Nottingham, Birmingham, Exeter

[GrangeFill]

DD is hoping for offers from Uni of Nottingham, Uni of Birmingham and Uni of Exeter. We have been to open days at all three, but not ventured into the cities at all.

We are hoping to do this at offer holder days in the Spring.

What areas of each city are best to look at when we visit? For example, I’m aware Birmingham is like a collection of villages eg Stirchley, Selly Oak etc. And Nottingham Lenton, Beeston etc. Which parts of each city would a student likely venture to, so where is best to check out in each city?

Which parts of each city would a student likely venture to

If your DD goes to Birmingham, she will almost certainly live in Selly Oak in her second and third years. Almost all the students do.
It's not the nicest area, simply because there are so many student houses there. I never felt unsafe or anything, it's just not somewhere I'd live now I'm not a student. But it is a big benefit having all the students living very close to each other, and close to the uni.

Thanks for this. If she lived in Selly Oak, where would she likely go out in the evenings/at weekends? Do Uni of Birmingham students tend to just socialise/shop in the small bit where they live?

I am just trying to work out whether it is worth visiting any other bits of the city whilst we are there.

I was there 10 years ago. There were some nice pubs in selly oak, but nights out were in the city centre, plus the student night at the guild at the uni.

For Notts, I would say Lenton for the 2nd and 3rd year accommodation - it sounds similar to Selly Oak - not a particularly lovely area but crammed full of student houses. Nightlife is in the town centre mostly. As it’s a campus Uni, lots happens on campus too eg the sports centre.

It’s worth having a look at the first year accommodation options online before you go so that you can see the differences in location when you are there.

Many thanks - I think if she went for Notts she would want catered as wants to be in the centre of things and is quite shy so thinks the meals set up will force her to make friends. Although she’s shy she still likes socialising etc.

I can see all the options on the Nottingham accommodation website - where is the best place to find details about the vibe of each halls? Or is that not a thing, are they all much of a muchness it’s just about location on campus?

Thank you, will check out city centre as well as Selly Oak. Is there a particular strip/area in the city centre that is usually frequented? Not sure how large an area it is.

DS is at Birmingham (though currently on year abroad) and they go all over the place to socialise. They mostly all live in Selly which is on the train line into Birmingham New Street, but there's an equivalent of Uber - can't remember what it's called - and they share cabs back if they've been in Birmingham city centre and it's after public transport hours. Doesn't seem to be a problem getting about and once they are there, they all learn to navigate to areas pretty fast.

Sounds sensible to go for the catered accomm. You can look for reviews on The Student Room or eg https://www.studentcrowd.com/best-halls-l1004971-s1008370-university_of_nottingham_the-nottingham#
and also ask on the open day. I know there are ones with their own bars and that students have strong opinions about which are the best bars!

DD is in her first year at Nottingham and absolutely loving it. One point to bear in mind is that Notts is a split campus with some subjects on University Park and some science subjects at Jubilee which might have a bearing on which to choose as its a long trek from halls in the far end of Jubilee to eg the history block which is the opposite side of University Park.

Also worth thinking about what her interests are outside of academia - if she is sporty she might want to be near the David Ross centre for example. DD's main criteria was self catering, then she wanted to be closeish to the gym so she could get up and go early in the morning and come back to her own shower and finally didn't want to have to go too far for lectures.

Also on the offerholders day only a couple of the halls were open to look at so you won't get a complete overview.

Most students live in Lenton or Beeston. DD mainly shops there as a first year. They seem to head into town for nights out - in shared ubers.

Re Notts accommodation, from our open day visit, the accommodation definitely wasn't all much of a muchness! Some of it felt like my halls from 30+ years ago, some was much more modern.

I'd definitely suggest visiting city centre in all three, as most students will venture into the city to socialise. When we visited, whilst we loved the Notts campus, we didn't particularly like the city (didn't feel quite as safe or attractive), whereas we liked both Exeter and Birmingham city centres. DD now at Birmingham.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4879015-accommodation-at-nottingham-uni?page=4&reply=130242342

This thread might be of interest to you, OP.

