How to use The Student Room

students on a forum concept art

Quick tips to help you get started

Sign up for your free account on The Student Room and you'll be able to join in conversations with thousands of school, college and university students. Here are some pointers on getting the most from account.

How do I register for a free account on The Student Room?

Just tap the 'sign up' button at the top of this page to get your free account. 

It's really easy to do and should take less than a minute. You can sign in with your Google account or by using your email address. Your account works across The Student Room and The Uni Guide.

Registering with The Student Room enables you to:

  • Start new discussions

  • Add posts to existing discussions

  • Send and receive private messages

  • Customise your profile

  • And plenty more too!

My verification email hasn’t arrived

If you register using your email address, we'll send you a verification email. You'll need to verify your account by clicking on the link in that email before you can start posting on The Student Room.

If you think your verification email hasn't arrived, have a quick check of your junk/spam folder, along with any other folders such as those for promotional emails. 

If you still can't access your verification email, please send an email to [email protected] with the following details:

  • Email address associated with the account

  • Username 

  • Date of birth 

Help! I’ve forgotten my password

We have an option on our sign-in page where you can reset your password.

If you are not receiving the reset email, please send us an email at [email protected]

How do I delete my account?

To delete your account, hover over your username in the top bar. Then select 'Customise my TSR' > 'Edit my login settings'.

How do I change my username?

To change your username, tap on your avatar at the top-right of the screen (or hover your mouse pointer over it, if you're viewing the site on a computer). Tap 'edit profile', then 'edit my profile'.

You can only change your username once a year, so make sure you’re happy with it before changing! If you need to change your username due to privacy concerns, please come and speak to us in Ask The Community Staff. 

How do I update my email settings?

In order to help you keep up to date with threads you have started and replied to, friend requests and other important goings on, TSR can send you email notifications. It is also possible to turn some of these notifications off if you would prefer not to receive them. In order to do so, click ‘Customise my TSR’ menu bar, then choose ‘edit my email settings’ under Account Options. Here, you’ll be able to set your custom preferences and choose how you would like us to communicate with you via email. 

How do I delete my thread?

Although you are able to edit and delete your own replies in unlocked threads, you are not able to delete your own threads. If you wish to have a thread you have started removed, post in the Ask the Community Staff forum, linking your thread and your reasons. Unfortunately we only remove threads if they reveal personal, identifiable information about a user, or break our community guidelines.

Can I post anonymously?

Some forums on The Student Room allow you the opportunity to post anonymously. This is to allow you to discuss and/or share experiences about sensitive issues that you may not wish to have identified with your account. For example, you may wish to seek advice on health or relationship issues, but without the anonymous function you might be wary of doing so for fear that people you know in real life or through the forum would find out information that you would rather keep personal. It is not to be used to break our community guidelines. 

Where can I post anonymously?

The forums in which you can currently post anonymously are:

  • Health

    • Mental Health

    • Sexual Health

  • Relationships

    • Friends, Family and Work

    • Relationships

  • Universities

    • University life 

    • Medicine and medicine subforums 

    • Some university specific forums 

How do I post anonymously?

When you are in a forum in which The Student Room has enabled anonymous posting, you can post anonymously by checking the ‘Post Anonymous’ tick box, located above the message box when you are using the ‘Post A Reply’ or ‘Quote’ function, and under the message box when using the ‘Quick Reply’ function. Once you have checked this box, other users (except site moderators) will not see your username. 

Abuse of the anonymous function will not be tolerated, and member’s that do so are likely to be warned, and their messages will be removed. To read more about the moderation system, click here.

Can I ignore another member?

The Student Room has an Ignore function that you can put to use if you find another member of TSR and their style of posting annoying, or you do not wish to have to read their posts. When you have someone on ignore, their posts will be blocked out in threads that you are viewing. In place of their post will be a message telling that this user is on your ignore list, and a link for you to read that particular post if you wish.

In order to place another member on ignore, click here, add a member's username to the list and then click 'Okay'.

What are avatars, and how do I change mine?

Avatars are images that appear with your post, to the left of your username. They are usually used to express your personality on site and so that other users can visually spot if you’ve joined the conversation! Avatars are subject to the same community guidelines as posts, so please don’t use anything explicit or anything that contains swearing.

What are user statuses?

As you post more, you get different status titles under your name. You can also add your own user status to your profile by clicking here. Want to know what it all means? Check out our conversion chart below. 

Post Count 

User status 

0

New Member

25

Junior Member

75

Full Member

150

Respected Member

250

Exalted Member

400

Adored and Respected Member

600

Benevolent Member

900

Exalted and Worshipped Member

1400

Peer Of The TSR Realm

2000

Overlord in Training

3500

Vengeful, Imperial Overlord of The Student Room

5000

TSR Demigod

7500

TSR Idol

10000

TSR Legend

15000

TSR Royalty

25000

TSR Deity

50000

TSR Veteran

Why have some of the words in my post been starred out?

On TSR we have what's known as a swear filter. This filter is applied so that certain predetermined words are starred out. So for example, a four letter word in the swear filter would become: ****

There are a number of reasons as to why we have the swear filter on the site. Firstly, we have a responsibility to all users to make the site as accommodating as possible, whether this be to our younger or older audience. We believe such a filter both accommodates and encourages profanity-free discussion on the site. 

Having the swear filter has also been known to avoid some firewalls and filters in schools, allowing access to the site which would otherwise not have been possible. Since this is an incredibly important group of people to TSR, anything that aids students using the site in school is a positive.

Finally...please don't avoid the swear filter! This includes misspelling or separating out letters in swear words so they won’t be picked up. 

Watching threads on The Student Room

If you find a discussion you want to keep track of, all you need to do is watch the thread by clicking on the purple button at the side of the title.watch thread button

You'll then get a notification any time someone adds a new post. You will automatically watch threads that you have made or posted in, but you can also add other discussions you want to keep track of to your list. 

You can also view and manage your watched threads here.