First child off to uni accommodation - what do we need?

To be fair I did say in my post what have the DC asked for.

If they’re asking fair enough but ideally dont swoop in and just do it. Or give them a bit of time to find their feet then offer to help with what they need.

They usually learn by asking someone though - in this case it is usually parents.

That’s sort of the point. They won’t know - this is how they will learn - ND aside.

Well said @JustPleachy

A lot of these posters assume that as soon as a young person reaches 18 they suddenly become mature and responsible adults, and we all know that most of them don't.

For all those saying “don’t step in, just let them figure it out” could I politely point out

— there is a difference between a child leaving school in England, where I believe in most cases they will be over 18 with some nearly 19, and those elsewhere. DS will be 16 when he starts.
— I know MN hates hearing this, but some kids are ND and struggle to plan
— some kids ASK for parental help, particularly in combination with the two points above

Some universities have household sales from the graduating students or the ones going for a gap year or the ones who can't be bothered to take the stuff on with them at the end or those moving into furnished flats or house shares for 2nd year

Anyway, check out if they can get 2nd hand if they want to save money on brand new pots and pans etc

I agree let them figure it out when they are there you have to realise that they will become very independent and fearless quite quickly .
My daughter just finished year one at Oxford and she’s changed so much from the person she was in the first 2 weeks of an extraordinary journey in self esteem growth sad life’s experiences especially budgeting without being able to work as is the Ethos of some colleges in Oxford .
They buy stuff as they go pots pans etc and each time my daughter leaves after 8 weeks some of it stays in her small locker and the rest comes home as they rent rooms out in Oxford

Honestly I would take a minimal amount, and let your child buy things when they get there.

It is much easier to unpack a small amount of stuff. So once you drop them off and leave, your child can spend a small amount of time arranging their room. It’s helpful to be busy when you are settling in somewhere new.

Then once they have settled in, they can go and buy what they need - chance to explore the area, and take ownership of what they need, and possibly enjoy a shopping trip with some new friends.

You might find they don’t care about many things that others think are essential. Better to buy things in response to genuinely deciding you need them rather than a whole mountain of stuff “just in case”.

Packing up at the end of term is a lot less daunting if you can keep it minimalist too.

At one point, we had one child going into a UK first year and one heading off for a year abroad.

One took a crammed carload with roof box. The other took a suitcase and a backpack.

They need less than you think.

Somehow none of mine ever seem to have ended up in new halls! Distinct gravitation to the older crumbly end of things.

A lot of the newer halls have key cards, not keys.

I would go further and suggest a Tile or Airtag on the keyring.

One of mine regularly got locked out/dropped the key fob in the laundry/left it in Macdonald's. Game changer to have the key tag plaintively call the phone so they never got separated (well, except for the infamous 'just stepped outside my door in sandals, got locked out, now it's snowing and the nearest spare key is in Munich till Monday' incident. But that wasn't in the first year).

If you want to identify your cutlery write initials on it with NAIL VARNISH.

Or do what my DS used to keep it all in his room in halls so didn't have to identify his own stuff

He had his own en suite so no sharing the shower room so only sharing the kitchen

I would say get 2 of each thing so if they do as my DS did and meet his now wife at university they have a set of cutlery & crockery etc to cook for each other with (he still has the plates/bowls/mugs he left home with)

Yes to a bucket. I got camping ones that go flat.

I bought a little tin containing small tools and filled it with small essentials like ibuprofen, safety pins, condoms, plasters, £20.
Scissors.
sleeping bag for pals to stay.
A few bags for life are handy for laundry, storage and shopping trips.
Day 1 - a box of chocolate biscuits and a bottle of vodka to break the ice with flatmates. Pack of soft drinks to offer around if they don’t like alcohol.

Laundry bag - DIMPA bags from IKEA costs £3 they are large and very strong

So get a couple - maybe one to put the dirty washing in to take to launderette and then another one to put the clean washing in to take back to the room

DIMPA BAG for 3 pounds

Green food dye to put a drop into your milk carton if you have your milk nicked OR wash out and old carton with best before date from a month earlier so it doesn't get nicked

oh then drawing pins

A lot of halls won't even allow blu tak. They usually have a pinbard or something similar for putting up photos etc.

nosh for students, very good cook book
blu tack - they may want photos up of loved ones, friends, pets etc.,
sewing kit

My other top tip is to wear incredibly light and breathable clothing for moving in and out day. Don’t underestimate the number of trips up and down stairs lugging loads of stuff!

There is lots of good advice here already, but I'll add: cutlery with bright/patterned handles so they are super identifiable. Virtually everyone in my DD's first halls had the cheapest ikea cutlery and it kept going missing.
She has a collapsible washing up bowl, so she could empty the kitchen sink and do her own washing up at least when her flat mates were slobs. She ended up keeping her crockery in her room in the end to stop it getting used and not washed up.
She had a small clothes horse for drying her towels after showers.
A good quality memory foam mattress topper was a good purchase.

Over the door hanging hook things
zippy underbed storage bags
hot water bottle
spare toothbrushes, deodorant etc
might need a bedside lamp - check the photos of the rooms
fairy lights
lots of beer
pack of cards and simple games

Bucket, paracetamol, cleaning stuff and a sleeping bag.
I think both DC used this the most in year 1 of their adventures.

Make them pack for themselves, when in halls we mainly used IKEA bags, and graduated to large plastic boxes once they were in student flats. Drop off day for both in Year 1, was turn up, told where to park, car unloaded (with help from a team of students) move car to car park. And then in reverse at the end of the year, although by then it was more throw it in bin bags and get it home!

My other tip would be less stuff is better, the rooms aren't that big and having loads of stuff can be overwhelming.

When do they hear about accommodation? I’d assumed it was around result day but someone earlier said they expected to hear this month.

Door wedge
Clothes Airer
Extension cord / lead
Mattress topper
More teatowels / washing up sponges than you'll think you'll need

Send cheap or second hand pans, keep toothbrush in room (usually you get a sink). Duvet plus couple of covers, check inventory to see if they provide pillows, lamp and bin, some do some don't.

My biggest piece of advice is not to pack too much, most students take things they never used