Hello guys! I hope you’ve been having a good week! This week, I would like to share with you about the accommodation in University of Surrey.

I am sure that you guys will apply for the accommodation on campus for your first year studies. To be honest, it is much better to live on campus to get used to the environment here when you first entered the university. It is more expensive to live off campus as well.

I was staying in Pickard House, Battersea Court last year. This year, I am living in a private accommodation off campus, near Southway. You might be uncertain which band of accommodation you would like to apply, since there are 6 bands available on campus. Here are some of my suggestions on choosing an accommodation.

Firstly, there are rooms on Stag Hill campus, Manor Park and Hazel Farm. The main difference among them is the distance.  Manor Park is 20 minutes of walking distance/ 10 min of bus away from the Stag Hill campus. Hazel farm is the furthest accommodation from Stag Hill campus, about 45 minutes of walking/30 minutes of bus away (so you will get a free bus pass by the university).

If you are not a veterinary medicine student, your lectures would normally be held on Stag Hill campus. However, the Sports Park is really near Manor Park, and the rooms in Manor Park are usually newer than Stag Hill campus (because Manor Park was a new constructed building a few years ago). Manor Park provides rooms from band D to band F, while Stag Hill campus provides rooms from band A to band E (only 27 rooms for band F), and Hazel farm provides band A and band B rooms. Therefore, first and foremost, you have to figure out which location you would like to stay. For me, I prefer living on Stag Hill campus, as everything is accessible that I can save up a lot of time for transportation.

Secondly, the band of room. After you have decided the location, you could start figure out which band you want to stay out of those available on campus. The factors that should be considered include the rent, your need, and if you are okay to live with a roommate. In my case, I am not used to living with a roommate, thus I eliminated band A. Next, my budget is within the range of band C, and I felt like I can share the fridge, kitchen and bathrooms with others, thus I chose band C. Fortunately, I got a room on the second floor of Pickard House, which is right in front of the library. That is a perfect location for me because it basically is the centre of the Stag Hill campus.

There are still some other factors to be considered. For example, some of my friends chose to live in a single sex court. This actually matters because boys and girls live their life in a different way (maybe?). For example, I lived with 10 boys and 4 girls last year. Some of the boys in my flat always turned the music loud and invited their friends to our kitchen for a drink, but they didn’t clean the mess on the following day. HOWEVER, I have to say that this is only my case because different people have different personalities and habits. Sometimes, it really depends on what kind of people you are living with, which is somehow not that related to the gender.

Last but not least, I think living in university accommodation is actually a great chance for you to learn to be respectful and considerate. We will live with people from different countries, cultural backgrounds and religions during our first year. This multicultural environment actually speeds up/enhances your ability to suit yourself in the university, as University of Surrey is one of the most culturally diverse universities in the UK, with more than 140 nationalities. Different people have different needs, habits and personalities. Living with flatmates has significantly helped me to improve my language, my communication skills, and more importantly, shaped my personality to become an understanding and open person. It triggers my curiosity to know more about the stories/cultures of the people around me, and share my own experience with others. Therefore, it is definitely worth applying accommodation on campus.

The blog is a bit too long now. Next time, I might share my experience/ memories living in Pickard House last year, which was wonderful overall. And sometime in the future, I will tell you the difference between student accommodation and private accommodation too.

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/accommodation

For more info, feel free to click the link above and have a look at our accommodation!

Have a nice weekend guy! See you next week!