We rated the best coffee shops in Exeter to study in this deadline season, and here’s our verdict

Step away from campus Pret

4 years ago

As deadline season approaches you’re probably getting sick of the same revision spots on campus and bored of drinking the same Pret coffee every day to get you through your essays. You need a change of scenery to get those submissions in on time.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a guide to the coffee shops in town, rating them on affordability and how practical they are to work in:

Coffee #1

A great atmosphere to work in with gentle background music, decently priced drinks (£3.05 for a vanilla latte), and strong coffee to help you meet that word count.

Not a lot of plug sockets for those on laptops so perhaps only good for a few hours work.

6/10

Waterstones Cafe

Another nice calm atmosphere to do work, lots of big tables for spreading out your notes, enough plug sockets around the room for one to always be available for all your charging needs, and decently priced coffee – £2.60 for a small vanilla latte.

They offer 50p off if you bring your own keep cup and also have free Wifi.

8/10

No. 1 Polsloe

While No.1 Polsloe does have some of the most Instagrammable brunches in Exeter, it can be difficult to work in as there isn’t much space – definitely don’t attempt to work here on a weekend, the queues are usually out the door!

But if you’re lucky enough to get a table then its a great place to work with really nice drinks – their milkshakes are super tasty, all around £3 each and they even have a vegan alternative.

Sadly they do not have Wifi.

Insta story: 10/10

Workability: 4/10

Pret in the High Street

Maybe you’re missing your daily campus Pret? Well look no further. Pret in town still offers the £5 brie baguettes and your favourite drinks, 99p filter coffee for those of us on a budget, or only £2.95 for a vanilla latte if you’re looking to splash out, but it also provides a large downstairs perfect for a day of studying, it has plug sockets near almost every table, comfy chairs, and it’s nice and quiet for those of you who need to cram.

They do have accessible Wifi.

7/10

Chococo

Chococo is great for silent working as its never too loud, their hot chocolates are extraordinary, however they don’t have too many plugs so again not great for a full day study sesh.

The prices of their drinks vary; a standard hot chocolate is £3.20 but you can add syrups, cream, and marshmallows for an extra fee. No Wifi.

5/10

Boston Tea Party

This lovely coffee shop down on Queen Street may look small but its hidden upstairs offers a huge amount of tables to work at. Their drinks are decently priced – £2.70 for a latte, and for the tea lovers their menu has around 20 teas for you to try.

The tables are all a good size to fit you and a study buddy on. They have plug sockets at the far sides of the room and they have their own Wifi to keep you connected all day.

8/10

Starbucks

Infamous for their Pumpkin Spiced Latte, Starbucks is perhaps the most basic of coffee shops, but it is a reasonable place to get some research done, with a few tables having plug sockets.

It can get busy and noisy around lunchtime, with the town shoppers ascending to get their Frappuccino’s. Their tables aren’t very big so it can be hard to fit all your study essentials on them.