Public transport in Newcastle

I am from London and travelling to Newcastle for Uni in September. I did some research on the public transport in Newcastle but I am still unsure about how it works.
In London for every bus you tap in it takes £1.75 for every hour of travel, and it’s not required to talk to the bus driver.

Since Newcastle doesn’t have a “tfl” there’s multiple bus companies that operate there, I was wondering if you’re meant to tell the bus driver exactly what stop you’re meant to go to/if you’re a student or just simply hold your phone against the contactless reader?

If only it were that simple in Newcastle too , in the city you have to tell the bus driver where you want to go and they'll give you a ticket based on the location you're heading to.

A bit of advice from someone that goes to Newcastle uni (me ), most things are very close to the university and the campus in general (food shops, pubs, clubs, shopping centres, markets). It's pretty much a student city out there with Northumberland university a 6/7mins walk away from the Newcastle uni campus.. so you'd rarely be taking the bus to get around the city. In my first year I lived at a student accom 20mins walk away from the uni, sometimes I walked, sometimes I took the public scooters, all in all, if you live under 20mins away, its nice to get some cardio in before starting your day . If you live further, maybe go by car? (parking is annoying to find), or bike it or take.. the bus.

Getting to Newcastle from London you can either take a train (which most of my friends do) since it takes less time, however it can be pretty expensive if you book on short notice.
You can also go by coach (national express is the main one). Although coaches are the cheaper option, even if you book on short notice, it means you'd have to endure a 7/8h coach drive which to most is a no-go.

All the best in your chosen course, hope ^ any of that helped