Student Accomodation

Going off to university for the first time is exciting and daunting in equal measure.  For many it is their first experience of living away from home.  Some of you will have travelled or worked in your gap year, like me, and a few boarded in school years.  Whatever the previous level of independence,  finding the right accommodation can be a confusing process.  Most universities have specific systems.  They might offer, for example, one year’s accommodation in college and have student housing available for the rest of the degree.  Information will be sent to you when your place is confirmed and it’s definitely worth wading through the various forms they send to get a sense of what’s available.

I went up to Oxford in 1999 to read Classics.   University College offered 2 years in college, after which there was an annexe which offered a similarly communal environment though much less centrally.  I took a room in college in my first year and had no concerns as to whether or not this was the best thing to do, mainly because I’d heard it was what everyone did.  At that stage, when you probably know very few people and in any case would like to meet new ones, college offers an ideal starting point.  You are perfectly positioned to take advantage of all the social activities on offer and to get your bearings for the academic side of things.  It is an enormous privilege to live in the very centre of a city at such low rents... college take the hassle and expense out of utility bills and allows you to pay only for term time use of the room.  Bear in mind though, that it’s just that: a room.  Cooking’s not an option (but you won’t starve  if you go to the university cafe) and washing will need to be done in the college’s laundry rooms.

Not having to rent a property for the full academic year does save on expenses but do be aware that you will need to vacate your room at the end of each term.   A friend of mine once described college as ‘like school with ashtrays’ and he had a point.  Too much noise after 11pm and you may find a junior dean or a porter policing your fun.  On balance though, this lack of total independence provided a welcome safety net for my first year.  The student bar, cafeteria and common rooms are all on your doorstep.

By the second year, you probably have a fair idea of who your friends are and who you’d most like to be your flatmates.  Many students choose to capitalise on this and move either into privately rented accommodation or a student house subsidised by the university.  I decided to take advantage of the college’s beautiful old rooms for another year and shared a set in the main quad with a friend.  This was a fantastic experience and one I would wholeheartedly recommend if it is a possibility at your university.  It is the only time in your life you can live somewhere of such magnificence at these kind of rates.

The third year is for most students their final year and as such will bring the double pressure of a) making the most of their last days of university and b) working towards the exams which will launch them into the big wide world.  Some universities invite students to live in student college/houses for this year.  By this point I’d had enough of college and was craving the freedom of ‘living out’.  Furthermore, I was not due to take finals until the following year so quietness and library acccessability were not my priorities. I moved into a house with three friends.

The process of privately renting a house like this is quite particular for students.  Keep an eye out for estate agents which advertise student accommodation: they generally invite you to look around en masse on particular days towards the end of the previous academic year.  After this, you list your top choices and the landlord considers the various student bids according to which will best suit his purposes.  It’s possible to rent the property for the academic year alone, thereby cutting the expense of the summer months but not, as in college, the intervening holiday months.  This suits the later years of a degree as it means you can stay in the city during the holidays should you need to have library access.