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Higher education

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Original poster

Accommodation at Nottingham Uni

364 replies

ErnestMilton · 23/08/2023 19:38

DD got a place through clearing last Thursday. They guarantee an offer of accommodation. She put an application in immediately and then dashed off for a fortnight's holiday!

Not heard anything yet. Anyone have any knowledge of accommodation at Nottingham?

OP posts:
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6
SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 31/08/2023 08:28

Fantastic uni buy my daughter hates the city. But she’s more of an outdoor person than a city person

Perhaps she chose the wrong Uni then?

Xrays · 31/08/2023 08:50

My dd was in catered halls for the first year as I said upthread, and she absolutely hated the food. It was basically cheap, cold, sub standard school dinner type stuff. But - the experience itself was great, it meant she was sort of forced to socialise with everyone as they have set meal times (if your student gets a job / can’t make the specific times they can ask for food to be put aside for them - usually a sandwich etc). She ended up making a lot of friends and has a really good bond with everyone as a result. The lunch card thing works really well too.

We did end up getting her a toaster and a mini fridge for her room (they may have these now I don’t know, she’s going into her 3rd year soon so this was a couple of years ago, I don’t know what the rules are or what they have now)! So she could make her own breakfast and snacks.

She now lives on Ilkeston Road - this is one of the main student accommodation areas with lots and lots of student houses (and is sadly where the two students were stabbed to death recently). She’s been very happy there and really enjoyed her whole university experience so far, she does however say there is a lot of crime and rougher areas - as with any city. A lot of her friends come from very rich and privileged backgrounds- we’re a low income family - and she says a lot of them seem to forget it’s a huge city with a very mixed lot of people - it’s easy to feel like you’re just living in a big student bubble. Theres good and bad in that really.

somewhereovertherain · 31/08/2023 09:13

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 31/08/2023 08:28

Fantastic uni buy my daughter hates the city. But she’s more of an outdoor person than a city person

Perhaps she chose the wrong Uni then?

Right uni chosen for the course.

shit city - and I’ve family close - so know it well.

she just doesn’t like cities.

rockpoolingtogether · 31/08/2023 09:20

@somewhereovertherain granted this was over ten years ago and when we still did formal dinner in catered halls. I don't think they still do that? My hall also had a lot of vegetarians (due to religion) and they seemed happy enough. I quite liked the social aspect of plodding over to the dining hall for breakfast and dinner although I can't remember what we did for lunch. I think we might have had a meal card which we could use anywhere on campus. Life after halls was worse as student housing is often poor, dodgy areas and expensive. In terms of being outdoorsy, that wasn't a problem as we went out on walks in the Peak District as we had a club that arranged regular hikes. There were plenty of other outdoorsy clubs too.

somewhereovertherain · 31/08/2023 09:29

rockpoolingtogether · 31/08/2023 09:20

@somewhereovertherain granted this was over ten years ago and when we still did formal dinner in catered halls. I don't think they still do that? My hall also had a lot of vegetarians (due to religion) and they seemed happy enough. I quite liked the social aspect of plodding over to the dining hall for breakfast and dinner although I can't remember what we did for lunch. I think we might have had a meal card which we could use anywhere on campus. Life after halls was worse as student housing is often poor, dodgy areas and expensive. In terms of being outdoorsy, that wasn't a problem as we went out on walks in the Peak District as we had a club that arranged regular hikes. There were plenty of other outdoorsy clubs too.

She’s made the most of the peaks and the city. She’s just about to go into 3rd year but on the Nottingham campus in Malaysia before coming back to finish her masters.

we live in the lakes so we have the outdoors on our doorstep.

somewhereovertherain · 31/08/2023 09:45

Should add her year in halls was also during covid and she’s not a formal girl. She did a foundation year in halls and two years in houses before this year then got a year in industry next year and then her masters.

joined the cycling society briefly but they put her off enjoyed the climbing and rugby.

Allloveisbeautiful · 01/09/2023 09:36

Our son has got accommodation at Deakins Place which looks nice but I am concerned now after seeing the comments from @rolo84 re St Peter’s Court which isn’t far… also there are other options available nearer campus (University Park)… wonder if it’s worth seeing if there are any he could change to?

Iwasafool · 01/09/2023 09:40

Definitelyrandom · 24/08/2023 16:40

DS self catered several years ago at Raleigh Park and stayed there for all 3 years so I suppose it can't have been too bad. He cycled to the main campus and walked in and back (briskly!) to Nottingham city centre.

One of mine did that. Loved their time at Raleigh Park.

Fourcandlesx · 01/09/2023 10:26

@ErnestMilton oh great news re Madison Gardens. It looks lovely and is really close to Jubilee so she will still have a campus to use facilities like gym, library, cafe etc without have to go to University Park every time. I actually missed that one when we were looking. She has probably done this but the Nottingham Uni student support Facebook page has links to all the accommodation and course group chats.

