So, you’ve got your place at university and you now have to actually get ready to go. The time from mid august when you get your results to mid September when you have to start uni will go SO fast, so don’t put off things that need to be done for ‘another time’. Here are a few key things that I think are good to get sorted before you start – to make it a lot easier!
1) NUS extra card – you can sign up for an NUS card now you have a place at a university. It’s a great thing to have for any student whatever uni you’re at. It gives you discounts at hundreds of places from clothes shops, restaurants, takeaways, days out, cinemas etc.
2) TV license – if you want a TV in your room at halls or a private house, you need a TV license. If you have signed separate contract for each individual room then it counts as an individual address therefore you need a separate license. It’s about £100 ish but the fine for not having one can be up to £1,000!
3) Student account –you now need a student bank account so that Student Finance can pay in your money and the most important thing is that student accounts have a 0% overdraft (which unfortunately many students have to use)
4) Insurance – it is advised that you take out insurance for the contents in your room – because if you think about it you will have all your expensive gadgets etc in one room! You can take out an individual policy or you can check your parents household insurance and see whether it has an away from home clause, which means their policy may cover your property.
5) Student finance
this is probably the most important thing. If you don’t get anything else sorted make sure you get your finance sorted before the deadline date!!! If you submit your application late then it may mean that you won’t get your money in time for the start of term so you will have to pay for rent etc out of your own money before you get your loan. You may need to attach evidence of parental income etc so don’t leave it to the night before the deadline because it’ll take more than a few minutes!
6) Freshers tickets – the first few weeks will be full of freshers events and many unis offer a way that you can buy tickets or wristbands in advance before you even start! If you get them at this time you can usually save money and it will be all sorted before you start.
7) Learn a few recipes – before you start uni it’s a good idea to learn at least two recipes. To be honest, I only knew how to cook pasta and you can get sick of tuna sweetcorn pasta VERY quickly!
8) Doctors – it’s a good idea to decide what you want to do about doctors whilst you’re at uni. It’s probably dependent on how far away you are from home but you can sign up with the doctors in your uni town or you can leave yourself signed up to your home doctors and just use the walk in centre in the centre of town which you don’t need to be signed up to use.
So here are a few things it’s useful for you to get sorted before you start because the first few weeks of term will be hectic – therefore it’s eight things less to worry about!
Worcester Student Life 