Uni starters 2025/26 all welcome

[NCTDN]

Following on from a year 13 support thread, thought this might be nice to ease us into their new chapters. We had a lovely one for my older DC so created this to help us navigate everything!

Lovely to hear of all the visits home and to the young people at university. We're going to see DC1 for the day on Saturday, and I can't wait.

@Batteriesoptional we've paid for DC1's accommodation, and asked her to try and live off the minimum maintenance loan. TBH I don't know how that breaks down week by week. She has some savings from her summer job to use as well. I've told her that if it's really not doable then show me figures and make a case for more money. However if we start off giving more then I'm sure she won't be handing back any change, and what we give at the moment is a pretty significant chuck of our household budget.

£100 per week is a huge amount!

£100 a week is loads but tbh Exeter is known to have a lot of students from private schools so what you are saying doesn’t surprise me at all. My friend’s daughter was thought of as poor when she went there even though her parents are professionals, they own their own house in what is considered a nice desirable area.

My DC’s friend is currently at Exeter and friends were shocked that she shopped at LIDL/Aldi saying that they only shop at Waitrose/M&S.
For context my DC has about £38-£40 a week of loan left once all accom costs have been deducted. I have asked her to let me know if she needs money but so far she hasn’t asked. She gets the max maintenance loan where the thresholds seem to have been frozen for almost 15 years! I am a single parent of min wage with dependents, I am not really sure how this system works at all!

@Holidaytimeyay
We give DS2 £100 a week. Seems to be going ok.

DD has £100 per week and lives on that (in Edinburgh) very comfortably, with money to spare. However, she’s not into clubbing or drinking. She rarely has more than two alcoholic drinks when she goes out.

This is such a lovely idea! It’s great to have a space to share tips, worries, and excitement as everyone starts this new chapter.

DS has the minimum loan, divides it into a weekly amount and says he’s not spending it all. He always has been fairly careful with money though. Will be a whole other story for DD in four years…

My DD is already house viewing for year 2. This seems quite ridiculous but no doubt they know the situation.

I’m not sure if I’ve posted on here but Ds is first year at Nottingham uni. @unsurewhattodoaboutit this may be city-dependant but dd (also Nottingham ) started looking around this time in her first year and there was lots of pressure, unnecessarily so. She’s now fourth year - a late decision to stay an extra year - and found a seven bed house with friends in June. There were loads of houses available then and many were reduced/cheaper than houses released earlier in the year. I often hear on here and WIWIKAU that you have to pay £150pw at least in Nottingham and I assume this is because the houses released in the autumn for the following Sept are priced higher? Certainly there were lots in June around the £100 mark or less. So check whether looking now is actually necessary! Because so many people regret their choice of housemates come second year - as they rushed in.

@unsurewhattodoaboutit my DD is already panicking about accommodation next year! She has been asked by a few people what she is doing. I would rather she stayed on campus as it’s much easier, all bills are included and no need for a large deposit but the decision is hers.

DD's uni have sent the students an email specifically saying do not panic about accommodation for next year. Start thinking about who you might want to live with but there is absolutely no need to start looking for somewhere until at least after Christmas.

But I guess it's very area dependant - this is Lancaster which I don't think is renowned for having a problem with finding relatively cheap student accommodation.

Does anyone know what the accommodation situation is like for Warwick uni off campus?
DS currently in halls.

He hasn't mentioned anything about looking for something for next year but he's pretty much incommunicado since he went so who knows what he's doing.

I know Leamington spa is a popular option for students. There are also off campus halls which look quite nice with shared communal areas but it's probably more fun in a house.

@Sweetpeasaremadeforbees dd had the same email. Your right Lancaster is fine for accomodation, thats good and resonable. She has lots of work friend and we have friends with kids in older years

DS goes back tomorrow. The week has gone so quickly and I’ve only got used to having him home. Going to miss him.

Thank goodness Lancaster is chill about the accomodation, I couldn't face the stress of sorting that when it seems like 5 minutes since they started! I know DD would be sorting before the independence police come for me, but we would, of course, be advising and so on.
Think she might want to stay on campus because it's all so convenient, and she's not into the town night life much.
I hope she stays with some other second years, though, if she does because I think it would be odd if you were mixed in with the freshers.

We went to visit DC1 for a few hours yesterday. Just enough time for a pub lunch, a short wander around town and a brew back at DC1's accommodation. She seemed very happy, is making friends, and has had some good feedback for her essays. However she did have the slightly wan appearance of one living off too many Greggs sausage rolls, too few vegetables and too little sleep . And her kitchen was a fair bit grimmer than I remember any of mine being.

She's in the really fortunate position of having college accommodation throughout her studies, so there's no rush to sort anything out.

Hi everyone. My dd came back for reading week from Exeter, told us everything was fine, course was hard work but fine, flatmates nice, course mates nice. Then at the end of the week told us she was not enjoying anything, couldn’t study her subject for 4 years, couldn’t bear the people, and wasn’t going back. So she has dropped out. It has really come from nowhere and I’m really struggling to understand what has happened. Mystefied, really.

@Delphigirloh heck! Odd that she started the week saying she was fine. Almost like she got home and then decided to stay. Well she won’t be the only one and she’s got choices. Perhaps she will revisit uni life later like I did. I dropped out after year 1 and went into a completely different occupational area.

Does she have time to think about it for a while before dropping out, @Delphigirl? she might change her mind once she has the reality of not having any plans…?

My older DD did this a few years ago. She went of and aupaired in Europe for the remainder of the academic year, thought about what she wanted to do, enrolled on a different course at a different uni and it was perfect for her. I was worried sick at the time, but it was honestly the best thing for her. Sometimes our young people need a bit of time post A Level to work out what it is they want to do.

@Delphigirl I'm sure your DD has thought long and hard and knows what's right for her. And at least she's made the decision early in the year. A university education will always be there if she wants to do something different in the future, whether next year or further down the line.

One of my nephews left university during the second term of his first year after realising it wasn't for him. He took a "stop-gap" job while he thought about his options, got promoted a few times and is still there several years later. He's the only non-graduate among my nieces and nephews, and is far and away the most professionally and financially successful.

Thanks @TheTurn0fTheScrew . She is clever and competent and so I am sure you are right. I’m sad that she didn’t talk to us, and her siblings don’t understand either. But she has always been a very private person.

Thanks also @Tinytigertail , so pleased it all worked out for your dad. Yes I just need to trust her to do some proper thinking and make some considered decisions.

@Delphigirl what a shock for you. It’s a massive decision for a yp to make- new location, long course etc but at least she will have some ideas of what she doesn’t want now, and that should help her make a new path when she’s ready. I dropped out in my first year and started again the next September at a different uni and completely different course which I loved, and work in that field now.

Thanks @SockFluffInTheBath - these stories all really help!!!