The Student Room Group
Student in halls, University of Hull
University of Hull
Kingston-upon-Hull
Visit website

A fresher’s view on Hull, (University of) Week 1 – 6

Hello, before making my decision in terms of which universities should I apply to I have used quite a lot of 3rd party sources including governmental bodies, companies and current students’ opinion.
Now, I believe it’s my turn to help some of you, prospective students by sharing my views on Hull (University of).

Background information:
I am in the fortunate position to travel quite a lot across Europe and to have friends literally all over this place called Earth. I’ve seen loads of places and people. I am very hard to impress.
I use to be told I set high standards. Well..I do! I have high demands from me and from the people around!

About the city
My first experience in Hull was staying with some friends, near the upper end of Beverley Road..it wasn’t such a good one. The area has many trashed streets..it looks desolating.
Anyway, during these 6 weeks I’ve managed to go to few shopping places in Hull (Princes Quay Shopping Centre, St Stephen’s, Prospect Centre) and to some other areas like Adelaide Street, Princes and Springbank Avenue, The Paragon Street. Now I believe they all look good and are mostly clean.

I am happy with Hull having some museums & art galleries which, even if not so attractive to me as the one I’m used to in London or other cities..can still be a pleasure to visit.
The Tourist Information Centre staff are very helpful with advice on Hull, York and all the cities in Yorkshire.

The public transport
This is a major drawback for Hull. There are two companies (Stagecoach and EYMS) and they both operate across Hull and Cottingham.
What I dislike most about the public transport is that here they have very few bus shelters and there are also no places to sit while waiting for the bus.
The buses (Mon-Sat) come at a frequency of about 15 20 minutes but there are areas (that aren’t as fortunate as mine) with buses going just for part of the day or just 1/hour.
Now if you want to go somewhere on a Sunday you will have no choice but the wait for the bus 1h or..to take the taxi.
When I travel I prefer to buy a daypass/DayRover whatever..and for £2.6 on Stagecoach I go all over Hull..and Cottingham
The EY daypass is £2.90.
The other ''student offers'' presented to us by the EYMS aren't useful to me.

The University area
The university area probably shows that students need something else than education. They need common-sense!!!
Cranbrook Avenue, Cottingham Road, Inglemire Lane or Auckland Avenue..they are all trashed!
Everyday I leave my house I find a couple of tin cans or plastic bottles on the way to the university. Some people are just not ashamed of throwing waste on the streets.
The front of almost every single house of Cranbrook/Auckland Avenue is a landfill.
In terms of noise I am told by some classmates that Cranbrook Avenue is noisy almost all the time.
The University area has 4 banks and 3 supermarkets also at maximum 0.7miles far.

The University campus
The university campus looks good, it has many bike sheds and alleys which give easy access to all the buildings. I am also happy that there many green-spaces and flowers around the campus.
Sadly, students don’t appreciate the beauty and, again, do throw waste whenever and wherever they can. The University Staff does a hard job to maintain the place clean.
There are many vending machine and some cafes around campus but I tend to believe they are over-priced.
I need to add that I feel totally safe in the campus.

The Hull University Business School (HUBS)
I am not able to talk about the university as a whole since I only study Marketing..I will consequently tell you about my course:

Being in the 1st year means I have some modules in common with the other people studying in HUBS.
Along this 1st year I will study Business Environments, Managing People, Academic and Professional Skills, Marketing, Accounting and Finance and..my free elective.
I like the professors, the way they teach and I appreciate just how much passion they have for their subject.
I also like that they are very approachable and answer questions both in lectures and by e-mail really quick.
I am also happy that they have a genuine interest in students, they don’t resume to teaching but they want students to have a really pleasant learning experience. This means they are always happy to receive feedback, to see you within their office hours and to answer any questions you might have at the end of the class.
The buildings, as I’ve said before are good looking and also have a high level of functionality. So are the lecture theatres and the teaching rooms within the Business School.
HUBS also organizes various events and contests/events to enhance students’ learning experience. I am happy to have participated in most of them by now and to have learned from this.
HUBS has links with various Business Schools across Europe (or the World) so that’s a good thing for those of you thinking of an international year.
Also the administrative staff of the HUBS is friendly and willing to help should you have any issues.

