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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Reading uni - do most go home at weekends?

40 replies

Newnametostayanon · 21/02/2023 13:22

Does anyone have DC at Reading please? My DC is considering it but has heard that loads of ppl hot foot it back home (many are Londoners apparently) at weekends and the place is a bit deserted? Is there any truth in this?

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 21/02/2023 13:28

Not as bad as Royal Holloway. But it’s too easy to get back to London so it’s inevitable. However not everyone comes from London and making a wide circle of friends is therefore key.

Skiphopbump · 21/02/2023 13:31

DD is in her first year.

DD and her flat mates don’t often return home unless it’s a holiday. They spend most weekends clubbing in town.

Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 21/02/2023 13:51

@Skiphopbump When you say clubbing in town do you mean in London or Reading? Good to hear they don't all go home though!

@TizerorFizz Surprised by that at RHUL. I wouldn't have thought many Londoners live on campus (just commute?)

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Skiphopbump · 21/02/2023 14:04

Reading town, there seem to be a few places to go and occasionally they go to the student union.

Xenia · 21/02/2023 15:50

My son ended up living at home after year 1 at Reading and commuting which is terrible really - he got his degree but I am not sure what else he got out of it. However I don't know where others there went at weekends. I am sure plenty would have stayed at weekends.

Tinytigertail · 21/02/2023 15:58

DD went to Reading, she came home a bit for the first term, bit then very quickly started to enjoy the social life at Reading. There are quite a few clubs, bars and restaurants in town all happy to lure the student in with cheap booze! DD had friends from all over, including students from Italy and the USA.
As PP said, we were put off Royal Holloway as that really did seem like a ghost town at the weekend.

Teenagedream · 21/02/2023 16:42

We visited Reading uni on a Saturday. It was dead there. This was a few years ago.

TizerorFizz · 21/02/2023 16:53

@Newnametostayanon
Royal Holloway is Esher. Students just go home on the train. No, they don’t commute daily as it’s just too far from North London for example. Weekends are different. Esher to Waterloo doesn’t take long.

FannythePinkFlamingo · 21/02/2023 17:03

DD went to Reading. She couldn't come home as we live 200 miles away. Fairly certain most of her friends hung around at weekends too even if they lived closer. She also considered RHU but Egham didn't seem that exciting at all.

benten54 · 21/02/2023 17:37

I went to Reading Uni. Admittedly in the 90's but I know of no one who went home at weekends and I had the time of my life there. I was 400miles away from home and even my closer to home friends only went back during holidays.

We socialised continually whether in student Union or the city

Students these days all seem a bit drippy and incapable of life without parental oversight so maybe it's changed but I don't think location has a bearing on it.

TizerorFizz · 21/02/2023 20:11

Location does if it’s close to home. No one goes home if it’s hundreds of miles. Reading to London is 21 mins by train!

Apologies: RHUL is of course at Egham. However Egham into Waterloo takes longer! I think it depends how big a draw home is. People go miles away if it’s not important to go home. On MN, ease of getting home is a big thing in decision-making!

benten54 · 22/02/2023 09:32

Teenagedream · 21/02/2023 16:42

We visited Reading uni on a Saturday. It was dead there. This was a few years ago.

It's a huge green campus University. The halls are all on the eastern side away from the uni buildings. Most students would be in halls socialising or out doing stuff on a Saturday not milling around the Uni buildings. I had a job 9-5 on a Saturday as did most of my friends. The SU was pumping on a Saturday night though. Had amazing nights there. The joy of a campus is everyone is there in easy walking distance for freshets year

thing47 · 22/02/2023 16:19

On MN, ease of getting home is a big thing in decision-making!

It was huge for my 3, @TizerorFizz – they all insisted on being an absolute minimum of 2 hours' drive away from home. Visiting one DS was particularly keen on to look round we were basically there in 1 hour 45 min so I had to slow right down to just nudge us over the 2 hour mark before parking 😂

Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 16:55

“On MN, ease of getting home is a big thing in decision-making!”

Really? Like @thing47 DC, mine seem to want to be as far from home as possible - they want to explore a completely different area of the country. All choices are minimum 3.5 hour drive away and up to 8. Were you being sarcastic @TizerorFizz - most DC don’t tend to come home during term time do they? My eldest certainly hasn’t done. We go visit once around the the middle of each term though

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Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 16:56

That’s good to hear @benten54

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FinallyHere · 22/02/2023 17:51

No longer at Reading Uni, but hope this blog might be of interest to people who are, or who are visiting Reading

https://ediblereading.com

gogohmm · 22/02/2023 17:53

It was perceived that way back when I was choosing my university, I avoided it for that reason.

Some universities do have more local students or those who go home at the weekend though, dd comes home every weekend from her university (only an hour on the bus)

boys3 · 22/02/2023 18:16

Although the MN HE board can be a bit of a middle-class microcosm, focused on a limited number of unis, the reality is that a majority of undergrads do not go to unis 100s, or even 100, miles from home.

@Newnametostayanon a bit like you mine have gone a reasonable distance. But across the piece and looking at all Unis, rather than the narrow MN approved subset, a lot stay relatively local in terms of region at least.

Reading Uni, trying to stick at least a bit with the thread topic, near 60% of UK undergrads at Reading are from either London or the South East. Another 25% from the East or South West, bearing in mind the latter starts at Swindon. less than 4% from the combined North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber. A slightly bigger proportion from Wales - in the main South Wales. Direct train or straight down the M4.

Royal Holloway, 75% from London or South-East.

So I think Fizz was making a pretty accurate overall observation.

But I’ll not derail this thread further.

Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 18:34

Hi @boys3 those stats are so interesting! Can you perhaps advise where you found them please as I’d like to look up some other unis? I personally would prefer a much more diverse regional mix

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boys3 · 22/02/2023 18:52

@Newnametostayanon the raw data if from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) table 59. It needs to be filtered, downloaded and manipulated to make real sense of it.

but if there are any particular unis you are interested in just post them on here and I can fairly easily show their home undergrad breakdown.

Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 20:06

@boys3 that is really kind. Am not great with stats (let alone filtering them!). Would love to know about Nottingham (uni - not Trent), Birmingham, Sheffield Hallam and Aberystwyth if u get chance. Thanks ever so

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NevieSticks · 22/02/2023 20:09

I lived 14 miles from my Uni and never went home during term times 😂😂

Original poster
Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 20:11

Lol @NevieSticks! I’d be quite hurt if mine were that close but never popped home all term 😂

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NevieSticks · 22/02/2023 20:15

Newnametostayanon · 22/02/2023 20:11

Lol @NevieSticks! I’d be quite hurt if mine were that close but never popped home all term 😂

It was the 1970s is my excuse 😂😂

boys3 · 22/02/2023 21:30

@Newnametostayanon

here you go 🙂

Reading uni - do most go home at weekends?