Hey all!
Thought I’d write to you about living on campus before it was too late for you to apply or make your choices. Living on campus is great fun. It’s also so much easier to live on campus close to the library, teaching blocks, being very close to the town centre and train station and more importantly living with other students. All first-year Indian students who apply to live on campus will be guaranteed a place. Undergraduate students, usually in their later years, rent houses together with their friends or coursemates they’ve made over the year outside of uni.
The uni offers a wide range of bands for you to choose from. These bands – Band A, Band B.. and so on, are basically rooms with different prices and amenities. They are all good and have been designed to accommodate different privacy and workload demands that students have. You can check them out on the website. A lot of students, especially PG students are usually worried which band to choose. These rooms are spread across the three campuses on the uni – Stag Hill (the main campus where lectures are held, with the library, lake and Rubix), Manor Park (Vet Med school, research park, sports park and accommodations – 5 mins away from Stag hill by bus and 20 mins by walk; 15 if you walk faster) and Hazel farm (accommodation -furthest and the prettiest – 20 mins by bus and 40 by walk and the uni gives you a free bus pass). I live in band D at manor park, I get all the privacy I need to study and relax by myself. Band C is similar, have a friend who lives in Battersea which seems like it’s almost the same, except the ensuite. International house Band D rooms are almost similar to Manor park Band Ds. Stag Hill court surely is the liveliest and must say noisiest. Millenium house is slightly smaller but the location is perfect!
It is important to know that while you do get to list your preferences while applying, the allotment is random and there are chances you might not get the band you’ve listed as your first choice. It is always helpful to have a look at all the different bands and the various locations they are spread out across the three campuses. Band D rooms are always in high demand. You have your own room and ensuite and share your kitchen with a bunch of other housemates. But as far as I know band A shared and Single rooms are also quite popular.
Follow the link here to see where the different bands are located. You could also check out the 360-degree videos of the different bands on the Stag TV on youtube. Once you’ve looked at the locations of the different bands you’ll realise that there are a few types of rooms which are located only on one of the campuses and if you were keen on staying at that campus, you’d put it down as your first option. To give you a clue, if you are keen on staying at Hazel farm you would either put Band A -Single rooms or Band B single rooms as your first two options. If you are more interested in spending more time at the library – which we all end up doing eventually, you could put down your preferences as the bands that are only located on Stag Hill – Band C.
And lastly, how to pay for your room can be found here. You can choose to pay for the entire year at once in the beginning of the first semester or you could choose to pay in instalments over the year if you wish. But a deposit of 250 pounds is necessary to confirm your room on campus. I’ve had some of the best times cooking with friends at Stag Hill, Manor park and Hazel Farm and I’m sure you’ll have fun regardless of which campus you live on.
Hope I’ve helped you more than confuse you! Do send us a mail if you want to know anything in detail.
Until next post xx
Sadh