The Brynmor Jones Library
The Library has 8 floors, each of them being either a social, a quiet or a silent study area. This is one thing that I find very useful.
I’ve only checked the first 4 floors and they all have computers for students to use.
The groundfloor has printers, scanners and photocopying machines with the 1st one having also some printers.
The University tends to invest a lot in E-books and E-Journals but they still have up-to-date books for my domains. They also do have the books in the reading list (Business, Economics, Marketing).
I generally prefer to buy my books so I don’t have to worry about returning them on a specific date.
The library staff are welcoming and willing to help, just as anywhere else I’ve been.

The University House (The Union Building)
On the groundfoor
There’s a hair-dresser, the union’s shop, two bars, a terrace, a nightclub and two food outlets.
I haven’t tried any of them yet but the union’s shop which has a good range of food, drinks, stationery and cosmetics. Now don’t expect anything fancy..It’s just enough to chose from in an ''emergency'' situation.
On the first floorThe Student Activities Centre is a quite interesting place to go: The International Student Association is open for Home students too and they organize trips across England and Europe. The Student Activities Centre is also the place to go should you wish to register with any society. Personally, I decided to join just about 10 societies..to be able to spread the good/bad word about them.
Out of 10, only 2 have sent me e-mails about their activities with another 2 advertising their activities through posters in some places across campus. Who knows what the other 6 societies do after I’ve paid the membership fee??

The Waterstone’s University branch
is one place I’ve been to few times but tending to bet on convenience so they have higher prices than other bookshops or the internet shops
The Education Hub seems to do a lot of work to widen the participation of students in the academic matters. There are course representatives for every course and they are yet another link between students and University should the first ones have any course-related issues.
I still need some information on my course' representative.
Athletic Union Office
(1st floor too) is probably the biggest disappointment for me until now.
The sport clubs don’t run following professional principles. They hardly communicate what their sport is about, what physical abilities should you have, when is the next session etc.
They don’t give you valid contacts should you need any further explanation.
I could afford generalising because if you go on the University of Hull Union website..you can’t find any information there either.

On the second floor
The meeting rooms on the 2nd floor are comfortable, well-lit...I am happy to be able to use them.
The Customer Service Desk is one place I go from time to time to, and the staff are very welcoming and helpful.
On the third floor
The only service I’ve used here is the Careers Service. They do organize an annual Graduate Fair, along with other mock interviews, assessment centres and career-related workshops.
Advice on anything from CV to industrial placement and full-time/part-time jobs can be found here.

The Union is also the organiser of the Welcome Week, which I didn't like this year.
I've found it full of clubbing nights, which aren't my cup of tea!

The Accommodation
Now there are a lot of halls to choose from both cattered and un-cattered:
The Thwaite is probably the most expensive, but it is located in one of the most beautiful places in the area. There’s a botanic garden in the back! There's the Lawns, the Needler Hall..but I don't know a thing about them.

Personally I live on a street close to the university and I am happy with the facilities the house has.

Student offers
I resisted buying the Freshers' Wristband and the Platinium Card. I am happy I did it otherwise it would have been a waste of money for me.

I also decided not to buy the Sports Centre membership. I do play different sports when I get the time..and for free.

I bought the NUS Extra+ISIC which isn't very helpful in Hull but it helps a little if you buy from Amazon or if you travel by train/bus.
The ISIC is also very useful when you travel around Europe as it saves you money on museums/castles etc.

Update: The NUS Extra has even some misleading offers since you can access them even if you don't have a card.
I decided not to buy the card for another year, there's no need to pay for discounts!

Now I am more than sure I forgot to discuss something you really need to find out so..
Should you have any more specific questions..send me a private message or ask them here!
Good luck with your future university plans!


Week 7 - 12
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1909517
(edited 12 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
This is actually a really good idea :smile:

Background information:
I'm from just outside London so used to a big city full of people. Hull was my clearing choice so I didn't have any research done about the uni before I really came here.

