News flash! Does working part-time affect student finance?
Generally speaking, working a part-time job shouldn’t affect your eligibility for student finance, provided that your job isn’t your only source of income. Keep reading to learn more!
What’s it like living with Host?
No doubt you’ll be asking yourself what it’s like living with Host in our student accommodation?
Well, who better to tell you about it than one of our current residents who’s lived with Host at CB1, in Cambridge for the last two years and has rebooked for her third and final university year.
Meet Bethany…
I am a second-year paramedic science student at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. I have been living in the city of Cambridge now for two years, spending both years living with Host at CB1.
As i’m originally from the north of England, roughly 3 hours from Cambridge, my biggest worry as a fresher was that I would miss home and my family too much or struggle to make new friends. However, this hasn’t been a problem thanks to CB1 making me feel so welcomed.
Next year I go into my final year of study and I have chosen to remain at CB1. This means as a university student, I will have lived at CB1 for the whole duration of my course, and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
What are the Bedrooms and Kitchens like?
Whilst living with Host I have lived in a 9 en-suite bedroom cluster flat. In the kitchen you’ll find modern high-quality furnishings and appliances and lots of space so you can all chill together.
The bedrooms are a great size for student accommodation, with plenty of storage space, modern and feel homely. The en-suite bathrooms include a good quality shower unit with plenty of space to store all your toiletries.
With all your bills included in your rent you don’t need to worry about keeping on top of your bills or worrying about unknown payments creeping up. As part of your rent, general maintenance is included which is carried out by a superb on-site team of caretakers. Not only do they do a great job, but they are a friendly and caring team, always happy to stop for a chat which makes you feel really at home.
What about the onsite facilities?
In my Host home, we have a large common room perfect for hosting a games night with friends or arranging a study group. It has an area dedicated to studying with tables and chairs and a small library. Also, in the common room you’ll find games tables such as table tennis along with a large TV and PlayStation, plus plenty of sofas for everyone to chill.
Living with Host you don’t need to stress about the Wi-Fi connection. The connection is strong enough for gaming, streaming your favourite movies, studying, or just browsing the web. There’s plenty of secure bike storage too and as I’m in Cambridge this is essential!
How well located is your Host accommodation?
The location of Host’s student accommodation is perfect. At CB1 I can stay in bed until 8:30am and still make A 9am lecture in good time as it’s only a 10-minute walk or short cycle away. At CB1 the railway station is a few minutes’ walk from Cambridge railway station, a 5-minute walk to Cambridge leisure park (where you’ll find a gym, bowling alley and various restaurants) and 15-minute walk into the city.
What’s the Host team like?
The onsite Host team are out of this world. They have made my university time so enjoyable. The ladies in reception are so friendly and really care about the students, always putting them first. They’re always there for if you need someone to talk to, just want to have a cup of tea with or need cheering up. The onsite team run regular events for residents like Wellbeing Wednesday (where they give out free face masks and do meditation), traditional cultural nights but my ultimate favourite is the regular ‘doughnut day’ where they give out free doughnuts!!
Why have you rebooked to live with Host?
The reason why I have rebooked at Host is because I feel as though I am part of a family, CB1 has become my second home! I feel safe and know that there will always be someone there that I can go to if I need help and like I mentioned I don’t need to worry about extra bills or waiting ages for something to be fixed. I would miss CB1 and the team too much if I moved.
Do you have any tips for freshers?
Here are my top 5 tips for any fresher moving into student accommodation:
- If staying in a cluster flat, hold off from buying appliances (like an iron or kettle) until you move into your accommodation as it will work out cheaper for you all if you split the costs and share!
- Bring plenty of hangers for your wardrobe (you will underestimate how many clothes you bring until you have to unpack it all).
- Learn to cook using simple, free internet recipes – this will make food shopping cheaper and meals even tastier.
- When cooking, freeze any leftovers (if possible) to save wastage and costs! This also gives you a quick easy meal to do another night when you have no energy or time.
- And finally, engage with as many events as possible whether they’re at your student accommodation or uni. This is how you can really get the most out of your experience.
If you were to tell me that this time next year, I would be leaving Cambridge and graduating, I would laugh and not believe you, but it is true! I will be sad to leave but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Host and can’t wait for next year to make even more memories!
Looking for student accommodation this September? Then check out our latest availability.
At Host we recently launched our Booking commitment to you, take a look and find out more. Need more reasons to book with Host? Check out the best reasons to live with Host.
#HostEnvironmentalPledge.
Getting serious about the environment we live in.
To become more ‘environmentally friendly’, Host is launching the #HostEnvironmentalPledge campaign to encourage responsible behaviour and drive sustainability across our sites throughout the UK and Ireland.
It’s a simple campaign! For every percent we reduce our overall utilities (electric, water and gas) consumption by we donate to one of our nominated charities.
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