Second thoughts about my course and uni

Hi, I'm currently studying up north and my home is down at London. Recently I've been thinking about my course and how it would shape up my future (doing maths and music) as well as how far it was away from home. Recently in the holidays I went back home for the first time, hung out with friends and family and had a good time. But back here I felt depressed and lonely, it seemed like everyone already had friend groups and didn't like me. I feel so homesick now, more than I was when I moved out. One of my family has worsened condition and I want to be there all the time to support them and just be in their presence. I'm just feeling so sad as of recently as well as the pressure and stress from my exams coming up. Is it normal for people to switch to a different course and uni after first year? I know financial support would be cut down but I would be living at home. Any advice would be helpful... I'll also contact my tutor soon

It's good that you're contacting your tutor, making sure the university are aware of how you're feeling is particularly important when it may affect your performance in upcoming assessments.

Quite a lot of people transfer universities or change course after their first year, so yes I would say it is fairly "normal".
If you want to read up on how you can transfer please have a read of this thread:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1781424

My main advice would be to not see a black and white distinction between being at your current university and living at home. Another option is transferring to a university much closer to home with good transport links, allowing you to travel home more easily? While you may want to stay at home and that's certainly the right decision for some people, developing some independence and social confidence is also important, and staying away from home can be a big benefit in both of those departments. I can predict that if you move home then by the end of your second year you may be seeking more independence than your family is able to afford you while living at home. You could of course move back home and then live with friends in a house-share the following year to combat this. But my point in general is that the opportunities for you are not limited to 2.

The other thing I would advise on is your choice of course, yes Maths and Music is not the most typical of courses, so it may be challenging for you to find a place on the same kind of course but you obviously chose that combination for a reason and try to remember that when looking at alternatives. If you're looking to transfer to a BSc Maths or MMath then do have a look at the opportunities for elective study in other subjects and see what their music department is like (if they have one). A single honours degree is not necessarily the elimination of your other subject. Same applies if you're looking at changing to single honours music.

Let me know if I can be of more help.

Thank you so much for the advice, it made me feel much better! Im still thinking about it and I really have lost all passion for maths and music. I feel like I want to change my course to something else- maybe computer science, but I don't want to rush things yet. I know computer science does have some elements of math such as discrete math but computer science in general seems to be so interesting. I've read that I need to go through the UCAS application again but does that mean I would have a year of doing nothing while I apply for my application? This is because I've heard most applications are finished just about now. I'm going to see my tutor in 2 weeks so hopefully I can talk about these things. Again, thank you for the advice!