Liverpool vs Sheffield

I’ve received unconditional offers from all the universities i’ve applied to, but now i have the joy of deciding where to live. I’m doing a course in Social Work and because it’s governed by NHS and Social Work England it’s identical wherever i go.

My two top choices are Sheffield Hallam (Collegiate campus) or Liverpool Hope.

Any advice on which uni is better? What each city has to offer? I’m really torn between the two.

I should also add myself and a couple friends are planning to move into private rented places so student accom isn’t an issue

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

As someone who knows both cities I personally prefer Liverpool because it is bigger and more interesting and has better night life, but it depends on what you want. Some people like Sheffield because the area around Ecclesall Road where the students mostly live is generally pretty leafy and safe. Some of it is pretty much the poshest part of Sheffield with grand Victorian houses and mansions. The student areas in Liverpool especially along Smithdown road and environs are your more typical run down student area.

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

I live in liverpool, and study at hope uni, so I can only tell you about that one - it’s a small university, so if you prefer less people, it’s better than most unis. because there’s not a lot of people, i was able to settle in better and quicker. in terms of my teaching, i can’t comment on what social work department is like, but i will say the departments that teach me have been very supportive, understanding and in general good. the actual uni atmosphere is quite nice, with a cafeteria which does all around the world food, street food, there’s also starbucks, costa in the uni, and a little shop where you can buy necessities. the only issue really is with on campus accommodation, it’s not really good. it’s old, and there’s not enough space in the kitchen for how many people live in the flat. you said you’re going private with that, so i’m sure that doesn’t bother you. if you want to live in private buildings in the city, best places are: albert court, europa building, unite students: these are all close to the creative campus, which, if you want to live in the city, is ideal for you so that you can take the shuttle bus for free to the other campus in childwall.

you should also know that liverpool hope is a religious university, they don’t require you be religious and they don’t push it into you, but you should be aware of this in case.

liverpool is good overall, good night life, there’s a lot of places to go, a lot of parks, a lot of clubs, restaurants. a lot of the times when i’m up and about at 1 am ish there’s still a lot of people in the city.

the general team that’s responsible for the admin and care of students is pretty good. they’re very good with accommodating disabilities and other things. the student development and wellbeing team is really good, and the mental health team is alright.

another downside is the societies, unless you’re sporty and like religion, there’s not that many societies you can join.

Original post by eleanorsuni

I’ve received unconditional offers from all the universities i’ve applied to, but now i have the joy of deciding where to live. I’m doing a course in Social Work and because it’s governed by NHS and Social Work England it’s identical wherever i go.

My two top choices are Sheffield Hallam (Collegiate campus) or Liverpool Hope.

Any advice on which uni is better? What each city has to offer? I’m really torn between the two.

I should also add myself and a couple friends are planning to move into private rented places so student accom isn’t an issue

Hi there,
Congratulations getting your unconditional offers! Deciding which university to go to is a big decision, so I'd recommend weighing up the pros and cons of both. Uni wise, maybe the official reps can help but definitely take a look at the rankings and ask for opinions in the university threads. Both are amazing cities. Liverpool is a hub of culture and has a thriving music scene and there are some amazing places to eat in Sheffield.

We've done city guides to both, maybe these are worth a look:
Liverpool - https://bit.ly/3N2GG4h
Sheffield - https://bit.ly/3jUAu1C

Hope this helps!

- Sophie

Original post by eleanorsuni

I’ve received unconditional offers from all the universities i’ve applied to, but now i have the joy of deciding where to live. I’m doing a course in Social Work and because it’s governed by NHS and Social Work England it’s identical wherever i go.

My two top choices are Sheffield Hallam (Collegiate campus) or Liverpool Hope.

Any advice on which uni is better? What each city has to offer? I’m really torn between the two.

I should also add myself and a couple friends are planning to move into private rented places so student accom isn’t an issue

Hey there @eleanorsuni !
Great to hear you're considering Sheffield, I personally wasn't 100% sure about it when I firmed it but I'm honestly so glad I did now. The Collegiate Campus at Sheffield Hallam is located on Ecclesall Road which is a popular student road so there's loads of bars and it's always lively. This will help you more so in second year when you move into houses because it will be very social down there and there's lots to do. If you're studying at Collegiate then my advice is to check out LIV Student or The Forge as your accommodation choices as those two are the closest to Collegiate. There's also Cosmos Student but they are a little bit more pricey. The Forge is a really social accommodation if that's your sort of thing and there's always pre's and flat parties going on. You can apply for any of these privately rather than through the university. Even if you decided to live in the city centre, you can apply for a Zoom card which makes all tram and bus fares 80p and the card is free to apply for. The buses also run really frequently so you'll never struggle to get where you want to go.

Collegiate Campus itself has a library and a gym which you can buy a membership for if you like to keep active. They usually run a free trial week in freshers week so you can see what it's like before buying a monthly membership. The City Campus also has it's own gym which is slightly bigger than the Collegiate one and more people go to it. The thing about Sheffield that sold it for me was that I wanted to live in a city but I didn't want somewhere that felt daunting and hard to get around such as Manchester or London as it was my first experience living away from home. Sheffield is the perfect middle ground and everything is really close-knit and easy to work your way around the city. There's loads of cute cafes and restaurants to try out and not to mention Meadowhall which is literally 80p on the tram. The nights out are quite cheap if you go to events where they do drinks promotions, usually a single is around £2.50 and a double is £3.50 which is by far the cheapest drinks in cities that I've seen. There's the main West Street which has loads of bars and clubs on it and it's always packed on a weekend and Wednesday which is sports night. There's also a lot of societies to choose from and some of them run their training at Collegiate as well. Otherwise, training usually happens at the sports institute which you can also get to by tram.

Hope this helped! Let me know if you have any more questions.
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU