Commuting to University

With great transport links, many of our students choose to commute to our campus. Whatever your reasons for commuting, there are still plenty of ways to make the most out of your student experience! Keep reading for all the practical information you need for a great start to your UoB journey.

Each year, around a quarter of students across the UK choose to live off-campus with their family, partner, friends, or by themselves. This can mean different things for different students.

Who are our commuting students?

You're a commuter student if your term-time address is the same as your home address, but there are lots of different situations. You may live very locally to campus from Birmingham, or you may have a longer commute from a nearby town or city, or even further afield.

Recording your address in Online Registration

As part of Online Registration, you're asked to provide your address details. All students are asked to provide a 'home' and 'term-time' address. As a commuter student, you'll still need to do this - just enter the same address in both sections if they are the same for you.

What's it like being a commuter student?

For many students commuting is a chance to save money, and knowing the local area can make the transition to university life easier. Everybody’s University experience is different and unique, regardless of where you live! Mia shares her experience of and tips for commuting to campus.

As a student who commutes to university every day, my skills in organisation, patience, and planning have greatly improved. Even living away from campus, I've formed strong and invaluable friendships, and as a result my university experience has been rewarding and fulfilling both socially and academically.
Lucy French
Third Year, English Literature & Classical Literature and Civilisation

University facilities

The University campus has a wide array of facilities available, and many can be particularly useful to commuter students. Take a look at our study spaces on campus, as well as where you can get access to free water, microwaves, and hot water.
The Main Library has lockers available for day use whilst you’re studying, so it can be helpful if you don’t have anywhere to leave heavy textbooks, your gym kit, or anything else that you are carrying.
Likewise, if you don’t want to bring a laptop into campus every day, the Main Library has loanable laptops you can use in the library.
There is a wide variety of food and drink on campus. There are also lots of supermarkets and cafés in Selly Oak - less than a ten-minute walk from campus - as well as Spar at University Centre.

Managing disruptions

Occasionally there will be an unavoidable situation that results in a lecture being cancelled. This is particularly frustrating if you’ve had to travel a long way, but connecting your student email to your phone and downloading the Canvas app (available on iOS and Android) might help you catch any last minute notifications and help you stay up-to-date.

Wellbeing services

Just because you’re not based on campus, it doesn’t mean that your wellbeing isn’t our top priority – if you find yourself struggling in any way, we have a whole range of student wellbeing services to support you through your time at University.

Making the most of your time on campus

Take advantage of the time you spend on campus; although it can be frustrating to be left with a long gap between lectures or other classes, it can still be useful and really serve to enhance your experience of student life. You could get a membership to the Sport & Fitness Centre, or you could visit the library or another study space to get ahead on your assignments.
Getting some careers or work experience on campus could also help you feel more involved. Use the Careers Network to get some advice about your CV or interview skills, sign up with Worklink to find out about the paid part-time work available on campus, or discover different volunteering opportunities. This can also be a great time to get involved with societies.