Reading uni - do most go home at weekends?

[Newnametostayanon]

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?

@Newnametostayanon
Regarding going home, if you read the finance threads on MN, lots of posters mention that you should budget to come home - sometimes every few weeks. I have to say my DDs didn’t and didn’t mind where they went but other dc are more attached to home. I think the stats on Reading do give students a greater opportunity to do this. I also think some parents actively expect Dc to come home! So yes. It’s a thing. They don’t stay at uni all term in many cases.

tbh I think it’s a shame coming home is a thing in uni choice. Limits them. Saddened that some parents (according to MN) seem to expect trips home. 18 yo DC are young adults - let them fly

@Newnametostayanon
I find it odd when budgeting that trips home are something parents on MN factor in. We didn’t think about it for DDs. Food, rent and bills plus socialising. DD1 did turn up in reading week a few times but only because she had organised work experience.

DD2 has got Reading as first choice, and shes from nottingham, so dont think she will be coming home every weekend, would be an expensive thing to do lol. I think its good if they stay if im honest, I think going back to mum and dad every weekend, isnt embracing the full independent experience.

@sammyjoanne 100% agree. Don’t want DC coming home - not do they - hence we avoiding unis that have loads of students that do that. All best to your DD. Reading looks great - we did a campus tour in half term

@boys3 thank you so much for that table. Haven’t absorbed yet but will do!

I'm pleased that DD1 is 3+ hours by train and 4 by+ by car so she can't come home between holidays. She was unhappy at the start of uni but didn't come home until Christmas, and by her own admission, knew that it would be worse if she came home. I did go and see her though, which was better.

Reading seems well placed for easy transport to many places in the south east and west, as well as London but that doesn't mean everyone will leave every weekend. I wouldn't let that put me off. They tend to socialise mid-week a lot at uni anyway. For some Saturday and Sunday become the quiet days they catch up on work.

@fortyfifty
I am not sure everyone does that. Quite a few work and prep for seminars mid week.Many don’t have huge contact time so that frees up weekend. Yes, they might do some work at weekends but not full days. With laptops, anyone take work home if they want.

Many uni night time events are held in the week. The town/city clubs hold student club nights in the week. If students do go home at weekends, the OPs dc will still have the opportunity to socialise with their flatmates - that's all I meant. I wasn't making a statement about what all students do.

Saturdays are also used for BUCS inter-university sports matches. Depending on what level you are playing at, this can entail long-distance travel – for example Exeter and Durham are in the same league for some sports…

DS is at Uni 450 miles away and happy

DD considering Reading as it’s close enough to come home easily if she want to

it’s really not as simple as “let them fly” - it depends on the DC! Memories of boarding school for me make proximity an important factor if DD wants to come home. She’s very much a home bird that wants to stay away at Uni but with the option to come home easily when she wants to. There is nothing “wrong” with this IMO.

Certainly DSs experience so far is that most socialising/going out out is Monday - Thursday.

DD at Reading. Most socialising on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Comes home maybe once a month but only an hour by train.

These kids experienced Covid lockdowns, fragmented teaching and unknown exam grading. Many in her year have taken a gap year. Now some courses are primarily online (seems to vary by department) and the continued teaching strikes. One student in her flat went home last weekend in November for Christmas as did not have any more face to face contact. Her lectures and seminars continued so she stayed.

I think it varies from student to student and course by course.

What do they do at home for months on end at Christmas though? I do wonder if Dc who go home a lot won’t leave home. They will look fir jobs at home. If you live in a remote place, that’s difficult. It might slso
limit ambition. When do they leave?

@TizerorFizz my DD works during the long holidays, she’s able to pick up shifts from the job she’s had since 16.

Maybe but loads don’t have this option.