@Allloveisbeautiful Deakins place is brand new and full with a waiting list so it's definitely a popular choice, although one of the more expensive. It's definitely possible to switch accommodation via the live chat but if he has already accepted his offer for Deakins you might not be able to cancel if you are outside the cooling off period as your contract is directly with them. Having said that, I spoke with them about something else and they told me there was a long waiting list so I actually think you would be ok on that front.

I don't think there is any self catering close to University Park left unless you get lucky with someone dropping out. You could just try the live chat to see what's available and then see what you think. My son was originally in Nottingham Two but switched to on campus catered as he felt he wanted to be on campus more than he wanted self catered. I'm busy coming up with creative ways to cook using a kettle and microwave as I think he will be starving!

There are pros and cons to all the accommodation choices at Nottingham. If you are lucky enough to be able to get a cancellation and a SC room next to University Park then I would seriously consider switching.

Deakins, Nottingham Two and St Peters are all part of a 'student village' type thing. If you weren't keen on that then Madison Gardens where the OP managed to get a room looks like a great alternative and there is another really nice block right next to jubilee (can't remember the name) if he wanted luxury accommodation with cinema room etc.

Allloveisbeautiful · 01/09/2023 11:58

@Fourcandlesx On the chatbot now and apparently there are rooms at Deakins, Nottingham 2, Morris House, St Peter’s Court although apparently running out, Triumph, Newark & Southwell…

Fourcandlesx · 01/09/2023 12:55

@Allloveisbeautiful I think they are all over by Jubilee campus in the same sort of area so unless he wants to move on campus and catered then there might not be much difference in terms of location. What did you think in the end?

Allloveisbeautiful · 01/09/2023 12:57

@Fourcandlesx not sure yet! He’s at work at the moment so will need to discuss over the weekend. I’m an emotional wreck at the moment with the thought of him going!!!

Fourcandlesx · 01/09/2023 13:23

@Allloveisbeautiful ah, you aren't alone in feeling like that!
Deakins is definitely the nicest out of the 3 blocks in the 'student village' and has the best reviews. It's nice to have some other options to consider though. My son was put off Nottingham Two by the fact that they were flats of 4 rooms and he had hoped for a flat of 6 or 8. Not something I would have given a second thought to but it was important to him.

bagelsandlox · 01/09/2023 14:57

DS will be self-catering at Raleigh Park - nice to hear that some posters' DC enjoyed their time there! Can I ask what people think is a reasonable weekly allowance for self-catering? DS is pretty frugal but does enjoy going out...

Original poster
ErnestMilton · 01/09/2023 15:44

Deakins looks expensive (or maybe I'm just cheap!).

OP posts:
Allloveisbeautiful · 01/09/2023 16:09

@ErnestMilton its £8595 for 45 weeks. he wanted en suite & self catering as he’s not a 3 meal a day guy and I’ve heard the food isn’t good to say the least in catered. I’ve had a good look on the accommodation page and there are about 8 that are cheaper (some only by a few hundred) and the other 13 are more expensive. Maybe I shouldn’t have left it to my husband to sort 🤦🏻‍♀️

Fourcandlesx · 01/09/2023 16:25

@Allloveisbeautiful take all the help you can get!

Deakins, Morris, Nottingham 2 and I think it is Triumph are all the luxury end of self catering. Really lovely facilities with huge social spaces etc. I think one of them even has a show kitchen and another definitely has a sauna and cinema room. He will love it!

The others that are more expensive than those are catered so that's why there are so many at over £200. They have shared bathrooms for that price too so you really are talking a lot for an ensuite catered room.

Chickydoo · 01/09/2023 16:35

Dc has opted for SC, somewhere called Dagfa. A short walk to campus apparently.
Anyone have any info on this?
TIA

Original poster
ErnestMilton · 01/09/2023 21:52

@Allloveisbeautiful - no, I'm sure it's great! DD wanted self catering too but I told her she'd have to forego the ensuite. I'm finding the accommodation process far more stressful than the exams or results day. DD meanwhile is merrily inter-railing!

OP posts:
jellycat · 01/09/2023 21:55

Has anyone managed to make the first payment for the accommodation at Nottingham? Ds keeps getting an error message when he tries to log in to the portal.

Allloveisbeautiful · 01/09/2023 22:05

Does anyone know when the maintenance loan comes through?

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 01/09/2023 22:20

jellycat · 01/09/2023 21:55

Has anyone managed to make the first payment for the accommodation at Nottingham? Ds keeps getting an error message when he tries to log in to the portal.

I believe DS has done his. Well he tells me he has.

jellycat · 01/09/2023 22:54

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto thanks. Perhaps we’ll have to call them if it’s still not working on Monday.

Mihamiha · 01/09/2023 23:05

I've not been in Dagfa Halls but they are new and are right next to Broadgate which is at the university west entrance.
I imagine it'll ll be lovely seeing as it's so new - until a few years ago the site was a school called Dagfa House, so it's been redeveloped recently.
It will be really handy for grocery shopping in Beeston.

Mihamiha · 01/09/2023 23:06

That was for Chickydoo 😊