About the city
I came to visit Hull to view the house with 3 of my new housemates. The city is a really good one. It's got everything you need, a few museums, an art gallery and a spoons! What more could you want!? There are three shopping centres; Prospect, St Stephens and Princes Quay. I actually work in Princes Quay GAME. But, there are plenty of job oppurtunities should you wish. It's got all the usual stores - Topman/Topshop, River Island, Next, Argos, Debenhams.... so you're never stuck!

The public transport
I've found that the busses are actually ridiculously good here. I don't live in the student houses though around the uni. I live down Newland Ave where mon-sat busses are every 10-15 minutes. Two companies (EY and Stagecoach) Both other a 'daysaver' ticket on their services which can be helpful... Prefer Stagecoach purely because it's easier for me! Sunday busses are fairly decent aswell. A daysaver on Stagecoach is £2.60 and one on EY is £2.90

The University area
The university area has a number of streets which are just full of student houses. A few of my friends live down them and say that noise isn't much of an issue. I guess it depends on where you're from and what you class as noise. Litter is a bit of an issue though.
The University area has 4 banks and 3 supermarkets also at maximum 0.7miles far.

The University campus
The university campus is a stark comparison to most peoples image of Hull. Surprisingly lovely campus - I was actually really impresssed. As before, litter can be a bit of an issue. There are vending machines on site but they're overpriced. There's also the union shop which sells sandwiches, drinks, chocolate, sweets, Make up - rimmell, hoodies, pens, stationary. If you're stuck for something - the shop usually has what you need.
Lots of places to park bikes/scooters

History at Hull
I study History at the university so this is my experience:
The department is incredibly well organised. Within a day of applying via clearing, I had an information pack about the course through my letter box. The freedom of modules is amazing. I got to pick all my modules and I was allocated all the ones I picked. The course is incredibly broad if you want it to be. I for instance am doing Class Status and Culture from 1870-1970; Consumer cultures - Britain and America in the 50's; Kinship and Sexuality in the Middle Ages; Fear, Faith and Family in the Middle Ages and some other modules which shows you how broad the course is.
The staff are always incredibly helpful - they genuinely want to ensure that their students are happy. I'm a course rep for History and have found it a good position to be in.
I must admit, Hull seems to focus a lot on social history but they do a massive range of modules.
Furthermore, Hull has a brilliant maritime history expertise because of the links.

The Brynmor Jones Library
The Library has 8 floors, it's not exactly the most attractive building but it's brilliant for History. It has two floors really - the third and the fourth. The third is politics/social history whereas the fourth has everything else. The library is brilliant for writing an essay in due to the various studyng types they cater for. The computers are nearly always free and in my experience, they have the majorty of books on the readings lists. I've only bought 'key texts' and have used the library for everything else. They have a lot of etexts which is always helpful.
The library also is host to a study advice service which i've never needed.

The University House (The Union Building)
The first post covered everything well.

The Accommodation
There's a lot of halls to choose from. There's the Lawns, Thwaite and Needler. I must say - the university has a LOT of catered accommodation in Halls. my friends have all said that the halls are really good but I can't comment.

I came through clearing so I'm in a house but I know a lot of clearing students did get in to halls. The accommodation office were pretty rubbish really. 5 other freshers and I found our own house.
Our house is about a 20 minute walk from uni, but, if you lived at the halls of residence, it'd take you about that long to get to uni anyway.
The walk really isn't that bad.
The area I live on is at the bottom of Newland Avenue which has a number of bars, pubs and shops. There's a sainsbury's and a tesco as well as a Subway and numerous takeaways so I'm happy with the location.
We pay 80 a week and we have: a 40 inch HD TV + License included, a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer, double beds, two bathrooms and two showers and have all bills included.


As before, Any questions just ask :smile:
Student in halls, University of Hull
University of Hull
Kingston-upon-Hull
Visit website
Reply 2
''Bump''! Just because it is important!
Reply 3
Original post by mike_mike




HUBS also organizes various events and contests/events to enhance students’ learning experience. I am happy to have participated in most of them by now and to have learned from this.




Hi there, nice post, just wondering if you could expand on this bit. What sort of events and contests?

Thanks
Reply 4
Original post by Shmally123
Hi there, nice post, just wondering if you could expand on this bit. What sort of events and contests?

Thanks


Ups, I am truly sorry for my late repsonse. I don't really log on TSR.

