RE: Student Accommodation in Newcastle

I'm also a first year at Newcastle, hopefully I can provide as much advice as possible, I know student accommodation can be ridiculously overwhelming!

I wouldn't call the accommodation 'poor', I think most are actually rather nice, although in my opinion there are some you should avoid - it all depends on what kind of thing you're looking for. These are just my opinions though, please don't take them as gospel - I'm only trying to help!

Bowsden Court are lovely flats, the interior is all newly refurbished and very modern, so if you reckon you'll be spending a lot of time in your flat this is ideal. However, it is very quiet as it's fairly small and there aren't many people there, meaning its not as sociable as other halls - I've heard that you make good friends with people near you but it's harder to meet others as there's less parties etc. Also, you will have to use the Metro to get anywhere good really (eg the city centre or the Uni) so if you're not okay with that, I wouldn't recommend it.

Castle Court is quite similar to Bowsden Court, lovely interiors. Although again, the halls themselves are pretty quiet and it'd take a trip to neighbouring Castle Leazes to go to the more rowdier parties. Castle Court is usually inhabited by people with a similar, rather well off background (not saying this is a bad thing at all, although it can sometimes feel a bit 'rah' like!). They do get good social events such as a ball etc which sounds tempting, but most of your courses and/or societies will also offer this so don't get hung up on the fact that they have occasional activities within the halls!

Castle Leazes I really wouldn't recommend! The reception area/shops etc are all lovely and shows it does have more facilities than some other halls, but once you get to the room they are very grim! Castle Leazes works on a 'corridor' basis rather than a flat, so you don't have a living room and usually have two bathrooms and one kitchen between about 10-15 people on your floor. I've found that, although it does have a good party reputation, it can be more unsociable! The kitchens are well refurbished, but small and means it can be harder to throw a party as there is no 'flat'. Also, if you end up on a floor with people who stay in their room all the time, it can be very lonely. The lifts smell of urine constantly from people coming back from a night out and some signs are written on in marker pen. It looks VERY hospital like, although as the corridors are so narrow and badly lit, it does not feel nice! However I would disagree it's full of rah's, its actually a nice mix of backgrounds and nationalities!

Central Link's flats are gorgeous! It's a brand new building literally next to the business school, but WORD OF WARNING - if you're doing a business course, your first year lecture are not held in the business school, they're held on the main campus along with everyone else (eg armstrong building, bedson building if you're wanting to map it) so don't pick it for convenience! It's very expensive but you do get what you pay for, the facilities are great and very advanced! The main bad point would be that it is VERY hotel-like - for the first three months here, I actually thought it was a hotel! It's also very tall (I'd guess 15/20 floors) so if you don't do heights or lifts don't pick it.

Henderson Hall is a bit of a question mark. In my opinion, the images and tours Newcastle Uni provide are a lot better than it looks in real life, whereas other accommodations are relatively realistic! It's one of them accommodations that are just 'alright' - nothing majorly good or bad! However it is the furthest out and situated where most 2nd/3rd years student houses are, so whilst it's possible to commute it's not ideal! My friend does the catering at Hendo Hall and often brings some leftovers. In my opinion it's basic but good enough - better than anything I can make anyway! Although I do prefer self catered simply because it's more freedom!

Marris House is another I wouldn't particularly recommend. It's very quiet, despite the fact its so near Ricky Road and Castle Leazes, and the interior is out-dated and hardly luxury! For some reason, the Uni seems to put a LOT of international students in Marris House so if you'd prefer that then it's ideal for you, and it is also very near the Uni. Personally, I think it's one of the weakest accommodations.

Ricky Road is the notorious accommodation! It's loud, it's busy but it's also VERY basic! Ricky Road is ideal if you're the kind of person who wants something going on every night, at any time, with whoever. It's very sociable, cheap and near the university - but please bare in mind that whilst you might want to party for the first couple of months, hearing Earthquake on repeat from the floor above is not great when you've got January exams! Unless money and location is a major issue for you, I really wouldn't recommend it - it's VERY prison-like! Also, they'll be demolishing it the year after you join, showing it definitely needs updating! The interior is pretty much awful and most flats haven't been fully updated since the 1970's according to my cleaner.

