Catered or Self-Catered?

Which represents the best value for money?

Just vote in the polls, and if you can try backing it up by posting a comment.. This will best done with Students who have already stayed at University, or graduates, post grads etc...

(Try taking into consideration that it'll be in London)

Reply 1

Clodagh

Catered tends to be cheaper; food costs lots at sainsburys etc etc. And if its a credit card, that you pay as you for then you can cook for yourself when you like too. noce having the option

Reply 2

Juno

20

It depends. If you're just gonna buy take aways and ready meals then Catered would be cheaper. But if you're gonna make the most of special offers, reduced prices and Asda Smartprice then self catered would be cheaper

Reply 3

kellywood_5

17

I would have thought self-catered would be cheaper, but it depends what you buy.

Reply 4

dazednconfused

With one sister in catered halls and one in self-catered the catered halls have worked out quite a bit cheaper. The greater initial cost of the catered hall is relatively small when you think they provide nearly all my sister's meals. My sister in self-catered halls is pretty good at watching her budget but it's just not possible for her to feed herself on the tiny margin the catered halls charge. So in our experience it's catered all the way. (In London the cost of any goods is high - and food is no exception).

Reply 5

an Siarach

15

If youre fairly competent as a cook and know how to keep to a budget then self-catered is the best choice but catered will be the wiser option for most 1st years methinks.

Reply 6

~Sam~

15

I think I'm going to go for self-catered because I'm fussy with food, and wouldnt like having to eat at certain times. Also, in catered, when ever you go out to eat, you will be paying for food you are not having.

Reply 7

Chardonnay

~Sam~

I think I'm going to go for self-catered because I'm fussy with food, and wouldnt like having to eat at certain times. Also, in catered, when ever you go out to eat, you will be paying for food you are not having.

:dito:

Reply 8

Sam_B

14

can u go back for seconds/thirds with catered??

Reply 9

Flicker

13

self catered - catered you end up paying for meals you're not going to eat. i wouldn't want to be stuck to their timetable either.

if you buy food sensibly - do a big shop of lots of things to make meals with instead of eating out or buying ready meals - it should be cheaper.

Reply 10

LongGone

18

Sam_B

can u go back for seconds/thirds with catered??

Nope.

I'd go for self catered. I pay nearly £50 a week more than some of the self catered people, and there's no way they spend all of that on food. Someone actually told me it was more like £16, and you can tell because the food usually tastes cheap and horrible.

Most people aren't as unimpressed with the food here as me, but I'd hardly say anyone enjoys it.

Reply 11

trev

15

Self catered will be cheaper as you get your food as well.

Reply 12

undiscovered

13

Sam_B

can u go back for seconds/thirds with catered??

Trust you to ask that :rolleyes:

OP

I think ill definately go for the Self-Catered, mainly due to the fact that i live in london, so i can always go home to eat if i run out of money :biggrin:

Now, to save up for that En-suite... :rolleyes:

Any1 know how strict UCL are, or University of London colleges in giving accomodation to students who live within the M25 boundary??

Reply 15

dazednconfused

Sam_B

can u go back for seconds/thirds with catered??

Depends on the place... my sis can get 2nds if she hangs around...

Reply 16

Ynox

11

self catered isn't bad, but catered is good if your lazy.

Here in warwick there is 1 catered hall (westwood) and you get given a meal card which you can use at food places on campus. Its a bit of a rip off though and not many people like the system. Better off spending £30 a week on food from tescos- you'll eat better than if you live off the £30 a week on your meal card.

Reply 17

Sarky

18

I didn't go for catered because i didn't want to be told what to eat and when to eat it. Chances are i wouldn't have liked most of what was being offered anyway, and i eat quite cheaply anyway. My rent is around £80pw and i spend about £20pw on food. Catered is around £90/100 so i spend £10 more pw but i have an ensuite plus i eat when i want to, and probably healthier. Also for that price you get two meals a day, not three. (Apart from weekends methinks)

Catered or Self-Catered?

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