[Shortyboa]

Hi, this is going to sound really stupid but if I never ask I'll never know.

Basically I know absolutely NOTHING about student accommodation. I've tried reading around to try and find out what's best for me but I get confused with all the studio/en-suite/premium/basic etc. What does it all mean?

What do you think would be best for me? I'd prefer to live on my own but I know this isn't always possible so I'm prepared to have to live with others. I don't want to be spending loads but I want my own space. I don't know what else to say... Let's see what you lot think. Cheers

Matt

[Dan1909]

Will you be going into halls (as in big groups of rooms provided by the university, or less commonly so a private company on behalf of the uni), or into private housing (which is from a private landlord, who you would deal with directly)?

A good place to start is the accommodation section of the universities websites, they've got lots of good information for people in your position.

As for the terms:

Studio - Generally very similar to a flat, more than just a room with a bathroom, and accordingly so more expensive and less common
En-suite - Room with a bathroom attached (The bathroom is yours alone, as it can only be accessed from within your room)
Premium - Could mean a few different things, depending on what it's describing, but generally just a more expensive room with more space, better features, etc
Basic - Standard room, and most often the most common in university halls. They're usually a decent sized room with all the usual furnishings, and most of the time have a sink/taps. Note than if it's not stated as an en-suite, then there's no bathroom in the room.

Hope that helps .

[Origami Bullets]

It should probably be noted that your bedroom is always your own space, and your bedroom door will have a lock on it

[Dan1909]

Well, unless you get a duplex room, but I wasn't going to mention those .

[Shortyboa]

Thanks for the replies. So if I were just in basic halls, where would I go to make my dinner and go to the toilet/shower etc? And roughly (I know it will vary) how many people will I be sharing these facilities with?

[Origami Bullets]

(Original post by Shortyboa)
Thanks for the replies. So if I were just in basic halls, where would I go to make my dinner and go to the toilet/shower etc? And roughly (I know it will vary) how many people will I be sharing these facilities with?

To make your dinner, you'll have a kitchen that you share with your flatmates. Flat sizes vary, but I'd say that you're looking at somewhere in the region of 6-10 flatmates, although you'd be looking at more like 20 if you went for catered accommodation (and the kitchens are worse if you're catered, too).

For the shower / loo, then you can choose to go either en suite or shared bathroom. With en suite, you have your own bathroom, which is only accessible from within your bedroom. With shared bathroom, you'll have a bathroom very close to your bedroom. You'll share it with your flatmates, but you'll typically have several showers & loos between your flatmates - for instance, in my flat, we have 2 showers and 2 loos between 8 people. I've never had to wait for the shower / loo, and it's really no worse than sharing a bathroom with your family at home.

And you'll normally find that a cleaner comes in regularly and cleans the communal parts of your flat, so it doesn't get too dirty.

[Shortyboa]

Thank you. It doesn't seem as daunting as it did before. I wasn't looking forward to sharing a home with X amount of strangers but I think I might cope lol.

[Origami Bullets]

I'm sure you'll survive

And the strangers you live with are only strangers for the first two days anyway