St Mary's College is where I live. I wouldn't like to sound biased but I do recommend it! The interior is almost identical to Bowsden Court, meaning it's very modern and pretty inside - few flats are yet to be refurbished but they're getting done this summer, so don't worry about that! Despite the tour shown on the website, the living room and kitchen are usually one room and therefore very open plan and sociable. It's said to be quiet but in my opinion, it is what you make it - we have drunken get together's or parties and hit the town most nights. Generally, St Mary's and Bowsden have the best interiors but as they're further out, people are put off! Most people get a bus pass for £235 allowing you to ride any bus (there's ones into town from St Mary's about every 4 minutes) and I can guarantee you won't be walking in those winter months!

Victoria Hall provides similarly lovely flats and is very near the uni and library. In that sense, it is one of the stronger accommodations. However, often you find that people tend to get in their groups and stick to them, rather than socialise with anyone and everyone. There isn't much bad to say about Victoria Hall although if you want cheaper and even more sociable you're looking at places like Castle Leazes. Also, Victoria Hall is VERY hard to get into, if you put it as your first choice don't get your hopes up!

Windsor Terrace is also pretty popular and hard to get into. It's another one of your 'classic' student accommodations - near to the Uni, relatively basic interiors and fairly sociable. It's 'nice' but in my opinion, it's not somewhere I'd recommend to live simply because there's nothing massively outstanding about it! If you're wanting a basic uni experience which is practical and allows you to have a bit of all the advantages of halls then it's great, but it's not somewhere I'd personally choose.

Also, I know someone was asking about the process of selecting accommodation. You should get an email in about March asking you to apply - do it ASAP, as it's first come, first served. Unconditional's go first, then firms, insurances and then if you get there through clearing you'll probably end up sharing a room for a couple of months or in some alternative accommodation that the Uni don't list (eg the Grand Hotel, which is not as grand as it suggests!) When applying, you get three choices under one term (eg en suite, self catering etc), three under another term and then a 'catered alternative' if you're unlucky enough to get any of them 6!

One of the workers said to me that basically, if you put certain accommodations as your first choice, you're pretty likely to get them. Ricky Road, St Mary's and Henderson Hall as your first choice means you're almost guaranteed to get in there. On the other hand, if Victoria Hall, Windsor Terrace or Castle Court are anything but your first choice, you almost definitely won't get in - or probably not if you put them as your first choice anyway! All I'm saying is, make sure you'd be happy living at all your choices. If you wouldn't be, don't put them!

Sorry for the huge essay, I just realised how much I rambled on! Hopefully this is some form of help, if anyone has any questions I'll keep checking the thread

So correct me if I'm wrong but could I choose the following on my list of 6 (blank two spaces as to be blunt, I do want an ensuite but it's not the end of the world):

Victoria Hall
Castle Court
Central-Link
Windsor Terrace
______
______

Or can I only choose one ensuite?

Edit: About Central-Link; is it within walking distance? Google maps seems to say 2miles but it looks like you could cut across leazes park quite fast to avoid going all the way around. Is that possible?

Sorry, I know the selection process is hard to explain! :P
Basically, it will ask you to pick your most important factor - in your case, en-suite - from a drop down menu. You can select from other things such as self-catered etc, just basic factors of accommodation. Then you'd select two or three places that provide en-suite (you can leave your third option blank if there's no suitable alternative, although I don't recommend it as you could end up in your 'catered alternative' which is always a bit grim!)

Then you choose your next factor. However, if you chose 'washbasin only', you'd still be able to select somewhere like Windsor Terrace again, as it's got ensuite rooms as well as washbasin rooms. The same two or three choices process applies, and then you choose your 'catered alternative' (although it's unlikely all 6 will be full if you apply early!) and voila. Your hall is selected in the order of factor one, choice one, two and three, and then factor two, choices one, two and three. In other words, you're more likely to get your second choice of your first factor than your first choice of your second factor.

