New student survival guide

Graduate Lucy Rollinson-Payne shares her advice for new starters.

September has arrived… But what comes after?! This blog post is going to act as your new student survival kit so you can feel as comfortable and positive as possible.

Local admin

Firstly, (what some people call) the boring admin bits. Research into where your local GP is and sign up there – it’s not too complicated a process, and often once you’ve gone in to register, you can do a lot online. You’ll most likely need proof of address, so ensure you bring that with you.

To not be hit with a huge Council Tax bill, take the time to fill out a form online to state that you’re a student and aren’t required to pay it. It takes about 15 minutes, and you’ll need proof that you’re a student – often a picture of your student ID and acceptance letter. This is a super important task to complete as soon as you move in.

This next one sounds obvious; however, check your bin days. There is nothing more annoying than missing a week of rubbish being taken – so ensure you go on the city’s council website, put in your address and see when your rubbish/recycling days are. It is also really important to recycle, so please make the effort.

Bills and budgeting

Once you’ve set up new utility bill accounts in your name (another very important thing to do right away), I would spread the responsibilities, aka different bills, to different housemates. Then set up direct debits to each other via online banking for when the different bills would come out of different accounts. Personally, that’s how I have done it in my household, and it has worked effectively. 

Budgeting is a very important part of student life; it ensures that you will be able to afford both the necessities and the ever-so-important social life. If done right, having a budget doesn’t feel like too much of a limitation.

The most useful thing for me was creating a Monzo account. This is an online banking service where you can see how much you’re spending and separate it into categories – it is such a great tool. You can set monthly budgets for yourself, and what I found most useful is that your payments are rounded up, and the leftover ‘pennies’ get put into a savings pot. This is a really easy way to quickly save up money without even realising it. I saved up £40 in a couple of months without even noticing – with this, I was able to buy something to treat myself.

Student ID

On the topic of money and saving it specifically, take your student ID with you everywhere. Almost every pub has student deals and discounts, along with many popular retail stores. Often it’s 10%, 25% off – so it’s definitely a handy thing to remember to take out with you wherever you go. You can also get into many different places for free, such as the museums and art galleries.

Also, make sure that you take advantage of online deals. Sign up to UNiDAYS as there are so many deals on there – including a discounted Spotify premium, 10% off Apple, discounted Amazon Prime, and so much more. All you need is your University email and details to sign up.

I hope that these brief tips for your new student survival kit come in useful and provide you with a sense of confidence, ready for term to start!

Curious to learn more?

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