By events I mean: Meetings with companies to find out more about employment/internship opportunities . Among companies that came with business-related apportunities the 1st semester are: PWC, Delloite, Ernst & Young, Amazon, IBM, Centrica, some local marketing communications agencies...
Some industry bodies have also links with HUBS: CIMA, CIM
Another kind of events are the open lectures by guest speakers or mock-interviews and assessment centres (Coca Cola, Rent A card, Ernst & Young, IBM, PwC)
There are also other events which could help you improve your soft skills (eg. communication, pressentation)

By contests I mean..national and international student competition to test your knowledge and ability in business/marketing/management.
I am happy that HUBS promotes this kind of events towards students.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by mike_mike
Ups, I am truly sorry for my late repsonse. I don't really log on TSR.

By events I mean: Meetings with companies to find out more about employment/internship opportunities . Among companies that came with business-related apportunities the 1st semester are: PWC, Delloite, Ernst & Young, Amazon, IBM (I will write more tomorrow).
Another kind of events are the open lectures by guest speakers or mock-interviews and assessment centres (Coca Cola, Rent A card, Ernst & Young, IBM)
There are also other events which could help you improve your soft skills (eg. communication, pressentation)

By contests I mean..national and international student competition to test your knowledge and ability in business/marketing/management.
I am happy that HUBS promotes this kind of events towards students.


Ah nice, hope to be there in September!
Reply 6
Original post by Shmally123
Ah nice, hope to be there in September!


I wish you luck! What would you like to study?
Reply 7
Original post by mike_mike
I wish you luck! What would you like to study?


Got an offer for management and accounting, 280 UCAS points, 99% sure Hull will be my first choice, fingers crossed!
what kind of price were freshers wristbands?
Reply 9
Hi, I don't know if you are still doing your history course or have now finished as you posted this a while ago. I'm going to Hull University in Sept after two gap years, so I'll probably be a bit rusty. Daft question but are you a really naturally intelligent person because I'm bright but I'm just worrying I may struggle with this course. Obviously I know its not going to be easy but if I do the right amount of revision etc will it be fairly straight forward to achieve a decent grade (hoping for a 2.1 as most are) or is it a really difficult course. How have you found it? thanks
Original post by gracecooke55
what kind of price were freshers wristbands?


Usually around £30. You will get a welcome pack (if you end up choosing/getting in to Hull) which will tell you the exact price and how to pay. It will get you into all the fresher's events at the University. If you reckon you'll go out regularly (during the first week) then I strongly recommend it as it saves money and the HUGE queues.
The most random question in the world... are we allowed fairy lights of are they a 'fire hazard' :frown:
Reply 12
Original post by gracecooke55
The most random question in the world... are we allowed fairy lights of are they a 'fire hazard' :frown:


were allowed them, i had them last year!! just try and make sure they are battery operated as opposed to plug operated xo
Im studying psychology ( with foundation year ) is anyone else?

Posted from TSR Mobile
Since the first few posts here were made in 2012, I thought I'd make one of these to mention any changes in the last few years and things the other posts didn't mention. I've also been attempting to keep this updated, you can check the last updated thing at the bottom to see how up to date I am. This is up to date up to May 2016 but I have now graduated (July 2016) so some things may end up being out of date but hopefully it should still be useful.

Background Information
I am originally from the outskirts of Sheffield, Hull was my insurance choice after looking around a lot of universities and I am very happy I ended up here. I am not a Fresher like the title suggests, I am have now finished my degree MPhys Physics (I started in 2012 and graduated in 2016) and achieved a first. I originally made this post when I was in second year and have been updating it since so this means that I have had time to find out all my facts so I can inform you better about the university. I stayed in the Lawns in my first year and have lived in a shared house on Cranbrook Avenue (privately owned) for the other 3 years, but I know a lot of people and have talked to them about their experiences.

About the City
So Hull has this really bad reputation from years and years ago that it really does not deserve. The city is rapidly improving and with it getting City of Culture 2017, it is having lots of money pumped into it. Like every city, it does have it's rough bits but as a student, you probably won't have reason to go there.

