Student accommodation in Cardiff

Student accommodation areas in Cardiff

Student accommodation in Cardiff is generally located around student facilities such as university buildings and campuses offering quick access for students and their related study resources.
Common areas in Cardiff are Cathays, Roath, Llandaff and the Heath and often depend on the student’s related studies.

Student halls to rented accommodation

Student accommodation in Cardiff often starts out in student halls for the first year, these offer a great way of introducing new students into an independent lifestyle away from the family home but also offer a fantastic way of integrating into student life, making new friends both on and off your course and introduce students into the pro’s and con’s of living with other students. This last point is often very important when it comes to choosing flatmates for rented accommodation which the majority of students will embark upon on their second year.

Letting agent or landlord?

When it comes to choosing student accommodation many students will face the decision of having to go through an agency or an independent landlord. Both of which have their positives and negatives and it’s really up to the individual students to which aspects they value the most. It will serve well to remember to do some background checks of the letting agent or the landlord, whether it be from online reviews or talking to past tenants.

Student life in Cardiff

As a Capital city, Cardiff has a great network of facilities open up to students and the general public alike. You will often find student discounts available for everything from general shopping to gym memberships, sports or heritage facilities and lots more. You will find with much of the student accommodation within walking distance to the city centre that there is plenty to do between studying and indeed to aid with the student curriculum.

Cardiff has an incredibly vibrant student life and accommodates for all types of students and offers a wide variety of student attractions as well as student nightlife.

Student / Budget Nights in Cardiff

Being so heavily populated with students, Cardiff is far from short of student nights out and really helps with those concerned with their budget. Even when student loans come through it’s still sensible to consider what you’re going to spend and where to make sure it gets you through to your next instalment.

Party before you go out:

Having friends over before you go out helps with a few aspects, many of the student areas in Cardiff are close to town so it’s safer to walk in a group if you’re going to travel that way, but also splitting the cost of a taxi can save you chunks of money!

This is not to mention the money you can save on drinks if you drink before heading to a club, local shops are always offering deals on food and drink and especially around student areas you will find an abundance of budget supermarkets just about fighting for your spare change!

You can often tell when student loans have arrived by the absence of pizza and beer in the local supermarkets! You’d think they would learn, but still a good sign of how students are susceptible to budget no matter what time of year.

Eat at home:

Eating at home before you go out is not only sensible for when you’re going to be drinking but will also save precious pennies and perhaps avoid the local chippies on the way back.

Drinks Promotions:

For students a standard round of drinks can actually be quite expensive, if you head to a dedicated student night you will find drinks offers far cheaper than the usual local. Student unions are very good at having offers all through the week and running extra events to get you motivated into trying more – just see our article on Bar FTSE!

The local clubs know exactly when students come and go from the area and will often put on special nights mid week to attract students.

Buy your own drinks:

Apart from it being easier to budget just for yourself and as sociable as rounds may be, it’s often the case that buying rounds for others leaves you out of pocket as people fall away from the group before it gets to their turn.

Avoid taxis:

Much of Cardiff’s student population are in relative walking distance to the centre of town so save yourself a bit of money and walk in if you can. The outer campuses will often have student buses running at peak times to get you into town, so planning a little bit ahead will save you some valuable cash as well. If you are going to get a taxi or a lift into town then sharing will also save you some of that valuable student loan or whatever’s left of your overdraft.

Budget your night:

Probably the most important part of saving money will be to stick to your budget, yes when drunk the local pizza house/booze delivery service/casino/strip club might suddenly seem like a good idea, so if you know how much you can afford to spend and not take any more out you can save yourself the anguish of waking up in the morning with a sore head wondering why you used a kebab as a pillow and which guitar you might have to pawn for your next night out. Know how much you can afford to take out and withdraw money before getting drunk – even leave your bank cards at home if you need to!

Cardiff universities

There are a few universities in and around the City of Cardiff, all of which having thier own facilities and are able to share resources amongst students between them. Cardiff University is the main, central, red brick university based in Cardiff. This is essentially what most people will mean when talking about Cardiff university. However, there are other Uni's including the Cardiff Metropolitan University (previously known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC)) which is primarily located in Cardiff city area and the University of Glamorgan, located on the outskirts of the city.

Students from all these universities flock to Cardiff city centre for the large variety of shopping, nightlife and entertainment available throughout the year creating a very large youthful social movement within the city.