Bristol university halls wisdom

[Tindrum]

Hi

My daughter has decided to firm Bristol University for English. Just wondering if anyone whose children have been in the past have any thoughts or perhaps reflections on the pros and cons of Stoke Bishop (and any further recommendations of halls here) and West accommodation (is there a reason why people don’t go for Manor Hall, Clifton Hill, Goldney etc?). West seems closer and cheaper whilst Stoke Bishop has a rep for a good social life but is pricey and a bit further out. She says she would prefer self catering but that’s not an dealbreaker. She would like a good social element - is the West Village lively as well but Stoke Bishop has the edge? As you can see we’re very confused. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Dd got her first choice ( we were amazed). Most of the prole in her halls seemed to get it as their first choice too (wills).

@TizerorFizz 😂 again, we live in v different worlds. I do not know one child who has their own bathroom. In my world there is one per household.

My son got his third (I think!) choice - and has been utterly delighted with it!

DC got their first choice (University) 2 years ago.
Same year, another friend got none and was offered a shared room in Wills. They were able to move into onto one of the new halls in city centre after a couple of weeks, when a space opened up.

My son is at Goldney and has really loved it. It's a lovely location and you can walk to uni and to town easily. And they have the best balls.
His girlfriend ended up in Stole Bishop in one of the cheapest rooms and hated it. Like living in a shoe box with not enough space for her clothes. And needed to catch the bus everywhere.

My kid got their first choice. We assumed they wouldn’t get any of their choices as that’s what we had heard.

I went to Bristol and was at Goldney, loved it, great location and really friendly atmosphere. The room i had was really basic though, just had a wash basin no en suite. That was 30 (!) years ago though.

NC, glad the first choice (Wills) was obtained. I was surprised a few yeaqrs ago my twins got first choice (Wills and Churchill respectively) when their sister almost didn't get Wills (her first choice back in the day) particularly as there are higher numbers going. Anyway it is always nice to get your choice. Good luck to everyone starting at Bristol and elsewhere this Autumn (IF the A level grades are met of course...... in this first "proper" year with exam marking I think being back to the severity of 2019 for the first time since the pandemic).

My daughter at Goldney got her first choice and has loved it, so much so she has gone back down to party this week and the ball is on Saturday. She chose not to have an en-suite because if you do you are responsible for cleaning it. If it’s shared the Uni clean it. She is both tight and lazy!

So sorry for underlining!

@redspottedmug DD had a shared room in Wills. She was happy with it. She didn’t need all mod cons. Why did your DC move?

@TizerorFizz - Below is an example of the standard of accommodation Bristol show on their website for Wills, that room costing an eye-watering £8,820 (catered) for 2023 entry.

This, for me, would be an example of why people don't want to choose Wills / would want to move from there to one of the newer halls in the city.

Plenty of accompanying images showing how dated Wills is at https://www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/about/residences/wills-hall/

My DS has Bristol as Insurance but has said he'd rather take his chances somewhere else via Clearing if he got allocated Wills (which is a high probability for Insurance) and I wouldn't disagree with him

@bguthb90 Wills has its own vibe. Not everyone needs shiny new expensive halls in the city centre. Horses for courses. I know perfectly well what Wills is like as DD had a shared room there. Much smaller than that one. As I said, boarders make do! It’s just about what suits you but just because Wills is a bit old, it’s a shame to dismiss it. Some also like the dining arrangements. Do not mind the bus snd don’t want en suite or to be near bars.

OP, Dd just finished first year and got Culver House after it had a refurb. Nice and clean room, kitchen with ample storage space and very swank common areas - check out the gallery pics for flats and common areas.

Excellent location on Park St close to city centre and campus.

She enjoyed self catered, was close enough to supermarkets but if ran out of supplies co- op/Tesco Local on her doorstep plus all the cafes, eateries.

She’s going on to share a house with 4 of her flat mates.

I think it’s worked very well for her. She knew she didn’t want SB but it was just a matter of which of her choices she got. Culver may have been second or third.

Hope it works out well for your DD! ( mine is doing English too)

https://www.capitolstudents.com/locations/bristol-culver-house/

originally she should’ve had a wash basin in her room, but they were all removed during the refurb but fortunately the shower and toilet were immediately in front of her room. She paid 6600 for the year.

I went to Bristol back in the day and lived in Stoke Bishop.

My view is that it won't really matter. What matters is whether they make a good group of friends. When I was there some halls had a reputation for something or other, Churchill had a lot of ex public school students, Clifton Hill House was nicknamed Christian Hill House, Durdham was nicknamed Dulldham etc. I don't know whether those stereotypes still exist but my experience was that there was some truth in them but also plenty of people who didn't conform to them.

The Stoke Bishop atmosphere was cool but I also knew people who lived in the Clifton halls and they had a great social life too. If I had my time again I'd probably have gone for Manor.

They'll be there for such a short time, it's definitely possible to overthink this.

One thing I would say is that if they have a hobby which is likely to be heavily based in Clifton (such as music) it might be worth going for one of the Clifton halls.

If boarders are willing to pay over 8k to sleep on what looks similar to a camp bed and work at a desk/chair setup that look like they were built before the word 'ergonomic' was invented then personally, I think they and their parents have more money than sense.

