What does 2025 hold for Manchester students? Our predictions

New Year, new me and new Fallowfield. As second semester kicks off, The Manchester Tab has put together a list of Manchester predictions for the new university year. It’s out with the old and in with the new for Fallowfield!

1. Squirrels closing leads to Swankys domination

Yes it is in fact true, the institution that is Squirrels is closing down following the demolition of Oak House in Fallowfield campus. I am sure you are all as sad (heartbroken, devastated, distraught) as I am to have to say farewell to those Green Monsters; the drink that is, not the first years.

But not to worry because when one door closes, another one opens, and I predict this will be Swankys.  The new addition to the Fallowfield strip boats a karaoke night and a good location between McDonalds and Abduls for the afters. Maybe 2025 is the year that Manchester students include a sing-along on their nights out?

2. Andy Burnham will make everything yellow

January 2025 saw the launch of the Bee Network in Fallowfield and across Greater Manchester with bright yellow buses going up and down the Oxford Road corridor. Fair to say the new buses are an upgrade, even if it does take three working days for the QR code/bus pass to scan, or is that just me?

Therefore, the sky is the limit now for the colour yellow in Manchester. I’m thinking big: Yellow post-boxes, yellow Ubers, yellow football kits, the lot.

3. The return of the skinny jean

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It is no secret that Fallowfield Fashion usually means low-rise, baggy jeans with some loud obnoxious pattern on the back (Ed Hardy and Evisu, I’m looking at you).

However, we at The Manchester Tab think that 2025 will see the resurgence of the 2010s Joni jeans in Fallowfield. Nothing says Y2K quite like skin-tight, high-waisted, rib cage jeans.

4. Victoria Park superiority

The consensus is that as a Manchester student, you have to indulge in the Fallowfield student lifestyle. As much as I do love Fallowfield, I think it’s time students move to pastures new.

Victoria Park is a leafy, calm alternative that is actually walking distance to uni campuses so no need for the 30-minute trek on the bus (despite my earlier praises). Only a 10-minute walk away, living in Victoria Park would actually mean that students could start to make their 9am lectures. This goes for first years too; rumour has it Canterbury Court and Hulme Hall are now the places to be.

5. Cigars are the new Vapes

With new government legislation on vapes being banned, it is probably best you find a new alternative to feed your nicotine desires. I know nothing will hit quite as hard as a neon flavoured highlighter but alas, needs must.

Cigarettes are too Y2K for my liking and the health risks are also a contributing factor i guess. Instead, cigars. They fulfil the nicotine criteria whilst also making you look like an old-money, wealthy Tory (but this is Fallowfield so it’s arguably quite fitting).

6. DJ Billy goes B2B

Manchester might have The Warehouse Project, Amber’s and Hidden but the best DJ in the area is none other than an elderly man behind the decks in The Victoria on a Friday. It is arguably one of the hottest nights out in Manchester despite the sweat and the queueing to simply get into the pub.

I think 2025 is the year DJ Billy goes global; I’m picturing B2B with the biggest DJs around. Mark my words, he’ll be headlining the Concourse next September.

So there you have it, a short but sweet list of The Manchester Tab’s 2025 predictions for student life in Manchester. Hope to see you all on the Bee bus from Victoria Park to Swankys wearing your Joni Jeans!