Starting university in 2025: 12 tips from UCAS on making sure you’re ready – from finances to moving out
From balancing budgets to self-driven study skills, this year’s university students have a big change coming 📚
- A record number of UK teens have accepted into university based on their A Level results this year
- The transition from secondary school to university, and living at home to accommodation can be a challenging one
- UCAS has guidance available for prospective students on all facets of university living
- Money and budgeting, study skills, and meeting future friends and neighbours are all things you can take action on now
Starting university is an exciting milestone – one which can easily turn into a huge headache for the unprepared.
Last week was A Level results day (August 14), where thousands of students across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland finally found out how they did in their exams – as well as the outcomes of any conditional university offers. Both the proportion of students getting top grades and the overall pass rate rose this year, the figures showed, and a record number of 18-year-olds from across the UK were accepted into university based on their results.
For many of these young people, university will see them move out of the family home – striking out on their own and managing their finances for the first time. University courses themselves are usually very different from secondary schools and colleges too, meaning they’ll likely have to find new ways to learn and study if they want to excel.
UCAS – the UK’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – has created some helpful guidance for prospective students navigating this exciting transition. Here are a few of its most important tips that learners need to consider, covering academics, finances, to fitting in and making new friends:
Moving out
Moving away from home in just a few months’ time can be a daunting prospect, especially for young people who have never lived away from their families before – or had to do their own life admin. The top three tips from UCAS were:
- Scope out your accommodation online, or in person if you can. Get a sense of what living there will be like, and figure out exactly what you need to take with you.
- Try to find an online group (such as on Facebook or WhatsApp) for your accommodation. This will let you meet the people you’ll be living with before you arrive, and potentially even start making some new friends.
- Check out the local area so you know what’s around. For example, local transport links, supermarkets, and where you will be living in relation to campus.
It also recommended some key resources to help students get settled, including its own guide to choosing the right accommodation for you – as well as its essential packing list for university.
Managing finances
Learning to budget on a limited income can be a steep learning curve, especially if your family isn’t in a position to help you out financially. Here are a few steps UCAS recommends prospective students take:
- Make sure you’ve set up a student bank account before you go, preferably with ample time to get payment cards sent over – or anything else you might need.
- Make sure you’ve checked what student finance you’re eligible for (including tuition fee loans and maintenance loans, which help with the cost of living), and have completed your application online here. You don’t even need a firm place to make a start on this.
- Set a budget before you go, and test it out for a few weeks before uni begins. This way you can see if it’s reasonable and is going to work for you. It may also help to look at how much things cost in the area you’re planning to move to.
It also recommended checking out Student Space (created by mental health charity Student Minds), for advice and practical tips to help with any money worries that do come up.
Study success
Your university courses will likely be quite different to your time at school, and you generally have to be pretty self-motivated in order to make the most of it. There are, however, a few things you can do to set yourself up for success, UCAS says:
- Check out the resources on your new university’s website to see what support they have for new students. There is most likely all sorts of help available, including guidance on making the most of university resources – like using its libraries or computer labs.
- If you’re concerned about whether you know how to study effectively, ask your university or department heads whether they have any sessions or workshops on offer. Even if they don’t, knowing enough students are interested could lead to them creating one to help address any big knowledge or skills gaps.
- Check if there’s a pre-reading list for your course, and make a start on it. This will let you start building up the knowledge base you’ll need for your course, and get ahead.
UCAS also recommends a few resources for more information on the study skills you’ll need to excel at university, including this Skills4Uni short online course, and a similar one from FutureLearn.
Making friends
Finally, moving away from home can also mean saying goodbye to lifelong friends, who may be following different paths in their life after secondary school. It’s easy to feel lonely at first, but UCAS has also included some tips for fitting in – and finding your community:
- Check out the groups and activities the uni (and the area you’re moving to) have to offer. This can include societies, sports teams, support groups, or something else entirely – which can help you meet like-minded people or others with similar life experiences to you.
- Join online groups before you go, specifically around the things you’re interested in. This can help you meet people before you even arrive, and in university towns, many will likely organise hang-outs around the time new students start arriving.
- Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Meeting people is what uni is all about, UCAS says, and making new friends will help you get the most out of the experience.
Did you or a young person in your life get their A Level results this month and are unsure what to do next? Check out our student loan guidance online here – or try our guide to navigating the Clearing process here.