Student Living
Halls come part-furnished, rooms are smaller than the photos suggest, and a good chunk of the usual shopping list never gets used. Here is what a student room actually needs, what each thing should cost, and where the sensible options sit.
Our picks
Two of the fiddliest things to buy for a small room, narrowed down. In both cases the footprint decides it: a hall room rarely has the clearance the product photos imply.
Compact, folding and corner desks under £150, judged on footprint first — the measurement that decides whether a desk works in a hall room at all.
Read moreSlim, floating and small-footprint designs for box rooms, where the gap between the bed and the wall is often narrower than a standard bedside unit.
Read moreBefore you buy
The cheapest decision is the one that stops something being bought twice, or bought in the wrong size. Between them, bed size and what the room already contains account for most of the money wasted on a student room.
What halls already provide, what is worth buying properly, what to leave at home, and a realistic budget for each item. Start here.
Read moreUK bed and mattress sizes explained. Student beds are often a 3ft single, but newer builds increasingly use a 4ft small double — and bedding for the wrong one is a wasted trip.
Read moreFirmness, foam versus pocket sprung, trial periods and how much is actually worth spending. Relevant for a private house; in halls, a topper is usually the answer.
Read moreKit the room out
Sensible ceilings for each item in a student room. Below these numbers there is still real choice; much above them and you are paying for a piece that has to survive being moved every summer.
Measure the room before ordering anything large — student rooms are narrower than the floor plan suggests once the bed is in, and doorways and stairwells decide what can actually be carried up.