You might be wondering where to start when it comes to packing to move to university. One place is to figure out what’s already going to be in your residence.
Included in your accommodation
Our webpage for each residence will give you more detail about what exactly your room will include. As a basic guide, each room will have a bed, mattress, wardrobe, desk and chair.
We encourage you not to bring any furniture with you. There are also some items that aren’t allowed which you may be asked to remove. Find out more in our Moving-In Checklist.
Things that you will need:
- Your own bedding! We only provide a mattress cover so you’ll need to bring or buy some bedding for your first night. We don’t recommend buying fitted sheets. You’ll find the bed size for your particular accommodation on the individual residence page under ‘Room and bed sizes’.
- If you’re in a self-catered residence, you’ll need your own cooking equipment, crockery and cutlery (for your information, we do not have induction hobs in any of our residences).
- Clothes, shoes, toiletries and healthcare items.
- Important documents such as your passport and birth certificate (You never know when you may need these!).
- Personal things to help your room feel like home, like photographs and sentimental objects.
Where to buy what you don’t bring
You can’t bring everything with you and after spending some time in your home, you might think of things you’d like to buy. Exeter has a variety of shops and supermarkets, including:
- Ikea, Argos and John Lewis, plus Sainsburys, Tesco, Iceland, Waitrose and Morrisons. See the Visit Exeter webpage for further information.
- We have a range of cafes and convenience shops on campus and close to our residences. Find details on our website.
- There is no need to try to bring everything. We advise you to pack lightly! Try to focus on personal things that can’t be bought in the shops. You can stock up on everything else later.
- You may also be able to take advantage of our new Gift it, Reuse it scheme, where last year’s resident students have donated items they no longer needed, for new students to use for free. Find out more >
Buying online
Storage within your residence reception is limited and as arrivals is such a busy time, we ask you not to have things delivered to your accommodation before you arrive. Once you are settled in and term has started, you’re welcome to have items delivered.
One way of having things ready for when you arrive is to kit yourself through specialised providers UniKitOut, who sell bedding, kitchen, bathroom kits and more, all to be delivered directly to your accommodation. Plus, you can save 10% with discount code EXETER10.
Hopefully this has helped with your packing plans. We’re looking forward to meeting you soon!