DD is in Madison Gardens (part of Raleigh accommodation) and loves it.

Nottingham is a beautiful campus and great for student nightlife. Curious as to why @AliMonkey didn't think the city felt safe.

Exeter is a very small city. DD is year three and all her mates are in and around the centre. Nothing is more than a 15/20 min walk away either from uni, or to town, and socializing is all in the uni or town too. She's never needed a bus, and has only rarely needed a cab as most students live on the way there and back, and they all walk each other, together. Sports centre, outdoor pool, pitches on campus, and Spoons on campus too. Gyms in town, lots of places for coffee, all the usual shops, and short hop on train to the beach ⛱️

@Caitling - maybe just the places DD and I walked in the Nottingham city centre - really just round station and shopping/restaurant areas during an afternoon/early evening - didn't feel unsafe as such, just didn't feel as comfortable as we did in Birmingham, where we wandered round the shopping/bars/restaurants/canal area on a Friday evening in the dark and still felt comfortable, or Exeter which we only visited in daytime but think the smaller size of Exeter city centre was a factor. It was strange, it was our favourite campus in terms of the lake, green space etc but we just both came away from our visit knowing it wasn't the right place for her.

Spoons on campus at Exeter?! That’s awesome.

Thanks to all for your replies, really helpful.

DD is in her first year at Nottingham and is absolutely loving it. She had an offer from Exeter (DH and I both went there!) and that, coupled with how small the city was, put her off.

She says that she feels really safe in Nottingham - when they go out, they all Uber back and it's only 2 or 3 quid each. They are currently looking at houses in Lenton for her second year.

My brother went to Birmingham.but that was MANY moons ago so I can't give any up to date Intel, but he absolutely loved his time there.

Thank you. Can I ask if your DD is in catered? Is there much difference between the catered halls? And is it impossible to get an en-suite?

@GrangeFill she is in catered halls which she enjoys, because it's been a great way to meet people. She doesn't have an ensuite but there is plenty of provision and the cleaners are diligent.

It's been a bit eye opening costwise - my eldest is at Cambridge and is paying a fraction of what DD is paying!

Sorry, I don't know about the differences between halls. I didn't go to the open day (DH did), and DD put all of her preferences down without any reference to us, so I really can't comment. (I think there is a Nottingham accommodation thread though if you search).

The area they go out to on Birmingham tends to be Broad Street, where the clubs are but I don't think you need to go and look at it. It is what it is!

Harborne is the other side of campus from Selly Oak. It's nice and DS has been there a few times.

I'm actually surprised compared t when I went to uni how little exploring they do but I went somewhere more picturesque , I suppose.

I think there is a Nottingham accommodation thread though if you search

I posted a link to it. Lots of useful stuff in it.

Thanks @Caitling - I only skimmed the thread so hadn't seen your link. (I think I may even have commented on that thread too)

It will depend what it is they are looking for, that evening.

As a pp said, there are a lot of clubs on Broad Street, but you aren't going to see anything by walking down Broad Street during the day - what nightclub looks like an attractive place to be, from the outside ?
But they might decide to go to some of the music places which might be Digbeth, or they might want restaurants from particular cultures - Caribbean, Chinese, Vietnamese, or to go to the Balti Triangle. Or they might go and sit in one of the numerous parks and green spaces, or they might decide to go to a Test Match at the cricket ground or to watch football, or go ice skating or to go to the theatre, or shopping. General nights, a lot will stay in the Selly Oak area.
Birmingham is such a massive City, they can probably find whatever they want there to spend some time, so there isn't really any one specific place that you could predict they might want to go out to.

There's also the mailbox and Brinkley place in Birmingham. There's also the gay quarter and I feel safer there than on broad street. I'm straight but prefer the atmosphere in the gay quarter. As pp says there's lots of different areas even in the city centre to go out into.

Apologies I had seen that but I thought it was mostly discussing self catered or Jubilee campus accommodation. I’ll have a thorough read.

Yes Oxbridge is super cheap.