It’s a big adjustment Heading off to university and living away from home for the first time is exciting but even the most confident of us can find some aspects daunting. Mental health and wellbeing can
suffer, as the results of a large poll of almost 38,000 UK students revealed. The research, conducted by The Insight Network and Dig-In, showed that one in three students (33.9 per cent) had experienced a serious psychological issue for which they felt they needed professional help. Universities are well set up to support the mental health of students these days. The University of Birmingham, for example, has wellbeing officers based within different colleges of the university, while the University of Northampton has a team of mental health advisers and counsellors. Care ranges from drop-in sessions to programmes of counselling and referrals to further health services. The key thing to understand is
that, whichever university you are a student at, help is always available and – importantly – it is free of charge. Turn to the feature ‘It’s You Time’ for more information on maintaining your mental health and wellbeing. l Names have been changed within this article.
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