You can catch a straight bus to the interchange in the centre of Hull, where there are several shopping centres (Princes Quay, St Stephens Centre, Prospect) as well as several streets full of shops. In terms of things to do, one of Hull's biggest attractions is the Deep. This is a really huge aquarium (they even have penguins), that I would definitely recommend a visit. A student ticket is £10.50 but lasts you for an entire year so you can go as many times as you like. There is also the cinema (there is one in Princes Quay and one in St Stephens), art galleries and a few museums, as well as two Laser Quests . Also of note is Big Fun, this is like one of those big play areas like Wacky Warehouse you get for kids but you can book it out for a group of adults. There is also Bowling in Princes Quay or Hollywood Bowl at Kingswood and an ice skating rink somewhere close but I've never actually been there.

Hull also has a couple of theaters which regularly have stuff on, the City Hall runs events as well. There is a once a month Comedy Club event at the City Hall, which I went to before and enjoyed. It's mainly local/unknown acts but that doesn't mean they are bad. Some of the more well known comedians also do gigs in Hull if you check what's on.

For a night out, there are lots of nightclubs to go to including Asylum which is on the university campus. There is also Spiders, Sugar Mill, Piper, Welly, Pozition, Propaganda and Fuel that I know of. For bar crawls there are bars all down Beverly Road, as well as in Old Town.

The Public Transport
My view of this is actually that it is fairly good. The buses are reasonably regular and not ridiculously expensive.

In your first year if you are living in Lawns or Thwaite, you lucky lucky people get a semester card free (totally not annoyed about how I had to pay for one when I was there). If they ever change it back to having to buy one, I would still highly recommend getting one as it will save you lots of money. This is really really helpful. It basically means you can go on the 102, 103 and 105 for free with the card. These are pretty much the only buses you will use in Hull in your first year, the 102 goes between all the Halls of residence and the university and the other two go between the halls, past the university and to the interchange in the centre of the city. Note, if you want to go to the centre of the city then stay on the 103/105 until the last stop when it reaches the interchange. Don't do what I did which was get off at the first sight of shops (turned out to be the bottom of Beverly Road) and walk the rest of the way as it's a decent walk.

If you don't live in those Halls, instead are living in Taylor Court or a shared house, it might be worth considering getting a 20% Discount Card, how much money this saves you depends on how much you are going to get the bus into town but as long as you would spend over £10 on buses over the course of the year (maybe 5 trips into town on the bus), it effectively means it costs you nothing. What these cards do is that you put money on the card, and on EYMS buses you just pay with money on your card instead of giving them money and it gets you 20% off the fare. You can top the cards up with any amount of money (like £1.50 so you've got enough on it to pay for that journey) when you get on any EYMS bus in Hull. There is also the stagecoach bus, 5, which runs from near the uni (Cranbrook) to the interchange in one direction and Kingswood in the other.

The costs of fares have inevitably gone up a small amount from what is stated in the first post but not a huge amount.

The University Area
If in your first year you live in the Lawns or Thwaite, then Cottingham is the closest place for you to shop. It is a nice little village, with a Co-op and small Sainsbury's that you can shop at. It also has a really good butchers, an off-license to buy alcohol at and a post office. There is also a market every Thursday that sells a variety of things.

Most people choose to live in shared houses in their second and subsequent years. Most of the student housing is on or on the roads coming off of Newland Avenue and Beverly Road which are two parallel roads close to the university. There are lots of shops on these roads including Lidl, small Sainsbury's and small Tesco. There are also several restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaways. Aside from the usual takeaway places (pizza, chicken, fish & chip, Indian, ect), Hull also has a few slightly less common takeaway places such as a pie shop, that does different savoury pies to take away (really yummy) and 2 different Japanese places.

On top of this there are multiple cafés, one that I will recommend is Planet Coffee, which is a small café on Newland Avenue with a very relaxed atmosphere. Their hot chocolates are divine, they do a wide range of different flavoured hot chocolates which all come with cream and a flake as standard (though they do ask if you want them), all for reasonable prices. I don't like coffee personally but I've heard their coffees are good too. The staff are all friendly and they have lots of sofas and comfy chairs to sit in. We've found that their drinks are also good hangover cures. There is also the board game café on Newland, which is also pretty good. They have a huge selection of different board games that you can go in and play.

