Seeking Postgraduate Accommodation Advice

Original post by Ali'sroom

Childs Halls is the best in my opinion. It's newly built and on campus.

Hi there. Thanks but Child's hall has no accommodation for postgrad students :-(

Reply 3

Original post by Moz_curious

Hello

Congratulations on the offer for your Masters, that is great news!

I will go through and give you some options for accommodation that fit your requirements, so hopefully this will make your decision a bit easier! I shared a bathroom in first year, and I too was apprehensive! However it was perfectly fine, I was sharing one between two but some of my friends shared between 3 and 4. The bonus of having a shared bathroom is once a week, when the cleaners clean your kitchen and other communal areas you also get your bathroom cleaned -if you have an en-suite this is your job.

Firstly, postgraduate catered accommodation is only available in St Patricks - this is slightly off campus but in a community of halls: Sherfield and Benyon. It is also 5 minutes from the gym! Catered accommodation is where a certain amount of money is loaded onto your student card each week which can be used in the eating outlets on the campus - for example Park Bar (near to the Park Group accommodation), Eat at the Square (in the centre of campus), the library, Henley Business School and also the Agriculture cafe - which will be convenient for your course. There is a lot of diversity with the catered food, from sandwiches, noodle bars, salad bars, hot meals, burgers, pizza etc and it is very convenient - I had friends in first year that were catered and really enjoyed it! There is also Eat at Northcourt which is near to St Patricks where you can use your catering card - this hall is shared bathroom, and can be catered or self catered. You still do get a small kitchen facility if you also want to cook for yourself. However, you are slightly further away from the agriculture cafe - a maximum 25 minute walk but easily accessible (and flat!) in 10 minutes if you have a bike

Self-catered postgraduate accommodation is available in Benyon ( slightly off campus, near St Patricks), Bridges (modern, closest to the Agriculture building and 10 minutes from centre of campus) and Mackinder, Greenow House, St George's and Stenton (in Park Group accommodation, a 10 minute walk from the centre of campus)

Bridges offers premium en-suite rooms for Postgraduate students, this is where I stayed in my first year and had a great time! You are about 5 minutes from the Agriculture building, about 15-20 minutes from the gym and 10 minutes to the library. Bridges is also a sociable hall as it is close to Wessex Hall (which has its own bar, Ice Bar) and also about 5 minutes from the Students Union which has student only nights on Wednesday and Saturday! In Bridges you will often be sharing with 10 people.

Benyon is slightly off campus, near the gym and they have social facilities near the Halls. There are JCR rooms with pool tables which are highly sociable! You are really close to the gym and still only 15 minutes from the library- here you also have an en-suite room - so no need to share a bathroom. in Benyon you will share your kitchen with 6 people.

St George's offers en-suite accommodation, around 5 minutes from Park Bar (highly sociable with always lots going on) and 15 minutes from the centre of campus. You are really close to the gym (as you cut across the sports fields) and can choose to have either an en-suite or shared bathroom accommodation (but here with shared bathroom you also get a washbasin which is really handy!)

Greenow house is also close to Park Bar - it is part of Greenow & McCombie hall. These are all en-suite rooms and Greenow house is especially for postgraduate students so it will be very quiet! Again you are about 10 minutes from the centre of campus and no more than a 20 minute walk to the Agriculture building. As with all the Park Group accommodation you are in close proximity to launderette, postal services, reception area and Park Bar.

Mackinder is another Park Group accommodation offering premium en-suite rooms. You are close to the library and gym, and 20 minutes from the Agriculture building. Here you share your kitchen with 8 people.

Stenton Townhouses are a sightly different set up to the other accommodation - here the kitchen and communal areas are downstairs and then there are 4 rooms on of 3 floors floor with 2 bathrooms. I lived in a Bridges Townhouse in my first year and really liked the layout - you are sharing with 12 people so it is sociable but if they are all postgraduates or mostly postgraduates then it will still be quiet.

All of the halls are mixed gender unless you specifically ask for a single gender accommodation. Also, the accommodation office will always mix international students together with UK students - but if you want to make sure of this you can e-mail the accommodation office on [email protected]

All of our halls are in walking distance to all of the buildings and the library, if they are off campus they are only literally 5 minutes away. Also, it is worth bearing in mind that just because you do an Agricultural course it does not mean all of your study will be in the Agricultural building. You may also have lectures in lecture halls on the centre of campus, which are easily accessible from all halls. The link for postgraduate accommodation is here so you can look in more details at your options and also see some pictures of the rooms. https://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/accommodation/university-accommodation/specific-requirements.aspx

Hope all this helps - if you have anymore questions then feel free to ask .

Alice :h:

2nd Year Food Science Student

Reply 4

Hey Alice,

Thanks for such a comprehensive answer! I think I will find it extremely helpful.

