Data shows that students’ expectations for university life don’t meet with their experience. So, what can universities and accommodation providers do to bridge the gap and better reflect the reality of university living to prospective students? What are the various aspects of students’ academic, social, and personal lives that help them settle better in a new environment?
Today, one has the power of the internet. You can sift through countless videos and reviews online, instantly contact universities, current students, and alumni through social media, and in many cases, get a remote tour of campus and local accommodations. And yet, despite all these sources, data consistently shows that students’ expectations of university living are not being matched by reality.
This is where experience helps. Better the experience, better the understanding of the challenges. With more than 30 years of experience, Unite Students is the UK's leading provider of student accommodation. And Unite Students has compiled a list of pointers that can help you.
Learn more below about booking your dream UK student accommodation with Unite Students, and begin your journey by arranging a free consultation with SI-UK Hong Kong today.
The challenges of independent living
Going to university is a significant life event – for many students, it’s the first time they’ve ever lived independently. A lot of students certainly went into university with that impression and didn’t consider the day-to-day minutiae of university living, such as endless washing up and laundry and getting to grips with cleaning a shower for the first time!
Moving away from the parental home can reveal a knowledge gap when it comes to students looking after themselves. In the run-up to the 2021 academic year, we surveyed those coming to live with us to find out more about their preferences and concerns so that we could meet those needs wherever possible in our buildings: we found that students’ concerns included managing finances, doing household chores, cooking and getting set up with a GP.
Taking on all these new responsibilities can be an additional strain at a time of much upheaval, on top of adjusting to a new location, making friends, and adapting to the demands of university-level study.
Additionally, living with strangers can be a real challenge, especially if flatmates have different expectations of (for example) acceptable noise levels and the standard of cleanliness in common areas. If these disagreements are mishandled, it can lead to conflict or a sense of isolation within the accommodation – and dissatisfaction in accommodation can have major ramifications for a student’s wider university experience.
That’s where Unite Students accommodation steps in - with over 74,000 students each year calling Unite Students their home. It provides accommodation which is high quality and affordable as well as safe and secure.
Unite Students understand the anxiety of students coming from different countries. There’s a MyUnite app which provides you a chat feature with all your flatmate before you’ve even moved in. It helps ease the worry before moving in.
Knowledge gaps
There is currently a widespread lack of understanding about UK student accommodation, and demand from International students has outstripped the pace at which touchpoints for credible advice have developed. Unite Students works with major accommodation agents all over the world with a good knowledge of the market and who share our values about the student experience – but not every student has this experience.
Education agents offer professional advice and guidance to students on their academic choices but often have a limited understanding of the UK’s student accommodation landscape in the UK, meaning they can offer misleading information in this area. Some take the time to refer students with questions about housing to other agents specialised in the field, but others may redirect students to online letting websites or tell students not to worry about accommodation until they arrive in the UK – by which point there may be minimal options available.
This disconnect between different touchpoints in international students’ journey to the UK is a key issue that we are trying to address by educating the local market together with UK universities and our local partners in different countries.
We have also worked with International students to create blogs and vlog content that shares key messages, including the importance of booking accommodation early and why they chose to live in PBSA. We’re also promoting our ‘No Place, No Pay’ and ‘No Visa, No Pay’ policies, which reassure prospective tenants that they won’t lose out if their university application or visa is denied.
Book with Unite Students
Begin your journey by arranging a free consultation with SI-UK Hong Kong today.