I hope that makes sense! I haven't heard anything about the process changing and this was how it worked last year

Central Link is literally the most central accommodation - perhaps you've Google mapped a different place by accident? It is literally behind the business school, right next to St James Park (BTW, if you're ever searching for the business school on google maps, make sure you say Newcastle University Business School, not just 'Newcastle Business School' - that's Northumbria's). Central link is about a 5/10 minute walk from the main campus buildings, and hopefully a lot of the building work will be finished by then allowing for short cuts

Ah, thank you . Only concern for me now is if I still haven't received a Warwick decision when Newcastle's accommodation applications open in March. Hopefully that doesn't happen!

I think maybe the reason it came up as 2 miles as that I put in the Law school, which seems to be the opposite end of the campus, and I think the route it was trying to take me was for vehicles not pedestrians so it was driving out of the way to come back in on itself judging from the route map.

Well that's reassuring. I think after two years of going to a college where I need to get two buses with one of them ALWAYS being rammed with Manchester uni students has put me off the thought of a daily commute on a bus for a long time :P

I didn't apply until May and I still got my third choice, so don't panic too much if it's out of your control

Oh yes, I'm afraid for the law school you're looking at a 10/15 minute walk, although you still won't have to fuss around through Leazes Park or anything, it's pretty much a straight walk across town!

Unless you're living in St Mary's or Hendo Hall (or occasionally Bowsden Court if you don't like the Metro) I can guarantee you won't be using buses in town - it's much faster to walk! I get a bus almost every day and they're pretty much empty, if you end up at Newcastle get used to seeing a LOT of buses on the road!

That's not too bad then, the public transport in Manchester is awful. I've seen it get so bad at times you see the students queuing up around the corner from the bus stop waiting for the buses. It's meant to be 'Europe's busiest bus corridor' yet it still can't supply the demand at peak times. It might be worth considering the accommodation further out then also.

In fact, how far exactly are the ones you need to get the Metro/Bus, would you say it's quite easy to cycle? It would probably stop me from piling on the pounds with all the junk I'll no doubt eat, haha!

Oh wow, Manchester sounds a bit overwhelming for me! Newcastle is pretty good in that at peak times, they'll often send two or three buses of the same number at the same time, so they're not busy - although usually you find there's only about 10/15 people on each one anyway!

Well like I said, I live at St Mary's and it's a 7 minute bus journey, it's about 2 miles away from the city centre. Bowsden is only slightly further out than that and Henderson Hall a little further than that, I'd say the furthest you'll be cycling is about 3 miles to get to the city centre, max!

im at newcastle uni in my first year, the halls vary, some are good, some are poor. Marris and Windsor are the 2 most popular. The 2 private partnerships victoria halls and central link are both very smart but not quite as sociable as the others. Leazes and ricky road are both good for sociliasing, ricky road is known as the party halls, but both are getting quite old and the uni plan to knock them down and rebuild them soon which says it all really. St Marys is nice but far out (this is where im living), and henderson hall is even further.

Steer really really clear of Henderson Halls. My boyfriend lives there: it's far away by bus, it's full of asbestos and you may very well end up living in a dire shared room for the first few months until some other person elsewhere drops out. It's really not very pleasant. I've heard that Central Link is supposed to be amazing.

Hush, Henderson was amazing, lived there for a year and it had one of the best communities going. It also depended which wing you were put in. Old Hall didn't have aspestos in it. All the buildings which did are being knocked down, and those who had to share for a month got massive rooms to themselves once the other person moved out. And shared rooms are nothing specific to Henderson either, you can get them in other accomodations. Next year it's unavailable for the most part I believe due to being refurbed. And it's 15 minutes to walk to the bus and be in town, not that far to be honest. By the end of the year in the summer people started to walk it was only about 35-40 minutes, prepares you for living in Jesmond where it's just a 10-15 minute walk.

