Oxford Brookes - Accomodation Advice

[Flossiefoo]

So many varying reviews online so looking for personal recommendations & why please.

DD going next year, need to know Shes safe & not travelling at on bus at night on her own if at all possible / important to me

It's hard, but you have to let go a bit. Wherever she lives, she might be going out and travelling on the bus on her own. She's going to need to decide what's important to her when choosing her accommodation, it's not fair to burden her with your worries.

I'm a bit confused....OB is a campus uni?

Oxford Brookes isn’t a campus Uni, the housing is spread all over the place. The bus service in Oxford is good and the streets are well lit. It’ll be likely that your daughter will go out and about in groups so should be able to get out and about without issues.

When I visited last year - it most certainly was! First year housing all on campus??

My DD is there, as a first year she was in a shared house in Crowley. Some of the student housing is in Wheatley, some in Headington, some in Cowley, some in Botley. It’s all over Oxford.

OK, will take your word for it obviously but there is definitely stuff on campus - eg Clive Booth and Cheney. Not sure of the systems for allocation.

It is a campus uni, though : it just doesn't seem to have enough on campus stuff by sounds of it!

I'm the nicest way possible this isn't about you. She may want to travel alone or in a bus at night time, she may not. But it's a normal thing to do as a student and she should be making the best decision for her not you, she will be an adult by the time she goes there.

What course is she doing, what campus will she be at, it's probably best to be at that one.

The halls are all on University bus routes (you get a bus pass as part of your rent).

Cheny and Clive Booth are on the main campus so fewer busses (although it's still 10 mins on the bus into Oxford)

Anything at Harcourt Hill I would avoid as it's the other side of the world Oxford and the busses stop at 11 (or at least they used to) and don't go at all if it's snowing.

I don't know anything about the private halls as they were still being built when I was there.

@Piggywaspushed - Oxford Brookes has more than one campus. My elder daughter was in accommodation at Harcourt Hill, which is a few miles from the Headington campus. Her accommodation was fairly basic but astonishingly cheap.

Oxford Brookes runs a bus company with routes between the campuses and out to areas where a lot of students live (e.g. Cowley). It's free for students and makes it fairly straightforward to get between, say, Harcourt Hill and Headington. Time-consuming, though.

@User478 - my daughter was in one of the private halls (can't remember the name) but moved back to Harcourt Hill after about 8 weeks because the private one was so expensive and she wasn't really using the additional facilities.

Thank you but I’m interested in advice on accommodation not whether I’m deemed to be over protective. I’m well aware my daughter will be using public transport, as she does already .. my concern is at night on her own as any parent would be (I’m assuming) ! And if there is preferred accommodation to avoid too much of this then that would be preferable. my dd is pretty independent already, we’re both just trying to research what is best for her, I am supporting her research by asking advice on MN. There are so many varying reviews we thought it sensible to ask for personal experiences

My DS was not on campus at OB in first year - privately rented accommodation was all that was left.

Check out how many days of the week your DD will have lectures etc. We worked out that my DS would have been vastly financially better off if he had gone to a premier inn for 2 nights a week as he only needed to be in uni for a block of 3 days and came home (about 70 miles away) the rest of the time.

He was coming home for the rest of his week anyway (his choice - girlfriend was the attraction, not us!) and the rental was a waste of money.

Can't she just Uber back at night if you/she are concerned about night buses

Choose one of the halls located on campus? Personally, I stayed in Crescent halls when I attended…waaaay back in 2006… buses were fine and I never had any problems walking alone. It was the cheapest option which was why I chose it. I became so much more independent because of this, having grown up in the arse end of nowhere in the Cotswolds I really found it helped me ‘grow up’.

However Clive booth and Cheney are right by campus for ease? Cheney was always the go to halls for the rah kids, I guess it’s probably still the most expensive halls? She’s still going to likely walk to town or get a bus from there though.

After halls, a lot of student houses are located off Cowley road? I stayed on East Avenue… not great… was burgled 3 times. Student houses suck.

DS was at The Mews. He used to walk back late at night. He said 0xford felt incredibly safe even at 3am, partly because there were usually other students around.There is a Brookes bus that does a circuit of all the halls. A lot of the "fun" is happening in Central Oxford so ironically even if you are on campus (Student Union stuff near then of course) you are a bus ride away from Headington.
Second year Ds chose halls in Thames Street, third year settled on a Brookes letting flat in St Clements. Unfortunately the best location coincided with Covid.
I think all the first year halls have different advantages...even furthest isn't that far

Agree that she needs to know which campus she'll need to be at in order to work out which accommodation is ideal. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 that I know about it, only some walkable from each other!

There's multiple campuses and accommodation is scattered. Your dd will be able to state her preference for accommodation but there's no guarantee that she'll get it. For instance (not Oxford brookes) my dd got her 5th choice despite have sn that gave her priority!

I had friends that found being away from the main headington campus quite isolating.

Stick to Clive booth and Cheney if you can afford it. Or any newer headington options!

You may also not get much choice. I know people who got their 5th choice (out of 5)

Agree with PP though that Oxford is generally very safe

Fwiw ensuite rooms are smaller and more expensive. The less "shiny new" halls are much roomier even if there are less mod cons. It's a bit of an optical illusion. Double beds also make rooms smaller

Yes, sorry, I did know there were several campuses. I was probably sloppily assuming the DD was in the main one!

And, yes, OMG, accommodation at OBU on campus in the 'nice halls' is SO expensive!