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Higher education

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Original poster

Bristol open day - can't see accommodation

56 replies

WobblyLondoner · 05/09/2023 20:59

My DS is going to this on Saturday and was booked to look at some accommodation in the East Village to get a sense of what is available. We just had a look online and they have cancelled any viewing of East or West Village 'for unforeseen circumstances'; the only other accommodation you can see is already over-subscribed (ie no more slots to go and have a look).

He's a bit disappointed; I can't say I blame him. Isn't giving people a chance to look around accommodation options a fairly standard thing to offer at an open day?

OP posts:
Legacy · 07/09/2023 12:19

Funnily enough, it was AFTER seeing the city centre accommodation that DS decided he DIDN'T want to go to Bristol - he felt it was a noisy, soul-less 'party-central' set of blocks that he would hate living in!

Perhaps showing the accommodation is putting students off!

TizerorFizz · 08/09/2023 15:08

@Legacy Thats why Stoke Bishop
is so much nicer! DD didn’t look at anything when we visited but SB is very different to the centre, for obvious reasons. It has the bus service and DD had all her friends there. None in the city. From y2, some like to fall out of bed and rock up to uni in 10 mins. So Clifton is the place. That’s nicer than the centre too. These days you can read up a lot about the halls and visiting wastes a lot of time.

No parent should ever go to a subject talk. They were asked to leave at some unis we visited as the prospective students couldn’t get in.

NoPanicNecessary · 08/09/2023 15:16

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NoPanicNecessary · 08/09/2023 15:18

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Lampzade · 08/09/2023 15:20

HardcoreLadyType · 06/09/2023 21:35

Stoke Bishop is quite far, but they get free bus travel (or certainly did a couple of years ago). My DD loved being next to the Down. Clifton is also lovely, and the university is easily walkable from there.

My dd was given Stoke Bishop which was her seventh choice. She wasnt keen on taking the bus to and from the campus. She ended up swapping with someone who was desperate to live in Stoke Bishop
As others have said , Bristol accommodation is a lottery

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 07:09

@Lampzade What wax wrong with the bus service? Everyone else is ok with it. It’s only one year and it’s like going home at the end of lectures. We know a few who wanted city centre halls for the nearby drinking opportunities. Few halls near the uni in Clifton. I find it odd when students cannot cope with a bus ride.

CheersToMe · 09/09/2023 07:15

Mine purposely chose SB so they could get their daily steps in. Don't think they factored in the rather steep hill going back up to the downs.

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 10:27

@CheersToMe Not sure DD was that diligent! The buses are included in the hall fees.

SevenOhOne · 09/09/2023 10:31

At the Bristol open day earlier this year, they didn’t enforce the need to book an accommodation tour- they just took anyone who turned up round.

mumsneedwine · 09/09/2023 11:01

It's a year. Most students will love their hall, think it's the best and make friends. No one can say which is better as they only go to one (normally). I wouldn't stress too much. If it's about cost then the Uni do listen.

Original poster
WobblyLondoner · 09/09/2023 11:10

After all that we haven't gone. Train bedlam at Paddington because of a fire by Didcot tracks. Couldn't face the hassle in this heat.

Will go later in the year and just have a look around on our own. I know the city well so that's ok.

Hope those of you who went found it useful.

OP posts:
mondaytosunday · 09/09/2023 13:33

Im here with daughter. Traffic meant we missed our first session - it was booked out but we thought we'd risk it. So now 1 hour 45 til next one and my daughter has found a second hand bookshop and I am resting out of the sun. Everything is uphill! She's is a lousy mood so am I hate this heat.

mondaytosunday · 09/09/2023 13:36

Agree @TizerorFizz ! My daughter's daily commute to school was 15 minute walk, 25 minutes on the tube, 10 minute walk the other side! A 20 minute bus ride is nothing. She used the time to decompress from school to home.

clary · 09/09/2023 13:46

Lol @ everything is uphill! I am from the flatlands and when I moved to Bristol I used to wake every night with cramp from walking up hills with legs that were not used to it Grin

mondaytosunday · 09/09/2023 13:46

Omg she's been in the shop for ages. I'm not carrying the books around!

mumsneedwine · 09/09/2023 13:49

@mondaytosunday see those scooters lying around ? Student hilly transport if late !

mondaytosunday · 09/09/2023 13:54

Goodness @mumsneedwine good gif her but I'd break a leg!

mumsneedwine · 09/09/2023 13:58

@mondaytosunday 😂 yup, I nearly fell off going up hill. DD uses them all the time though - apparently they even make it up St Michaels hill (that is steep !).
Bristol is hilly and bet it's heaving today. I don't think it looks it's best on open day as so crowded. But head to the harbour if need a breeze. And see if can wander in to the halls near by (no one ever stops you if you walk confidently 😊).

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 14:36

@mumsneedwine Thats a bit worrying from a security point of view! I know it used to be like that but hardly sensible these days. Any random could get in.

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 14:39

If you start at Clifton it’s not uphill.

The unibus is 13 mins from SB to the uni.

mumsneedwine · 09/09/2023 14:43

@TizerorFizz lots of randoms do get in. Not to the flats themselves, but the hall communal areas are full of friends and families. Especially today as hardly any students have moved into halls yet.
I've wandered into a few halls without anyone asking me who I am (not being weird, just visiting ex students when there with work).

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 14:45

The accommodation DD had in London was controlled at the external door. Not sure about anywhere else. I’m surprised they don’t have a key code or card system.

VanillaImpulse · 09/09/2023 14:56

I live locally and the Facebook pages are all about students in Bath and Bristol who can't find accommodation for starting this year. Lots of Bristol students live in Bath accommodation. The unis just take on more students without considering where they will live, it's just all about the £££
I'd go elsewhere personally!

mondaytosunday · 09/09/2023 14:56

She's marched on ahead to her sesión I'm giving up going back to car (all down hill thank god). Too effing hot.
I went to Rome one summer without checking the weather - 36 degrees! I made it around the colosseum and Palantine hill but the kids left me for dust (literally) at Mt Vesuvius.
It is teeming. But I'm not enjoying what I've seen so far 😒. Daughter has yet to pass judgment. Did strike up a conversation with a girl behind the counter at a café- Psychology graduate 😬.

TizerorFizz · 09/09/2023 16:49

@mondaytosunday Its not you going there though! It’s horribly hot to be looking round. Lots of DDs male friends didn’t have parents with them at all. They got the train. Of course that’s been difficult today for some. We just went to a parent info session about MFL and year abroad as it didn’t have that many! We were invited in. Other than that, DD went off with friends and we only touched base for lunch.

Generally DC like their halls. A few don’t. They can move if there’s a student moving out from another hall. You do have to give and take a bit but most won’t be in Bath if they are not clearing. Clearing is a risk.

Unis have expanded too much but that’s another story!!