Hey, I'm currently a first year in Worcester, doing History and Sports Studies (yes, it actually exists!).
One of the things I like about Worcester is that the university and town are pretty compact, but in a good way! The town has pretty much all the shops you'd want, but it's close enough to easily walk to. Nightlife is pretty good, with Tramps (which has Mode and Velvet attached) sponsoring the SU and providing the 'official' freshers events, and Bushwackers (and its pre-club Sin) being the other main one. There's plenty of pubs about, and a few bars as well (shout out to The Wheatsheaf and Rileys!), but the SU bar on campus (the Pear Tree) is usually pretty quiet (it's quite small, and at the moment more focused on being a socialising venue, but I think they're listening to feed back!), but still cheap.
There's drinking most nights, with Monday being the 'official' one (Mayhem Monday at Tramps). Thursday is pretty good, because Sin is open before Bushwackers, but Wednesday is my favourite... Sports social! Every Wednesday all the sports teams go out, some in fancy dress (Swimmers dress up every week, American Football once a month), and it's a great way to get to know your team!
Have a look on the SU website (
http://www.worcsu.com/studentgroups/content/782503/sports/ ) for all the teams, but if you're really passionate and can get enough support you can start your own team/society
Accommodation isn't too bad. It's all self catered (for better or worse...), and is split into different groups: En-suit extra, en-suit, standard plus, standard, and traditional (more commonly know by their former names as platinum plus, platinum, gold, silver and bronze). It's quite pricey, with the top accommodation being £137 a week! It is really nice, and the kitchen area is huge, but still, less drinking money
I'm in en-suit, which is £123 next year (but £113 currently). The rooms are big, like I've got plenty of space in mine, and having a shower and toilet is really nice! However, the actual standard of it is a bit so-so, and with the change in price, it's probably worth going for en-suit extra if you can afford it!
The uni is pretty nice, with most of it on the St Johns main campus. It's a mix of buildings, with the modern Charles Darwin building, the ancient Breedon building, and the pleasant brick Edward Elgar building. There's plenty of computers available, including in the recently opened Pierson study centre. There's the Riverside building and The Garage just down the road by the river where a few classes are held, and there's also City Campus which is in a beautiful old hospital, with it's own accommodation (which is nice and new!). The library, The Hive, is alright. It's just opened, and has plenty of computers and laptop spaces. However, it's shared with the public, so expect a lot of kids, unemployed chavs, and new parents hanging about taking up space and computers. The uni is aware of this, and is adjusting things to make it better for students. However, it's also about 15 minute brisk walk from St Johns, and isn't open 24-hours, which is a bit annoying when you like to work at night.
Overall it's a pretty nice place. I like it because it's not too big (only about 10,000 students, compared with 40,000 in Manchester!), has enough of a social scene, and is close to home