Hi all, as a student at university myself (3rd year) I remember how hard it was to prepare everything for my first year when I was a fresher, and of course my parents were running around trying to get everything sorted! You can find plenty of forums around the web giving student tips, each one with even more information to remember! I have started a web page, for cheap and simple student recipes specifically - Feel free to submit your own recipes to help other students out! As well as articles, blogs and student discounts all to help students' transition from home to university. Of course the website is a fresher itself so it needs more content but bare with us: www.studentfeast.co.uk
Back to preparing for what to take, the main items I would say that I forgot to take were: playing cards, tin opener, shower mat, sponges for cleaning, tupperware boxes for bulk cooking (this comes in so handy), a flask for late library sessions and most of all - NAILCUTTERS!
while these may seem like small items, they are indeed fairly hard to live without: i would rather have some nail cutters than a rice cooker any day!
Also, don't worry too much (I told my parents the same thing) its easier said than done, but if there is anything left forgotten just post it over to them at their university address, simple!
Finally, it's also worth checking their accommodations web page, to see what is included and what is not... I remember buying a kettle and an iron, only to find out that my accommodation already provided these for us!
Sorry for the essay, but thank you for reading!