How long does it take you to get from St Marys to the uni?
Thanks

Well Newcastle is now my firm so;

is Central-Link unbearably quiet or do people actually socialise and go on nights out?

Are the choices within the wash type preference ranked of equal order or is that a hierarchy too? I was thinking for my ensuite choices of doing; Central-Link, Windsor Terrace and Castle Court. If it is a hierarchy which one would I stand the best chance of getting in as a conditional firm applying on literally the day it opens?

Finally, what type of internet connection is it at halls, wired or wifi? Wifi would be so much more convenient.

I've never walked it, but it takes about 30-40 minutes, and about 7 minutes on the bus. If you do end up there, I recommend buying a £235 bus pass for the year - it may seem like a lot but you save so much more money on rent that it's worth it.




1) As far as I know from Central Link, it's pretty much in-between, maybe ever so slightly more on the quiet side. I've heard that people seem to keep themselves within their own flats and flats they make friends with so if you get a good friendship group, you're fine. Also, bear in mind that Central Link is still being built (although I heard the rest is meant to be mostly for international students) so it'll probably be more busy once it's bigger!

2) The wash type preferences are not ranked in equal order, they're ranked in hierarchy. So if you put Central Link, Windsor Terrace and Castle Court and your 1, 2 and 3, you're more likely to get Central Link than Castle Court. It'll all be explained when you get the email also!

3) I think all halls are wired? Some super lucky flats may be able to connect to wireless from their common rooms and you can connect anywhere on campus through wireless but in halls, its mostly through a wired connection in the bedroom. You'll be lucky to find wireless internet anywhere!

Thanks for the help again, you must be getting sick of me haha! Really looking forward to Newcastle now.

I think I'll end up putting Central-Link as my first choice, It seems like I'll stand a better chance considering how small Castle Court and Windsor are.

Gutted about the wifi thing. Would have helped with airdrop so I could transfer lecture notes really easy to my iMac. I guess taking your own router isn't allowed?

Edit; What about mini-fridges haha.

Just on the internet thing, I'm in Central Link. I think, in most halls you are prohibited from setting up a private / wireless network and have severe limits on what you can download, access etc.

But here, its done through a private ISP (Ask4) and you can set up wireless networks, use multiple devices etc. Pretty good deal, unlimited downloads and it cost me something like £100 to upgrade to 60mb for the year (which actually runs at 80+), so ideal if you like to download stuff.

Just on a few other things about Central Link. I don't know many people who had this as their first choice, myself included (3rd) and I know literally dozens who had not put it down at all. So as far as availability goes, I think its a pretty decent bet. Not sure where the idea has come from that its a difficult place to get into. It isn't cheap so prices a lot of people out of the market. Done to a really good standard though, so well worth it.

Socially, it depends what you make of it. It is definitely quieter than a lot of places.

Yeah I appreciate that . Would you recommend Central Link overall?

I think I'm ideally looking for a halls which isn't completely party central (like ricky road) but one where I can do work in peace but not be completely dead in the fact that people will go and socialise. Is that what Central Link is like, or is it quiet like Victoria Halls where I've been told people never go out.

Yeah overall I would. It has a lot going for it.

One word of slight caution, next year, there looks like there will be a lot of building work going on, the same development company are already building some commercial property which will probably be complete by then. But I think there is another phase building a hotel - they have cleared the site already. But in particular, an open cast coal mine on some derelict land which one of the blocks overlooks looks like it will go ahead.

Its all double glazed etc, so don't let the above put you off. Just want to tell the whole story.

Thanks for the help again, you must be getting sick of me haha! Really looking forward to Newcastle now.

I think I'll end up putting Central-Link as my first choice, It seems like I'll stand a better chance considering how small Castle Court and Windsor are.

Gutted about the wifi thing. Would have helped with airdrop so I could transfer lecture notes really easy to my iMac. I guess taking your own router isn't allowed?

Edit; What about mini-fridges haha.