Here’s everything you should know before heading to Birmingham for university in September

Move over Oxbridge – there’s a new scholarly hot spot, and it’s got more canals than Venice, more Greggs than is strictly decent, and a nightlife that would make Gatsby blush. Yes, we’re talking about Brum, the proud, bustling, delightfully chaotic heart of the Midlands, and a city that hosts not one, but five universities.

So, whether you’re heading to University of Birmingham, Aston, Birmingham City, UCB, or Newman, here’s everything you really need to know (because the prospectus isn’t going to tell you where to get a £2 pint).

Studying? Sure. Occasionally

Yes, you’ll study. You might even enjoy it. The University of Birmingham, a redbrick behemoth with a clock tower that rivals Big Ben (hello, Old Joe), is where you’ll feel like you’re living in a mash-up of Brideshead Revisited and The Inbetweeners.

Meanwhile, Aston brings the science brains and business savvy, and BCU’s creative crowd churns out more artists than a Renaissance workshop. No matter your course, expect to hear the phrase “critical thinking” so many times, you’ll start critiquing your breakfast cereal.

Dining hall? No thanks. We have Greggs

Forget formal dining halls and candlelit dinners – unless you count the fairy lights in your shared kitchen.

Birmingham is the land of independent cafés, late-night chicken shops, and a Greggs every 500 yards. Shakespeare may have said: “Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken and so die,” but we’re pretty sure he was talking about the UoB Vale chicken curry.

Most Read

BBC backs presenter who changed ‘pregnant people’ to ‘women’ on-air

Guys, you can finally bypass Netflix’s household rules and this is how to do it

Officials release statement as eight people die in fatal hot air balloon crash in Brazil

And then there’s Digbeth – the haven of food markets where you can devour bao buns and vegan donuts while questioning whether the £7 artisan lemonade was a spiritual experience or a financial error.

Halls of fame

One thing you definitely need to know is  that Birmingham university accommodation comes in many flavours, from the majestic to mid.

If you’re living on the Vale, congratulations – you’ve got swans, a lake, and the illusion of peace.

If you’re in Selly Oak, also congrats – but prepare for burglar-proof windows, a short walk to campus, and parties that would give Caligula a run for his toga.

Your flatmates will be characters in their own right: The ghost (never seen, possibly a myth), the Gordon Ramsay (uses all the pans, none of the soap), and the philosopher (hasn’t been to a lecture since October but will absolutely corner you at 3am. to discuss Kafka over cold noodles).

The Bullring: Where your loan goes to die

And when you’re not in lectures or loitering in the kitchen trying to remember if you bought milk, there’s the city itself.

Something all freshers need to know is that going to Birmingham’s Bullring isn’t just a massive shopping centre – it’s a rite of passage. It’s where students go to buy outfits they’ll regret by next Friday and queue for bubble tea like it’s a dissertation requirement.

For the vintage-inclined, Digbeth offers thrift stores where you can piece together a look somewhere between Virginia Woolf and a Depop influencer having an existential crisis.

Brum after dark: Nightlife that could raise the dead

As for nightlife? Think cheesy club nights in Snobs, techno raves in abandoned warehouses where one Shakespearean soliloquy wouldn’t be out of place, and karaoke bars where future doctors, lawyers and engineers scream Britney like their future careers depend on hitting that final note.

Escaping Brum (if New Street lets you)

via Google Maps

Getting out of Birmingham is easy enough – unless it’s a match day, in which case New Street Station becomes a swirling vortex of despair.

But when the trains behave, weekend trips to London or Wales are totally doable. And the strange thing? No matter how far you roam, you’ll come back to the skyline, the smell of chips, and that inexplicable bull statue with a weird kind of fondness – like seeing an old friend in a slightly dirty hoodie.

Warning, even after years here, I still get lost in the station. Even the locals do.

Beautiful, bonkers Brum

Birmingham isn’t perfect – but who wants perfect, anyway? It’s loud, chaotic, and built like a Dickens novel in urban form: A bit grimy, a bit glorious, and full of characters who probably belong in footnotes.

You’ll find yourself cursing it – the rain, the trains, the bins that breed rats faster than your deadlines. But then, in the middle of a hungover walk through Digbeth or a spontaneous pub garden poetry reading (yes, those happen), you’ll feel it click. This isn’t just a uni city. It’s a whole bildungsroman in the making.

So, to Brum or not to Brum? That is the question.

And the answer, dear fresher, is simple: Brum – always Brum.

Stay in the loop: Follow The Birmingham Tab

The final thing you’ll need to know before coming to uni in Birmingham is to follow us.

If you want the real stories – the flatmate fails, campus chaos, and exposés on which Selly chicken shop is a public health miracle – you need to follow The Birmingham Tab.

We’re on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, bringing you the gossip, memes, and unfiltered truth Brum uni websites conveniently forgot to mention.

We also write hard-hitting news too, so we can make sure all local students stay informed about goings on in the city.

Fancy writing for us? You can do that too! We’re always looking for contributors, just DM us on Instagram.