The University Campus
The campus is actually really nice, there are lots of green spaces and everything is reasonably close together so you don't have to walk that far between lectures. The union is really good to go in breaks between lectures and the union shop sells all your essentials. There are also lots of places to park bikes/scooters if you want to cycle in, Hull is very flat so good for that. Also if you want to bring your laptop/tablet, the entire campus has free wifi.

Physics at Hull
Like I mentioned before I study physics at Hull and I've really enjoyed it. It is hard work and to do it you've got to enjoy both physics and maths (there is an awful lot of maths) but if you do, it is really good.

All the lecturers are really nice and quite enthusiastic about what they do. (Wait til you meet Dr Buzza, he bounces off the walls) Plus Jules in the office is amazing and if you have any problems she will sort them out straight away. The lecturers all want you to do well and will help you the best they can. They are very good at listening to the students problems and making changes as well. For example for one of my lectures, we ended up in a badly designed lecture theatre with columns that blocked some peoples view of the front (most of the lecture theatres are better than this) so we complained about it. Due to this, we got moved to a much better lecture theatre for the rest of those lectures. Also they listened to us when exams and deadlines all ended up really close to each other and moved the dates of both some deadlines and some exams to allow us to have time to spend on each thing. We fill in feedback forms at the end of every set of lectures, fill these in properly with any comments you may have because I've seen several cases where changes have been made due to the comments on these forms.

Also don't worry if you got a bit stuck with A-level maths or didn't do further maths as in the first year they go through all the maths from A-level though faster to make sure that everybody is on the same level. (If you did do further maths, you might find the first year maths very easy but don't worry, it soon goes past what you've done.) Also there are maths tutorials set every week. DO THEM. They are really helpful and if you can do all of them (without notes) you'll be able to do the exam no problem. Most of the exams are like that, really hard but reasonable. If you do the work you'll do well.

At the end of my second year, because I was doing really well and enjoying the course so much, I decided to switch up from a BSc (3 years) to an MPhys(4 years), which was actually really easy. As the first two years are pretty much identical you can wait until the very end of your second year to switch up like I did. Also when I started my degree, there was only about 10 people out of 70 doing the MPhys, now so many people have switched up that the majority of the class is now doing the 4 year course. (There ended up being like 35 of us on the MPhys)

The university also has a really good Physics Society which I would strongly suggest any physics students or anyone interested in physics joins. It does loads of socials (both drinking and non-drinking), as well as stuff like a trip to CERN, a formal Christmas Meal with lecturers, Combined Science Ball, tutoring A-level students at a nearby school, ect. It is also a great place to meet lots of people and physics students from all different years. The higher years usually are very willing to give advice and sometimes will offer help and support if you are struggling and ask for help.

The Brynmor Jones Library
The Library has actually been done up recently and is finally finished!! All the books have been kept but moved to a more compact layout, and the library rearranged to allow more and better spaces for people to work.

There are computers on every floor that can be used, as well as printers. Though it should be noted there are also computer labs elsewhere on campus that can be used if the computers in the library are all taken. You can also bring your own laptop as there is an abundance of plug sockets to use and the entire campus has free wifi.

There are conference rooms that can be booked with big screens that you can connect your laptop to or access your uni computer account from, these are great for group projects or presentations and are sound proof so you can be as loud as you like.

It also has spaces to account for the three different type of work people might want to do: silent, quiet or social.

Social
The seventh floor is for people who like to study in groups, with big tables, whiteboards, as well as comfy chairs for tasks that require more talking and less writing like languages or brainstorming ideas in a group. There isn't a noise limit in here. The conference rooms are also good for working in groups.

Quiet
This is for people who want to be able to talk quietly but not get distracted by other people. The majority of floors (3 to 6) are for quiet study and have a range of places to sit and study quietly, where talking is allowed but only quietly. They have places good for pairs to work together, big tables for bigger groups who want to sit together but still work quietly to avoid distractions and sectioned off places to revise/work on your own. All these have plug sockets and individual lights to make sure you don't strain your eyes when it gets dark.

Silent
There is a floor available for silent study, where people aren't allowed to make any noise so this removes any distractions. This floor is also kitted out with lights and plugs.


