Catered Vs Self Catered

jimmy_g

Well, thanks for your advice everybody - all very helpful; it seems that self catering is most definitely the way to go. I've put 3 self catered halls on my application, but in answer to tr3mor, the accommodation office have told me that although most places have been allocated already, they get plenty of cancellations, so I've still got a decent chance of somewhere reasonable.

Just to explain - my place at Manchester is conditional on me passing an access course which I've been doing. Because of delays handing work in, I won't know until next week whether I've passed it. So, fingers crossed!!

Thanks again everybody, I'm off to practice my culinary skills...

wallace_3

Perhaps a bit late for the OP but here are my thoughts....

I went into catered halls in my first year, and found it to be the best option. Meal times were a very social event, with everyone from my floor all going to eat at the same time. In the first few weeks this was a great extra way of getting to know people.

Each meal was available for a 2 hour slot (e.g. breakfast was 7am - 9am) so you had some flexibility with what time you went to eat.

Catered halls also save you a lot of time since you don't have to go out and buy the food, and then prepare it. When you are studying for exams or working on a project, having the extra time available is very useful.

Likewise, if you are having to prepare meals yourself, the temptation is there to skip meals if you dont have time to shop or are too busy with work to cook.

Catered halls also help you to budget. At my uni you were given a swipe card which could be used for food and soft drinks anywhere on campus. The last thing you want is to discover you don't have enough money for food when you still have a week of term left!

jimmy_g

Believe me Wallace, I would need a lot of temptation to miss a meal; if anything, I need to cut out the meals between meals. Thanks anyhow.

lellie

Whitworth park is pretty great..

trem summed it up.. AVOID OWEN'S PARK AT ALL COST!!

sockospice

Is Chandos Hall still open? It was on UMIST campus. Cheap, decent sized rooms, and 5 minutes walk from Piccadilly station.

Phonix

A general question - can catered accommodation be worth the money?

I'm hoping to start at Manchester in a few weeks (it's still not definite, it's a slightly complicated situation, thus I still haven't got my accommodation finalised), I can cook a bit, but I don't want to waste time doing things I can avoid.

What are the pros and cons of each? What are your experiences?

I'd be grateful for your thoughts...

bah can't sleep again.

If you can get into a catered hall, as a moneysaver this is a must! You will save a shedload by shopping at asda et al. Unfortunately most university catering services are run by businesses that do not know how to aquire goods cheaply, so, you could quite easily see yourself paying the equivelent of 70p for a yoghart etc and these high prices being factored into your rent.

We're talking about £100 a week just for room! compared with about £50 in selfcatered.

The only bonus about living in catered accomodation is that occasionally the whole atmosphere is alot better, it's a more sociable environment, however not all catering halls are like that.

you will still find that you will cook. It's not even fullboard, you still have to prepare your lunch which isn't included in your rent.

One of the biggest problems with living in catered halls though is that you have to be there to eat at certain times and this is very inconvienient.

Catered halls also help you to budget. At my uni you were given a swipe card which could be used for food and soft drinks anywhere on campus. The last thing you want is to discover you don't have enough money for food when you still have a week of term left!

This is not really 'budgeting'. It's important that you learn what to cook and in your first year you will not spend alot of time studying anyway so you WILL have plenty of time to cook, and besides what you're likely to eat will be just as good and often better than the rubbish that is prepared in catered halls. I lived in a brand new top of the range catered hall and the food was the sort of stuff Jamie oliver turned his nose up to in that recent show on channel four. We also had to eat those smiley face peices of crap.

In self-catered halls you will be forced to budget in a routine manner as most students tend to do a weekly, fortnightly shop, you will also, perhaps doing this with some mates, you will be used to buying the same things and trying to spend similar amounts. These are important things to take away with you from uni and you will have to do this eventually anyway if you live in digs so it's best to get used to it now.

I don't speak for all halls but I lived in catered halls for two years and also lived in selfcatered halls for a further two years and know that although catered can be a very social experience, so can self-catered if you get lucky. Your best move is to talk to a range of people who've attended your university already.

Also beware of en-suite! It's a marketing ploy by the housing developer to increase the profit margin of their development. En-suite self-catered rooms can often cost almost as much to rent as catered. If faced with the choice of similarly priced catered (normal) or selfcatered(ensuite), always pick catered. A selfcatered ensuite room is often smaller than an older non-ensuite one. You'll still get a sink in both. It's simply not worth paying an extra £25ish just to have the convienience of not sharing a shower and toilet with 7 other people.

Lara

Two of my sons went catered for first year. They both now say go for self catering.

Eldest was actually in catered/en suite for two years because the HR were only two years old and the food very good. The friends he'd made all did the same.

Middle one (also ensuite) hardly used the catered facilities, was nearly always at flat of friends and so catered was a waste for him.

Youngest is off in a couple of weks. He asked for self catering with en suite but he's got catered with en suite:(. Prices aren't too bad though for this "luxury".

Eldest two both say self catering is definitely the best especially as youngest learnt all about cooking during his gap year travels and is quite a good cook now.

Remember once you have been allocated halls if after a week or so you don't like them you can always ask to be moved into s/c if a place appears - apparently there's quite a bit of this goes on.

Whatever you get I'm sure you'll have a good time. You'll be looking for second year houses in January/February anyway! :)

joe13

My daughter starts her first year next week. She is going into halls, but we were not given a choice, all rooms are en-suite and it is all self catered.

My query is the cost, we seem to be paying more for self catered than other people in this thread are paying for catered. We are paying £3,550 per year, they say this is £74.00 per week - but that is assuming that the students us e the halls for 48 weeks a year. As the acedemic year lasts less than 40 weeks this works out to £90.00 per week.

I am staggered at this cost. Is it much cheaper during the second and third year to rent a shared house/flat?

Phonix

My daughter starts her first year next week. She is going into halls, but we were not given a choice, all rooms are en-suite and it is all self catered.

My query is the cost, we seem to be paying more for self catered than other people in this thread are paying for catered. We are paying £3,550 per year, they say this is £74.00 per week - but that is assuming that the students us e the halls for 48 weeks a year. As the acedemic year lasts less than 40 weeks this works out to £90.00 per week.

I am staggered at this cost. Is it much cheaper during the second and third year to rent a shared house/flat?

It's alot cheaper don't worry.

Depending on where abouts your daughter is attending university, you're looking at about £160-£250/month for a room in a shared house exlucind bills but normally including water rates.

Unfortunately with the rates I quoted you're at the mercy of the landlords. They're known to form groups to agree not to drop prices. They're also known to shift the prices up a great deal if they as a group feel accommodation in said area is below the UK average.

It's best your daughter just takes the £4000 on the chin. I'm afraid it's the fault of the university I expect and their want to upgrade their facilities by attracting private developers and the costs that are associated with that.

I would be grateful if you would complain about the essesive prices of hall accomodation at universities as many universities have followed suit and the whole thing has gotten out of hand over the last few years.

How an earth they expect you to pay almost £4k just for accomodation when the loan is at the maximum less than £4k, I'll never know. There stupid policies of ensuring they provide excellent accommodation at whatever cost is actually encouraging students to get into debt. It's extremely irresponsible of them.

nearlyrich

Hope the OP has got fixed up, my daugter's friend is going to Manchester Met and they are saying most of the accommodation is full, I think it's people getting in before the fees go up next year.