I lived in 3 different College rooms at Durham and one shared flat at Nottingham - all, in the early 90s - and none were as dated as that room.

Yes, students may go to Wills for a particular "vibe" but surely, they expect better standards of accommodation than this ?

I asked dd and if she got to choose halls again, Wills would still be her first choice. She has loved it.
Her room isn't that bad and actually considering food is included, it's not as expensive as quite a few others.

Not my DC , one of their friends. 2 reasons - roommate from hell, plus catered was not compatible with course timetable (sciences with lots of labs).

£8526 for Badock standard with basin catered this year (communal shower room with sub bathroom inside - showers and bath have lockable doors). DS does have an ensuite at home as he has the whole of the loft conversion but didn't mind the communal ones as they were cleaned daily by a cleaner.

Culver House is £8600 self catering. It’s also post grad. Lots of the en suite self catering rooms are as much as Wills. DD was happy at Wills. As most others are. It’s not just about mod cons. It’s about friends and fun. DD can probably sleep anywhere! As I said earlier, Dc mostly will like where they are allocated.

bguthb90 my son's room in the oldest part of Wills was amazing - 2 or 3 times the size of his twins' room in Churchill's "shanty". He had a sink in a cupboard and a huge set of mullioned windows and yes it looked like something out of Brideshead revisited circa 1930 including the sink but it was an incredibly lovely atmosphere and I never felt I overpaid. He made friends for life and was happy to be there.

People pick all minds of different halls in Bristol and tend to find something and people that suit them and it's fine. Each to their own.

@TizerorFizz - my 19 yo Dd must somehow be enrolled on a postgrad course having skipped undergrad 🤔

OP - the fee schedule for 23/24 states £8,639 for a standard plus room so I expect it should be less for a standard room although fees will be up on the current year’s.

It also states that it’s for postgrads which is clearly an error as my Dd who has just completed first year was very much at Culver House.

However there is postgrad accommodation and she tells me that initially the first years and postgrads were quite chummy. She even got invited to some of their very nice meals. Near the end though the first years were like a scourge, partying while the postgrads were trying to study!

She had a standard single room and I know, since I paid for her accommodation, that it cost 2,200 per term.

When applying you’ll get a drop down option for each type of room available in specific halls and you’ll quickly see the difference in costs per room type/catered/self catered. The difference can be quite significant.

If she fancies that part of town and doesn’t mind self catering it’s really lovely!

As a parent of a current student I’d definitely recommend steering you child toward one of the cheaper options. If they are on a full maintenance loan the more expensive options will pretty much use it all up, and if they only get the 50% maintenance loan you’ll probably be paying for most of it, and personally I don’t think they need en-suite ( they won’t get it in year 2 onwards) for an extra 2 or 3 thousand pounds a year. The loan hasn’t changed for years but the accommodation costs certainly have and it surprises me that the cheaper options still tend to be the least applied for!
All the accommodation is pretty good and what you make it plus a bit of luck with regards to your flatmates. All will have some like-minded people to make friends with but the halls do tend to live up to their reputation to some degree and attract a certain crowd. Manor hall is a good cheaper option especially if they are into musical theater ( although many students there are not ). University hall is a good fairly basic option if they want to be in Stoke Bishop.Not a great communal area in each flat but it’s sociable without being too full on. My daughter has friends across the halls which she has made from her course and this is a summary of her views for the past year. Wills- not everyone is posh and most people seem very happy there but it is expensive and the other SB students do tend to heckle them ( apparently in a light hearted way) as they get off the bus at Wills. Hyatt baker is very nice but big flats and if you end up in a party flat it can either be loads of fun or very annoying. Baddock seems down to earth and not the druggy reputation it’s given, at least this year. Churchill has a good friendly vibe if you want catered but again expensive and a bit far from the other SB halls. Generally catered is expensive for what you get as most people miss breakfast and the quality of food isn’t great . Durdham seems quiet and despite central location in SB she seems to meet few people from there. Goldney seems lovely but hard to get in to. She hasn’t met anyone from Clifton hill house so seems one of the quieter halls. She has a few friends spread across the newer city halls. Personally she would not choose them but nice rooms and facilities and central location albeit a less studenty vibe. Her friends in these halls are happy and prefer a slightly quieter atmosphere.
If it’s like last year, you get 9 choices ( which can be the same accomodation but choosing between standard and basic room, en suite and shared etc) and apparently about 80 % of students get one of their 9 choices . Self catered en suite in SB or in Clifton tend to be what most people want, with Goldney and Hyatt Baker usually being the most oversubscribed. You’ve still got a fair chance of getting these if you put as first choice ( I can’t recall the figures but I think about 2:1 applicants for each room) but you have no chance if you put these ones as a lower down option. It’s a bit of a game and a gamble, but my daughter decided to put a couple of undersubribed options that she wouldn’t mind going to in her 9 rather than risk getting none of her choices. She ended up getting her 9th choice - basic room in university hall, no sink , shower and loo shared between 5, small kitchen but cheap. It took a few weeks for her to settle and make friends but she now says it’s the best hall of the lot ( as most people will wherever they end up if they make friends with their flatmates or neighbouring flats).
Hope this helps.