Essentials to know before Freshers’ Week: A complete guide to the Uni of Manchester

That’s it, then. The end of an era. A-Level Results day is here, sixth form is over and Manchester is your new home. For some, this is a splendid outcome, having dreamt of living in Fallowfield since crawling out of the womb. Or, perhaps you have just received the worst news of your whole entire life and that worst news constitutes three B grades and a rejection from Oxford popping up on your UCAS. This is almost certainly not the life-ruining news you think it is, and it is almost certainly unwise to sit in your bedroom all day crying into a pillow over such a matter.

As it happens, the you of six months ago put Manchester in your top choices, and so to Manchester you shall come. We know this time is hardly stress free: moving to a new city, or even a new part of the same one, is overwhelming. But, as the sixth best university in the UK opens its doors to you (or 34th best globally, whichever you think sounds better), we at The Manchester Tab have compiled a guide to student life in a city with a lot more to it than rain, techno and posh students doing lines off the kitchen table at 11 in the morning.

Here’s everything to know about the University of Manchester for 2024 freshers.

Accommodation

Everyone’s in Fallowfield – you’ve probably received your halls by now, and you’re probably in Fallowfield too. It’s a 40 minute walk to campus, so you’re best off investing in a bus pass (this year they’re only available for Semester One) and enduring the rite of passage that is the Owens Park bus stop wait time.

ResLife coordinates Fallowfield’s halls and organises events that nobody goes to. Naturally, I went on multiple occasions and enjoyed free pizza and prosecco in the Meadows by myself.

Circuit Laundry costs a steep £7 for a wash and dry. Common courtesy is to arrive promptly to get your stuff out of the machine, or expect to have it swapped out and left on a table in the corner, with socks never to be seen again.

Nights out

Please, sweet Jesus, do not let yourself be hoodwinked into purchasing a Freshers’ Wristband. It’s £35 you could spend on far more economically and spiritually beneficial nights out, for example: purchasing 10 bottles of NZ Wines’ wine to last you through multiple Oak House flat parties in which mayhem will ensue. If you do end up a naive victim of the club promoters lurking in Manchester Student Group, you’ll only use the wristband on a singular night at Revs, shivering in the queue, side stepping to Tom Zanetti, and feeling like a prize fool.

256 is for sports socials (rugby boys and hockey girls getting off in corners while dressed as fairies/covered in flour), soundtracked by Rihanna, High School Musical, and 2018 rap. 42s is its indie equivalent and makes for an excellent Freshers’ night. Once I even had the pleasure of seeing a man dab 18 times in a row to Mr. Brightside in there, so there’s that.

Factory and Ark are poppy and impossible to spend a night in post Freshers’ Week. Come to think of it, save the £35 and spend it the week after on what I can only imagine will be a rather legendary, or perhaps reem, night at Ark’s Joey Essex meet-and-greet.

Funkademia is funk and soul music that only gets good after 1am, but once it’s good, it’s danceable all night long. Hidden is house and techno, quite far out, always half empty, always fun. The Warehouse Project hosts events from September to December, which I have never attended because I am neither cool, nonchalant, nor partial to losing my friends 30 minutes into a 12 hour rave.

Food

For a supermarket shop, Sainsbury’s is on your doorstep but is the most expensive expense of your first year experience. Get a Nectar card, but catch the bus to Aldi in Didsbury or Lidl in Rusholme whenever you can.

Haus is expensive, but its pizzas, roasts, and brunches are rather scrumptious and very close to Fallowfield halls. Further down in Withington is Fuel, a cheaper and less fancy (albeit more colourful) alternative, and Southside for the best tequila and tacos. For cheap pub snacks: 256’s food is never worth it, Spoons’ food always is. Post night out fuel is best at Chesters (peri-salted cheesy curly fries) and Kej’s (cheesy chips and gravy).

First years rarely venture into Rusholme, but by third year, you will recognise the value of having the Curry Mile right on your doorstep. Mughli does a good sit-down curry, and Al Zain Shawarma is a godsend for everything Middle Eastern.

When you’re on campus, 532 Kitchen offers cheap weekday deals, and Morrisons is comparatively better stocked than Sainsbury’s in the meal deal department. More details can be found in this excellently investigative article.

Making Friends

You may not have ever used Facebook in your entire life ever, but making a Facebook profile will allow you to join the group for the 24/25 cohort and talk to your flatmates before you actually move in. Manchester Students Group also exists on Facebook, where people post everything from bikes for sale to denouncing their neighbours.

Go to the Freshers’ Fair (probably in the second week of being in Manchester) to see what societies are on offer. Sports will open the door to Wednesday night socials, but don’t think they’re your only option. Course societies are an alternative gateway to sports socials and formals at the end of the semester, just without the incesty cult stuff.

Congrats on getting into the University of Manchester 2024!

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Seven BeReals that every Manchester university student has taken

• The five stages of Manchester Freshers’ Flu

• 24 hours in the life of a Fallow fresher