Considering commuting?
Benefits of commuting to uni
You don't have to move away from home to go to university. You can stay at home and just go to uni for lectures or to use the library, or you could take a distance learning course. There are lots of advantages to living at home while you study.
- You save money on rent and get to live with your family in an area you already know
- You don't need to update your contact details with services like the bank, or find a new doctor or dentist
- It's easier to stay in touch with school friends and keep up with hobbies and clubs you joined before your studies
- You can enjoy home comforts like sleeping in your own bed, eating home cooked meals and spending time with family and pets
Things to consider
- Depending on where home is, travelling to uni can take up a big chunk of your time. You might need to leave social events early to catch the bus or train home
- You'll have to budget for getting to uni if you don't live in walking distance
- You’ll be entitled to a different loan amount
- Some of your 'home' friends may move away to university, so it might get lonely at home
Studying when you live at home
Whether you're studying via distance learning or living away from campus and traveling to uni for your lecturers and seminars, you need to consider how you'll study during your course.
Studying away from campus
- Many students do some of their studying away from campus and there are plenty of resources to help you get the most out of revising at home.
- Build a study space and have a desk, table, or area in your house available to you whenever you want to study. Ask everyone in the household to respect your space.
- You can access Moodle (our virtual learning environment) and the University Library's electronic resources and services from anywhere with an internet connection. You can also use other online resources like public ebooks, journals, and academic websites.
- Our IT support team can help if you have questions about working online or accessing materials remotely.
Studying on campus
- You can study on campus between lectures.
- Explore our study spaces and find out what you need to bring with you to revise – do you need to bring your computer to campus every day, or can you use a university computer suite or borrow a laptop?
- The common area in the Student Union building is a good space to rest and relax.
- The Eldon building foyer has comfortable seating and sofas as well as a cafe.
- Most of our study spaces are available to all students but you may need to reserve particular labs, software or equipment to complete course-specific work. You can also book group study rooms at the Library.
Travelling to and from campus
- Check your travel options.
- If you decide to drive make sure you know where you can park and any fees you'll need to pay. We advise using public transport and leaving your car at home.
- You'll receive your study timetable before you start your degree.
- Find out if you can get a season pass or a student or young person discount on your travel to save money.
Your travel options in ÂÒÂ×ÉçÇø
Research how you'll get to campus. You could travel by:
- train
- bus
- ferry
- hovercraft
- bike
- car
Making friends when you don't live at uni
It's easy to feel like you're missing out on the full university experience when you're living at home, but it doesn't have to be that way.
You can still make the most of freshers' week, meet new people, join clubs and societies, use campus facilities, and more.
Great ways to meet people:
- join a society – meet people with similar interests to you or discover a new hobby
- make friends with people on your course – build a study group or group chat at the start of term to make it easy to reach out to others about coursework and lectures
- use social media – join freshers' groups or course groups, add people from your course as friends, and follow your school or department social media accounts
- take advantage of freshers' week – meet societies at freshers' fair, speak to people on your course, join the gym, sign up for social events across the week (including drinking and non-drinking options)
- talk to people – lots of people are nervous about making friends when they start uni so don't worry if this includes you.
Being independent when you live with your parents
- One of the big differences between moving out to study and staying home is how independent you'll need to be.
- If you move to a new city you'll need to register with local medical services, arrange your rent payments, do your food shops and cook your meals, manage your budget, organise your bills and manage your own time.
- If you live at home you might find that your parents take care of some of these for you.