I should mention there is other computer rooms scattered around the university that people can use if there isn't a class on in them. (Be aware some of these rooms like the Fenner 24 hour computer lab can only be used by certain subjects.) The ihull app can be used to see where there are free computers.

The Union Building
The union has actually been done up the 2015 summer holidays. The first post is still fairly accurate and goes into more detail about student services but I'm going to expand a bit on some aspects.

So on the ground floor, there is the union shop which is very handy. It sells all the essentials, from stationary to makeup to small gifts and wrapping paper to clothes to food. It isn't the cheapest place ever and I wouldn't recommend you doing your food shop there but it has everything you'll need while you're on campus. They also sell stuff for lunches like sandwiches and pasties. They have a microwave in the shop and upstairs in Retreat that you can use for free so I've got a pasty or sausage roll from there and heated it up for lunch.

If you want to buy your lunch though there is a few other places in the union you could go. So as of September 2015 Munchies and Quick Bite have been replaced with Eats which sells a wider range of food and has some seating area. It's range of food includes fresh ready made and made to order sandwiches, daily international specials and hot meals to eat in or takeaway. There is also Eats Italia which sells fresh pizza and pasta both during the day and at night when Asylum is open.

If you wanted a full meal though, you could go to the bar in the union, Sanctuary, which serves food. The food is similar to what you'd find in a pub but isn't bad quality. There is also a smaller room at the back of Sanctuary with pool tables, as it is still part of Sanctuary you can also order food and drink there. On top of this Sanctuary also has a nice outdoor space so you can eat/drink outside which is good when it starts to get warmer. The bar are open most nights and host events, such as quizzes and karaoke on certain nights. John McCarthy has been redecorated and changed to an area where you can bring your own food or get some from the shop or eats. There is also a small stand in there which sells sandwiches and drinks.

On the first floor is Retreat, this consists of three rooms which contains a mixture of table & chairs, sofas and comfy chairs. It also contains two microwaves that anybody can use for free. This is a good place to go to between lectures when the gap isn't long enough to justify going home or to each lunch in a relaxed atmosphere. There is a ping pong table and a pool table there as well. The pool table costs £1 and the table tennis is free but you need to go down to reception to get the ball and paddles. There's also a ping pong table on the ground floor as well.

There is also an amazon locker in the union. This is for if you want to order something off Amazon but don't think you're going to be in when it is delivered, you get get it sent to the amazon locker, where it's held safe until you collect it. I think it works by giving you a code, and when you put the code into the machine, it opens the locker with your stuff in.

The Accommodation
The accommodation was one of the reasons why I put Hull as one of my choices, compared to the other ones I'd seen, it has the best Halls of Residence by far (I was judging this by the Lawns). I spent my first year in the Lawns and I think it probably was the best choice for me to go into there first as it was very social and I was able to make friends easily as everyone was in the same situation as me. There was also quite a few people so there was more chance to find someone I got on really well with. I heard that some people who lived in a shared house felt a bit isolated as they were so far away from the action when everyone else was making plans to do things. They only met people through the course. I should say by social I don't necessarily mean in terms of going out getting drunk (though that applies as well) as I didn't really go out very much at all and made friends with someone who never goes out drinking. However that's just how it looked to me personally, as everybody is different.

If you want to bring a bike, there are lockable bike sheds at the student halls. Bikes may not be left in hallways or bedrooms. If you do wish to bring a bike, please ensure that you have it security marked and bring a strong lock. You are also advised to top-up the basic insurance package to cover your bike.

The Courtyard opened shortly after I graduated so I can't comment at all on it but considering it's new, it will probably be really nice.

By the second year though, people tend to have already made friends that they like, to go live with in a shared house and they already know people so can go round to eachothers house and don't have to worry so much about being isolated.

Bit of advice: In hull there is an excess of student housing, meaning some houses go empty after everyone has found a house to live in. This means it is competitive and you can get amazing houses for much cheaper than you could elsewhere. However the downside is come near Christmas people come and start pressuring you to buy a house saying they are all going to go. They then show you all the awful houses, then for the last one show one that isn't quite so awful so you think it's good, then they pressure you into buying it straight away by saying it will go soon. You buy it before you realise that the standard is actually much higher. DON'T BE PRESSURED INTO BUYING A HOUSE. DON'T GO WITH UNICOM. Unicom are notoriously bad landlords with awful houses with lots of problems and everyone will advise you against going with them. DON'T BUY A HOUSE WITH UNICOM.

