During the study period, a warm and comfortable living environment is vital thing for every international student, and finding a house is the first big thing for every international student in the UK, which should not be underestimated. With the arrival of the British university season, more and more domestic partners have embarked on the road to study in the United Kingdom, here I’ll take you to understand the situation of university dormitories in the United Kingdom in advance.
Generally speaking, there are four types of accommodation in British universities: University/College Accommodation, Student accommodation, Private renting, and Home Stay, and this article mainly introduces the first type of accommodation.
Types of school dormitory
According to the food, school dormitories can be divided into two types: full-board and self-catered. Full-board dormitories usually provide breakfast, dinner, or three meals, but usually do not provide dinner on holidays. Self-catered hostels usually provide cooking equipment such as stoves (including ovens), refrigerators, microwave ovens, tea kettles, dining tables and chairs, etc., while pots, pans and chopsticks need to be brought by yourself.
According to the number of residents and facilities, there are three types of dormitory rooms: Standard, En-suite room and Studio flat. Standard rooms are divided into Single rooms, Double Rooms and Suites. Single rooms and double rooms have individual bathrooms, while rooms with more than three people have shared bathrooms. The basic equipment of a room is a single bed, a desk, a fixed lamp, a bookshelf, internet and cable TV sockets, etc. Bedding, toiletries, and slippers must be provided.
A collection of rooms is called a Cluster Flat, shortened to Flat or Apartment, and a Cluster Flat usually has a common door into which multiple rooms are located, each with a separate door.
Standard
Standard is a normal bedroom with a bed (usually a single bed), a desk and a wardrobe. There are two kinds of rooms here, one is a standard room with a washbasin, which means that this bedroom has a small washbasin (and a large mirror with a small light), and normally this kind of room will not be damp. The other type is a normal room without a washbasin. This type of room is usually cleaned by someone regularly. The picture shows a single standard room and a double standard room, but the latter is generally available to undergraduates.
En-suite room
Generally, about 5-7 people are living in a flat with a shared kitchen. The bedrooms have basic amenities inside, with a separate bathroom which has a toilet, shower and hand basin. This bathroom is included in the bedroom and may make the room slightly damp. In some schools, there are two types of En-suite, Superior and Basic, and the bedrooms are similarly equipped, except that the number of people sharing the kitchen is different. The former has a smaller shared kitchen and a larger area. In the latter, the kitchen is smaller and the number of people sharing the kitchen is larger.
Studio Flat
This type of room is a step up from the En-suite type above, with not only a separate bathroom, sink and toilet, but also its kitchen. It is a single room with a double bed, and the house is relatively large, suitable for students with children or couples sharing. This type of room is relatively rare and needs to be applied for in advance. I feel that students who are more concerned about privacy and quality of life and want to live on campus can consider it. In addition, Studio is very suitable for couples to live, warm and convenient and save money. However, one thing to consider is that Chinese people generally have more “pollution” when they cook, so if you have a room with an open kitchen, you need to think about ventilation to disperse the odour and prevent grease and smoke.
Advantages of the school dormitory
1. Lively and popular. Sharing the same dormitory with students from all over the world is also a window to understand the culture of different countries;
2. Convenient, no need to worry about Bill’s problem, and you can talk to the school directly if something doesn’t work well;
3. The student dormitory is usually on campus, the safety is better, especially for girls, safety is the first factor to consider when studying abroad;
4. the distance between the school and the library is very close, but this also varies from school to school, for example, there are many university dormitories in London, distributed in various places in London;
5. fully furnished except for personal things, no need to prepare separately;
6. have someone to manage and clean, but only limited to public space, you still need to organise your room.
Disadvantages
1. The school may require students to pay the accommodation fee for one semester or one academic year at a time, which may cause some financial pressure for those who are not so well-off;
2. You may have to move out during the holidays. University halls of residence in the UK have different rules during the three holiday periods of Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. Some university halls of residence can be applied to stay for a whole year, while some will require students to move to another hall of residence during the three holidays. Therefore, when applying for a hall of residence, it is important to understand clearly the relevant rules and regulations of the hall of residence management. Generally speaking, if you need to move out during the holidays, you can ask your classmates to lend you a room for some time or look for student flats outside, there are also short-term rentals by the week, in addition, the university accommodation office will help students to solve the problem of where to live. There is also the option of homestay, where you can live with a British person.
Prices
The price of the school dormitory is relatively more expensive than renting a room outside, after all, the school unified management, they do not have to worry too much, free of a lot of trouble, the average cost is about 90-150 pounds per person per week, within the London city single room per week, 150-200 pounds, the specific to the data provided by the school shall prevail.
In addition, when applying for a dormitory, the school needs to pay a deposit, mainly to prevent the room will be damaged, if there is nothing wrong with the room at the time of check-out, usually will be fully refunded. However, the same will happen if you rent a room off-campus.
Precautions
If you choose to live on-campus, you should apply for accommodation at the accommodation office (or the International Students Office) at the same time as you receive your letter of acceptance from the university (accommodation application forms and related materials are usually issued at the same time as the unconditional letter of acceptance, and can also be found and downloaded from each university’s website), and send them back to the university before the deadline.
You should also pay attention to the following considerations when choosing a dormitory at a specific school
1. whether the dormitory is co-ed or single, and whether both types are available;
2. whether the accommodation fee includes meals;
3. Whether there are any other fees besides the accommodation fee, such as electricity, heating, telephone, etc. 4;
4. what daily necessities do you need to bring with you;
5. Whether or not you need to move out of the dormitory during holidays;
6. what to do if you want to move out of the dormitory before the expiration of your accommodation contract, and whether you can renew your stay after the expiration.
Common English terms used in dormitories
Single Bedroom Studio: A single flat with a separate bathroom and modern kitchen;
Twin Room/Shared Room: a double room, i.e. two people sharing a bedroom, if you don’t mind privacy you may want to consider this type of room. Twin Rooms are generally the cheapest of all the room types;
Shared Studio: a double room with a shared bathroom, kitchen and living area for two students;
Single Study Bedroom: a single room with an en-suite bathroom and a fully equipped kitchen and living space for 6-8 people;
Two bed flat: Two bedroom flat with two bedrooms, shared kitchen and bathroom.
