I'm a fresher at Exeter, been here a few weeks now, though I've not been out that much as I'm not a huge partying person.
But you will find like-minded people here, I know lots of people who really enjoy going out almost every night, my flatmate stumbled in at 7am this morning somehow.. so she obviously found fun things to do last night. Pres are where most of the fun happens in halls, so you can look forward to that. With a good group of friends you can have a good night anywhere really!
Most nightclubs are in the town centre region, so expect a 20 min walk from halls. Exeter obviously doesn't have the clubbing scene of a place like Manchester, it can be quite quiet. Places generally don't stay open past 2-3am ish? sometimes earlier. If you're from a large city you'll probably be disappointed in exeter's nightlife, but if you're from a rural area then it'll be better!
As for clubs, we don't have that many:
There's Unit 1 - formally Arena, which is busy on Monday, Tuesday (cheesy tuesdays) and Thursdays, generally has chart music. It's generally where you might end up on a night out and is alright.
There's Timepiece - this is where all the crazy sports socials happen on Wednesday nights, it will be jammed with students. It has 2 floors with bars and dancing space and is generally a good night.
There's Mozaic or Mozzers, which is now called Rosies, never been really.
And also Rococco, also never been.
The student club on campus is called the Lemon Grove, or the Lemmy. Typical student bar, bit of a school disco feel but is busy on saturdays for 'saturday lemmy' as the clubs in town are busier with locals.
There's one gay club, the Vaults. Never been but my straight friend went in and came out alive
The Cavern was recently in a fire, but this was the resident indie club with a big focus on the music scene.
As for pubs, you'll often find yourself in the local wetherspoons: The imperial (or impy) which is 10 mins from campus, 2nd biggest weatherspoons in the country and it's an impressive building.
There's the old firehouse, which is a pub with very good food, massive pizzas and cheap booze! It has a lovely cozy atmosphere with live music and is perfect for a chilled night with friends.
There's Monkey Suite which is like a crossover between a bar and club, whatever you make of it!
Then there's a few other bars and pubs like Walkabout, Hole in the Wall, John Gandys, Cellardoor and a lot more that I can't remember
I'm not sure I'd pick Exeter for its nightlife