Societies and Sports Clubs
When you come to the uni, a great way to get involved and meet new people is to join a society or sports club. There are lots of different societies and sports clubs available for you to join, a list of all the existing ones can be found here. New ones are often made throughout the year as well.

It cost £4 to join a society for the year and £25 per sports club though you have to pay an extra £5 for the first sports club you join for insurance. (So basically it costs £30 to join one sports club, then £25 for any ones you join after that). Sports ones cost more because they use more equipment and stuff. The prices might vary slightly with the new academic year but I doubt they will change massively.

If you find that a society or sports club you really wanted to join doesn't currently exist or you have an idea for a great society or sports club, then you can start a new society/sports club up. Anyone can do this, but for it to exist you need at least 15 paying (not necessarily active) members. If this interests you, then you can find more information about this here.

Student Offers
They keep changing how freshers works so this might not be valid next year (I graduated in 2016). I've tried to write this to be as general as possible to keep this advice relevant to future years. So in 2014 and 2015, we've had a Freshers Fest. In this Week 1 is for international students who move in a week before everyone else, Week 2 is the main Freshers Week when the freshers move in and where the majority of good events happen and finally Week 3 still has events on but lectures start during this week.

They usually offer a Freshers Wristband or card which will get you free entry to all the drinking events before a certain time, but this does not include most non-drinking events. For most of the drinking events especially the Welcome Party or Tower Beach Party, if you don't have a freshers wristband/card or a ticket to that particular event that you bought in advance you simply won't get in. So if you want to go to the drinking events, don't try to get a ticket on the door as you'll be waiting a long time and still might not be able to get in. Which card or wristband you get depends on how many events you plan on going to.

In terms of a platinum/infinity card (the all year one), it depends if you are planning on going out a lot. I can tell you how much everything would normally cost so judge it for yourself. The Card usually includes a freshers wristband/card, free entry (and a shorter queue) into Asylum all year, including most events and a End of Year Ball ticket. You should be able to see the price of a freshers wristband/card, it costs £4 to get into Asylum each time and ~£42 (was £38 in 2016) for an EOYB ticket. (Special events like concerts when they get people in, can cost like £10 but you should check if these are included with the card) The usually sell a cheaper version of the infinity card/platinum card just before Christmas which are valid for the rest of the year, which is good if you end up going out more than you thought originally so it becomes worth it.

I got a NUS Card and it's been worth it for me as I've used it several places where they only accept that. Unfortunately as of after summer 2015, they've stopped doing NUS discount in the union shop (I hope they bring it back). The main thing is to remember to ask if they do student discount as some surprising places do but you have to remember to get it. Although in 2016, Hull voted to disaffiliate from the NUS so I'm not sure if you can still get NUS cards for being a student at the uni.




Feel free to ask any questions and let me know if anything is wrong/needs updating/needs expanding upon or anything that I've missed. I'm looking to update this hopefully with anything else helpful that people want.
(edited 7 years ago)
Cannot wait to syst, my place is confirmed, just waiting till 29th September now. Too excited :yy:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Smiler84
Cannot wait to syst, my place is confirmed, just waiting till 29th September now. Too excited :yy:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Start my history course in September at Hull, as a very mature student. Looking forward to it but concerned I may not fit in.
Original post by stephenkeane
Start my history course in September at Hull, as a very mature student. Looking forward to it but concerned I may not fit in.


You will be fine, there are plenty of mature students studying History.
Original post by Charliemouse
You will be fine, there are plenty of mature students studying History.

Thanks for the reassurance
Reply 19
Hull was my insurance choice which has now been confirmed. I confirmed my accommodation choices in May - didn't pay a deposit because it was an insurance choice. Does anyone know what happens next? I believe they will send me a letter with details of the accommodation in - how long do I have to wait? Just a bit panicky as to whether I'll get the right accommodation.

Studying MChem with industrial placement by the way - anyone else?

Quick Reply

Latest