My three-hour college commute is well worth the £7,000 saving on halls

[ad_1] Nathan Standley and

Hayley Clarke

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6153/live/193d94a0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Amelka Zambrzycka A selfie image of Amelka from the shoulders up, she is wearing a navy rain coat with the hood up and a white scarf. She is on a gloomy walking path, it seems to have been raining and it's cold." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Amelka Zambrzycka On a packed morning prepare to Manchester, 19-year-old Amelka Zambrzycka is surrounded by commuters heading into work.

There is not an acceptable bus from her mum's home in Horwich, on the opposite aspect of Bolton, so she has simply walked the 25 minutes to the station - as she does each morning - regardless of the freezing climate.

However Amelka is not on her method to work. She's a first-year biology pupil, one among lots of of 1000's of undergraduates who now select to stay at house quite than paying for college halls.

With the Ucas utility deadline across the nook on Wednesday 14 January, 1000's extra will probably be contemplating whether or not doing the identical could be value it for them, too.

Greater than 700,000 "commuter college students" are at universities throughout the UK.

It has led to universities like Manchester creating devoted social areas for them to hang around in between lectures - full with lounge seating, research areas, kitchen services, lockers and showers.

It is simply earlier than 08:30 when Amelka arrives on the College of Manchester's commuter lounge.

She will be able to make a cup of tea or have some breakfast within the kitchen space, cram in some last-minute work within the research pods, and even seize a bathe after an early morning fitness center session.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0b5e/live/08365c00-ed67-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Amelka Zambrzycka Amelka wearing a navy rain jacket and two bags on her back is walking towards her university campus. A bus can be seen on the road and a bike rack nearby with two bicycles parked up outside the campus." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Amelka Zambrzycka Amelka walks round 15,000 steps a day to get to and from college

A lot of her course mates are solely simply getting off the bed of their close by halls of residence, prepared for the primary lecture of the day at 09:00.

However Amelka has already been up for 2 hours, having simply accomplished the primary of two 90-minute journeys she takes on daily basis between her mum's home and town centre campus.

The College of Manchester's personal cost of living estimates counsel a first-year pupil can anticipate to spend £7,875 on lodging alone in 2025/26.

Along with all the things from groceries and takeaways, to garments and course supplies, first-year college students in Manchester this yr could have estimated prices totalling £13,685, the college says.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/07b8/live/21fc0b80-ed53-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Amelka Zambrzycka A composite image. It shows Amelka's journey to university. The first image is a train on a platform in the dark. The second is a wet set of stairs , someone is walking in front of Amelka with a white umbella. The third is a rainy high street." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Amelka Zambrzycka Amelka's commute to college takes up three hours of her day there and again

Renting and dwelling prices fluctuate broadly throughout the nation, however have been rising throughout the board lately.

The Increased Training Coverage Institute (Hepi) says college students in England now want £61,000 over the course of a three-year diploma "to have a minimal socially acceptable way of life".

Amelka's mum doesn't cost her hire, and despite the fact that she buys her personal meals and can spend about £700 this yr on public transport, her prices are a fraction of what they might be if she lived nearer college.

The newest figures from the Increased Training Statistics Company (HESA) counsel the variety of college students who stay in their very own house, or their dad and mom' house, throughout time period time has been steadily growing lately, accounting for greater than 40% of UK college students in 2023/24.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/707f/live/3ae8df10-ecae-11f0-ae8e-9b7561ed1466.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Dr Nicholas Weise Nick Weise stands against a weathered brick wall. He has curly dark hair and a short beard, and is wearing a teal T‑shirt under a dark grey zip‑up hoodie. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Dr Nicholas Weise Nick Weise says many commuter college students do not realise that many others are in the identical place as them

Nick Weise, who runs the college's commuter peer mentoring scheme, says a couple of quarter of the scholar inhabitants are commuters.

The brand new lounge, which opened on the finish of 2024, has been designed as a "house away from house", he says.

"A number of the suggestions we received was that commuters must arrive perhaps an hour early, in case there was site visitors or delays.

"If their first lecture was at 09:00, they had been arriving at 08:00, they usually had nowhere to be. They had been simply wandering the streets.

"So now we've got that commuter lounge open from 08:00 the place they will come, simply have just a little relaxation, just a little place to land and recharge, retailer their meals."

With some college students taking a number of buses and trains to get to college on daily basis, from so far as Morecambe or Derby, he says it is necessary commuters have a spot they are often between lectures.

For Amelka, it's "the most effective issues to occur" on the college.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9a18/live/309e3af0-ed53-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Amelka Zambrzycka A composite image. The first is a student taking a nap on a red couch in the commuters lounge. The second is a group of three students socialising, and playing monopoly." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Amelka Zambrzycka The commuter area has a research space and socialising areas that college students can use between lectures

"I stay in there, that's my home," she says.

"[Without it] I'd have nowhere to go, aside from the library, however you possibly can't actually socialise in a library.

"Within the lounge you possibly can at all times simply are available in, strike up a dialog with a random individual, and also you at all times have one thing in widespread as a result of they seem to be a commuter. You'll be able to complain about bus strikes, prepare delays, bizarre disruptions.

"Everybody loves it, it is excellent."

Day by day, come rain or shine, Amelka leaves her mum's home at about 07:00 to stroll the 25-minute journey to the prepare station.

It takes her one other 25 minutes on the prepare to get to Manchester Oxford Highway station, earlier than an extra half-hour stroll to the opposite aspect of campus for her first lecture of the day.

After her lectures, she typically stays within the commuter lounge to socialize or research, usually leaving when the area closes at 18:00, arriving house at about 20:00.

She says it is value it and her psychological well being has been boosted by the common daylight and 15,000 steps she walks every day.

However there are downsides.

"It is a lot more durable to socialize if you're a commuter," she says.

"Most college students that I've met, their social life goes to golf equipment, going to bars, to pubs actually late at evening, coming to one another's halls. It is all nightlife.

"It isn't secure for me to try this hour-and-a-half commute in the midst of the evening."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8c21/live/52005810-ed56-11f0-a4da-995b47177868.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Amelka Zambrzycka An image of a departures board at a train station. It shows multiple services are delayed due to a signally fault or a speed restriction over defective track. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Amelka Zambrzycka Commuters typically issue delays into their journey time to uni

However she's made loads of associates by the college's commuter pupil community - about 40 from one group chat alone.

"I felt so not noted firstly of uni, I used to be so nervous about making associates," she says.

"I am a lot extra assured now."

She says she remains to be figuring out her choices for subsequent yr, and all the things remains to be on the desk - together with a yr in lodging.

"There have been a number of instances when my prepare simply hasn't proven up for 2 hours, once they're supposed to return each half-hour," she says.