Liverpool starters 2025 (UOL, LJMU, LIPA etc all welcome)

[elliejjtiny]

Just thought we could have a thread. My Ds1 is starting at LIPA, in cathedral halls and i'm scared shitless. Also feeling old as i have to admit my own uni days were more than 20 years ago.

Thanks for starting the thread. DS2 is starting LJMU in three weeks. He’s got accommodation in St Andrews Gardens. He’s my second one to go but he was planning on having a year out and then saw the course in clearing - so I haven’t had much time to get used to the idea. He’s never been to Liverpool. I think he’ll love it but it all feels a lot in a short space of time.
I went to a campus uni as did DS1. Not sure how different it will be. I’m hoping that the halls will be super sociable and there will be lots of people around when we drop him off and things to do on the Saturday evening.

Just to say, I think it is one of the best cities in the UK to be a student in - in terms of scope of entertainment and activities, music, art, food.

Jumping on this thread even though my DD started LJMU last year and is going into Yr 2. Just wanted to say its a fab uni and an amazing city to be a student. She has loved it.

Going into Halls when we dropped her off there were other students EVERYWHERE! It was a bit mental 😂One tip, my DD was able to get in touch with the others who were sharing her flat in Halls through the student portal thingy. It was a godsend. They got to know each other a bit before meeting in person which massively helped her.

There is heaps of things to do, and loads of other students in the same boat who will be starting too and always someone to go out with. That was my DD's experience anyway. To begin with they stuck with their flat mates. That first night they ordered pizza in and sat and ate together then hit the town.

Freshers week was fun with lots going on. DD is making sure she is back on time to get involved with that again this year.

Good Luck to all your YP starting this year.

Ah, this was me last year! My son goes into his second year at LIPA this year. Honestly, it was so difficult to leave him and I don't think I slept properly for the whole of last summer. However, I really shouldn't have worried, he is having the time of his life and it has been the absolute making of him.

He was in Cathedral campus too. Lived with four other lads who were fantastic- all first years at LIPA. The rooms are compact but clean and its such a great location and very safe. He's in a house share this year, just around the corner from cathedral.

We have all fallen in love with Liverpool over the last year, its an amazing city and LIPA has been an amazing experience so far too.

Good luck, I know this won't stop you worrying but it has been a lovely experience and the year has gone so quickly.

It's been harder for me in that he's loving it so much me and his Dad are just background noise to his life now - as it should be!!

Thanks so much! Rationally I know he’ll be fine and I think Liverpool will be a great place to be a student but am just anticipating that horrible ‘leaving him’ moment - so it’s good to have reassurance.
Really helpful to know they can connect through the portal in advance.

The 'leaving them' moment was actually not as bad as I anticipated it to be in all honesty.

I think because my DD had reached out and messaged those she would be sharing a flat with (you can find out who your flatmates are through the portal) it was easier for her. She messaged them and then they all had a group chat (boys and girls) and all got to know each other a bit before they met. Followed each other on Insta etc... So they already felt like they knew each other a bit before moving in.

On move in day itself, when we got there and got to her flat, 2 had already moved in and came straight out of their rooms to say Hi to us all. As we were moving her in the other 2 arrived. So it was a mad mish mash of students and parents all muddling along. To be honest, the 'kids' seemed to just want us all to go and leave them to it 😂I remember my DD saying 'you can go now' and the other saying similar to their parents. I think they were keen to get rid of us. Seeing them all chatting away to one another as we left made me feel so much better about leaving her. I had pictured a scenario in my head where I would be closing her bedroom door, leaving her alone inside this strange room and her being really upset and homesick. It couldn't have been more different.

Like I said, that first night, once they had all unpacked, they ordered pizza, played a few drinking games then went down to the student bar attached to their building where they got talking to the people in the flat next door. She called me the next day full of excitement and I was able to relax a bit.

I did find it hard to adjust to her not being at home and she wasn't great at texting to begin with because she was so busy being a student.

How exciting for your YP! As a local who went to one of our local unis and now works at another one, happy to help with any questions you might have about my lovely city (or make bar recommendations for your YP!)

My daughter is going to UOL, applied through clearing so it's all last minute. We know it's a great student city though as we don't live too far away. I must get her to try and get chatting to flatmates if she can find them.

My son loves being a student in Liverpool. It's a great city all round plus cheaper than most student cities which is good for the budgeting. He (and the wider family and friends who visited) have enjoyed getting to know somewhere we'd never visited before. Definitely a winner.

My daughter is going to UOL, moving into Myrtle Court accom on 13th September. I know she’s in a UOL girls WhatsApp chat group and a Myrtle Court one so has made a few contacts that way.

my son is just going into 3rd year so have done the whole drop off and goodbye thing before but feels a bit different now, maybe because she’s my youngest. She’s definitely ready and v excited though which is great :)

I was a student in halls in Liverpool in 1983 - I have lived in the city ever since. I met my husband at university, and we are still close to over a dozen friends who we met in our first year.
University is what you make it, so your son will no doubt have a fantastic time, OP. There is nothing to be "scared" of and, let's face it, if students do struggle there is way more support than back in the 80s (those days of one phone call or letter home per week 😂). But basically....., drop them off, leave immediately and let them get on with it!

DS2 is going to UOL on 13th September.
DS1 went to Uni so I should be an old hand at this but I’m really worrying….not so much about missing him but I can remember going to Uni and desperately wanting to come home during the first few weeks and then loving it! I hope he loves it sooner than I did.
He also has never been to Liverpool…but I’ve only read really positive comments about it.

My DD is starting at LJMU (Sport Nutrition) as a mature student of 25! My DS went to UoL, and we live less than an hour away, so fairly familiar with Liverpool.

She is going into Copperas House (having initially said there was no way she would live with teenagers 🤣 - she is not a party person). Despite having travelled abroad alone and met others, she says this is different and I think is quite nervous as well as excited.

She is already in a halls chat and a campus chat, and one for people interested in women’s football and watching WSL matches. She also hopes to play football too. I’m sure that she will be fine but I know that I will worry initially.

@MonkeyTennis34 Interestingly, DS met his tribe on the first evening, mixture of people in his halls and on his course, and was close to/lived with some of them until Covid hit and he came home in his final year. They mainly stayed in Liverpool and have hardly contacted him since.

Conversely, I remember wanting to drop out in the first term (over 40yrs ago!) yet I am still close to my housemates, who were also on my halls corridor but we didn’t gel until nearly Christmas. One of them is DD godmother and has never been to Liverpool so we are planning a trip to see her. 😀🎉

@Vickyvogue25
Yes I also have kept in touch with my Uni friends. We go away for a weekend every year and they are very special to me.

Thank you everyone. Moving day is this Saturday. He said goodbye to his great grandparents on Sunday which was quite emotional, more for them than him i think. Managed to catch the cats for a photo of them both for him to take with him.