Sorting Out Accommodation If You’re Going Through Clearing
If you’ve started university through clearing, you may be slightly worried that there will be nowhere to live, simply because the university didn’t know you were coming. This, generally, is simply not true. A university will have a certain number of students they intend to take on at the start of the education year, and this number will include the students who have got in through clearing. Almost all of the time, there’s very little to worry about and the university will have some sort of system in place. All that you need to do is read everything carefully and work out where, exactly, you want to live.
Your Options
You should have – more or less – the exact same options that a non-clearing student will have as far as your accommodation is concerned. This will, of course, depend on your university’s system but generally the choice will be between a hall of residence (private or, more commonly, university-owned) and a shared house with some other students. Most people suggest halls of residence for your first year as this is an opportunity to meet a lot of people, make friends, and ease into the social side of university.
SEE ALSO: Ultimate Guide to Student Accommodation
This isn’t always the case, in our experience – living in halls is far from essential in your first year – if you want to make some friends you’ll be able to whether you’re living with a large group of people (which can be noisy, dirty and tiring) or a small five-bedroom house. It’s all up to personal preference but we have faith that it’ll work out whether you head to a hall of residence or a house for your first year.
Things To Do
Your first job when you’re accepted into clearing is to check the university’s process for accommodation for clearing students. As we said, it will generally be more or less identical to the process for directly accepted students, but in some cases they will get the priority pick. Because most first years want to live in a hall of residence, this might mean that there will be a bit of a free-for-all for all of the remaining rooms in halls. Don’t panic! Just ask what’s available and work it out from there.
If you do choose a house (or just end up with one), try to organise a few viewings before term starts if you can. This way you’ll be able to choose the one you’re living in and won’t have the enormous stress of just getting what you’re given on the day. If your university suggest this to you, just tell them you’d be more comfortable to do a few viewings first and they should be able to work something out for you.
SEE ALSO: Viewing Student Houses
Prices
Bear in mind that – in general – halls tend to cost more than student houses and if you’re hoping to keep a bit of money to one side for other activities then it’s well worth considering moving into a house instead of straight into halls – there will be plenty of opportunities to make friends and meet people elsewhere.
Keep Calm and Carry On
Things always have a way of working themselves out. Just a few days ago, you may not have even had a place at a university (hence going through clearing), but look where you are now. It may seem like an impossible task, but come September, you’ll have somewhere to put all your stuff and rest your weary head. Not that you’ll want to, as it will be Freshers Week. And you’ll be busy avoiding Fresher’s Flu.