I was reading some reviews on StudentCrowd and people said Bridges was boring. That the JCR could care less for them and didn't organize them any events or anything and that the warden is mean and is quick to bad you from having guests for the year and that you are limited to only 3 guests so you can't really have like a party or loads of people over to hang out....those reviews were from 2015 though so maybe things have changed? Because from what you are saying Bridges is tarting to look pretty good whereas previously those reviews had put me off! Question: does Bridges give you access to Ice Bar?

On St. Patrick's, on the map it did look kinda far from my main building...is it easy to get a bike and what are the costs? Obviously I can't bring one with me from home lol. Also I saw on StudentCrowd many student reviews about catered accommodation was that the food was bland and microwavey or frozen dinner-ish and not worth the money, that you could eat better for cheaper by going self-catered...is that true?

Also, if you are in self-catered can you have a campus card for meals for days you don't feel like cooking.

At the moment I am leaning towards Stenton, Bridges, Mackinder and Greenow in that order of preference. Stenton seems spacious and great value for money and quiet but close to all the action and midway between sports facilities, my faculty and the library....

Reply 5

Original post by Moz_curious

Hello

Not a problem!

I really enjoyed Bridges and found it sociable so I think those reviews from 2015 are outdated as you say. The JCR are a group of students who lived in Bridges the previous year and are elected to organise events so it changes each year. When I was there we had an amazing Christmas formal and lots of other events throughout the year. The rule for guests applies in all halls, but that is just for overnight visits (you have to sign them in at reception) but you can have lots of friends over in the day/evening! The warden would only come round if there has been a noise complaint issued by other halls, so as long as you are quiet it will be fine :smile:

Yes, anyone can go into Ice Bar and being at Bridges you are really close! They also have a small cinema :smile:

Granted St Patricks does look far away, but it really isn't. There are bike shops in town (some selling second hand bikes), so the cost wouldn't be too much - however you will probably find you can walk it quite easily. Also - there is ReadyBike, bikes you can rent situated by the edge of campus and through the campus. This means you join as a member and then pay for how long you use them for - more information can be found on this website https://www.readybike.co.uk/. As I am someone who likes to cook, I wouldn't choose catered accommodation because it doesn't give you as much flexibility with your meal choices. The food can get repetitive (what my friends who were catered last year said) so maybe you would prefer the self catered halls! There are lots of supermarkets in town and around campus and people tend to get online food deliveries to their halls so I think you may prefer this option! Even if you are self-catered you can go to any of the catering outlets and pay the discounted student price for food, you can do this by cash, card or you can top up your student card (which you get on arrival to the university during welcome week) with money to use in the library and in the catering outlets.

I think your list sounds a good choice :biggrin:

As I said, none of our halls are bad and all of them are in good proximity to most of the buildings and the centre of campus. Townhouses are really spacious and excellent for postgraduate students so I think would offer you the best of everything. :smile:

Hope this helps, and anymore questions feel free to ask!

Alice :h:

2nd Year Food Science Student

Reply 6

Thanks a lot Alice.

Pray my scholarships work out. Would love to meet you in Reading!

So tell me something....Freshers and the general night scene: is it frequented by postgrads and at 25 am I 'old' by campus standards?

Reply 7

Original post by Moz_curious

Hello

I hope it all works out for you too! Might see you around :smile:

Most of the "freshers" are between 18 and 21 but postgraduates vary a lot in age and I think 25 might be around the average age. Although don't worry, you have people of all ages on your course, some of my course friends in first year were 17 and others were nearly 30! You don't see postgraduates going out as much as the freshers, just because of the increase in workload but they still often meet in the bars on campus or go for the occasional night out :smile:

There are lots of societies you can join when you are at uni, from academic societies to hobbies like baking or sports - if you wanted to meet some other people that don't do you course or that you live with you may find it sociable to join one of those! I joined the Ballroom, Latin and Salsa dancing society in my first year (which is actually really popular with postgraduates!) and really enjoy it! If you want to take a further look - this is the link for the RUSU (Reading University Students Union) webpage for clubs and societies https://www.rusu.co.uk/activities/a-zdirectory/

Good luck with everything!

Alice :h:

Reply 8

Heya,

I had had a look at the extra-curriculars and there are so many that I am just spoiled for choice but Enactus, Debate and Public Speaking, Swimmign, volleyball and Anime society interest me as I have been a member at my alma mater for the first fourand I love anime,,,,,then there are a lot of new and interesting things I have never been exposed to that would be interested in like lacrosse, snowsports (no snow in my country), surfing and poker or quidditch. I am also a rugby fan but have never played and there is a female team so maybe I will join that. I am on a fitness journey so I will certainly join a sport and making friends through that is an added bonus!

Reply 9