8 Ways to Settle In at University in Your First Term

Settling in is less about cramming every event into week one and more about a few habits that last the whole term. These eight ideas cover routines, friendships, money and knowing where to get help.

The first term of university packs in a lot: a new city, new people, a different way of studying and, for many, living away from home for the first time. You do not need to have everything sorted in week one. What helps is laying down a few solid habits early, so that when deadlines and colder mornings arrive, the basics are already running themselves.

1. Learn Your Surroundings Before Timetables Take Over

Universities usually run tours and activities across the first week or so to help you get to know your new home, and there is often a welcome fair where Students’ Union reps, support services and societies all have stalls. Use both. Walk the routes to your teaching buildings before lectures start, find the library and check its opening hours, and note where you would go if you felt unwell. Student volunteers are easy to spot during the first weeks and happy to point you in the right direction, so ask, even if the question feels small. If you are renting privately rather than living in halls, add a few checks of your own, and our guide to Before You Sign a Student Tenancy covers the paperwork worth reading first.

2. Join One Society You Care About (Not Five You Might)

Welcome fairs tempt you to sign up for everything on offer, and plenty of those mailing lists go quiet within a few weeks. One or two societies you genuinely attend each week will do far more for you than six you never visit. Feeling a sense of belonging is strongly connected to positive mental health, and a regular group gives you that without depending on your timetable. It also spreads your friendships beyond the people you live with, which makes life easier if flat dynamics ever feel intense. And there is no pressure to meet your best friend in week one; good friendships often come from odd, unplanned places.

3. Build a Weekday Routine That Survives Deadlines

A routine reduces the unsettled feeling of everything being new, because familiar tasks start to run themselves while you are still learning the unfamiliar ones. Three anchors worth fixing in the first fortnight:

• Going to bed at roughly the same time each night, even when events run late.
• One habit that steadies the week, such as half an hour of reading before your first class or a call home on a set evening.
• A fixed slot each week to check course handbooks and note what is due and when, before dates pile up.

Turning up to classes in person matters more than it first appears. Catching up on missed lectures and readings can turn a manageable workload into an overwhelming one surprisingly quickly, and the people sitting nearby are also potential friends.

4. Find the Support Services Before You Need Them

The advice to learn what support exists during the first week is repeated for a reason: it is far easier to walk into a service you have already seen than to search for one at a low point. Find out where wellbeing or counselling services sit, how you book an appointment and what your students’ union advice service covers. Meeting your personal tutor or academic adviser early also pays off; they handle course questions, extensions and referrals, and a first conversation is easier before you need anything. If pressure around assessments starts building, our guide to Handling Exam Stress sets out practical steps and where to get help. And if you are ever weighing up a big decision, such as whether to carry on with your course, the students’ union can talk through the implications before you commit.

5. Cook One Reliable Meal and Share It

Stock a few cupboard basics that cook quickly, such as pasta, rice and instant noodles, so that tired evenings do not turn into skipped meals. Beyond that, learn one cheap meal properly rather than ten badly. Sharing it is the useful part: cooking with or for the people you live with is one of the easiest ways to turn flatmates from strangers into familiar faces, and most of them will be exactly as nervous about it as you are. While you are settling the kitchen, settle the money too. Budget for rent, travel, bills, books and food from the start, and look out for student discounts on travel and everyday spending, because running out of money mid-term creates problems that are far harder to fix later.

6. Keep a Foot in Life Back Home Without Overdoing It

Homesickness is common and it does not always arrive in week one. Some students feel fine at first and only struggle later in the term, or after their first trip home. It can show up as loneliness, nostalgia, sadness, nervousness or a wish to withdraw from the people around you. Building a life where you are is the most reliable remedy, and that takes weeks rather than one brave evening. A regular call home, on the same day each week, keeps ties warm without pulling you back every weekend. It also helps to keep something in your week that has nothing to do with university, whether that is a part-time job, a weekly walk somewhere unconnected to campus or a club in town.

7. Ask Second and Third Years How They Manage

Student volunteers and reps spend welcome week answering questions, and they have been through everything you are facing. Keep using that resource after the week ends. Course reps, society committees and older students on your corridor all know which buildings confuse everyone, which services respond quickly and how they handled their first deadline pile-up. Most are glad to be asked, because they remember feeling the same. Your academic adviser remains the formal route for academic questions, but informal advice from students a year or two ahead is often the quickest way to learn how things actually work at your particular university.

8. Know When Low Mood Is More Than Homesickness

Feeling unsettled at the start of something new is normal, and for most people it eases as the place becomes familiar. It is worth watching for the point where that stops being true. Signs that deserve more than waiting include low mood that persists for weeks, losing interest in things you were enjoying, pulling away from people, or struggling to attend classes and look after yourself. Talk to someone before it escalates. University wellbeing and counselling services exist for exactly this, and your GP can help too, so use whichever feels reachable first. The students’ union is another sensible first stop if you are unsure where to turn, and there is no threshold of distress you need to meet before asking.

Related guides

• Revision Techniques That Actually Work: once your routine includes a weekly planning slot, this explains how to use it well as exams approach.
• Student Finance in England: how loans and repayment work, useful when budgeting through your first term.

Questions students ask

Do I have to drink or go clubbing to make friends at university?

No. Welcome weeks usually include board game nights, film screenings and other quieter alternatives, and there is no pressure to drink. Societies and coursemates give you plenty of other ways to meet people.

What if I have not made close friends by the end of freshers’ week?

That is normal, and there is no pressure to meet your best friend in week one. Friendships often build through societies, coursemates and unplanned encounters across the whole term.

How do I stop my money running out early in the term?

Budget for rent, travel, bills, books and food from the start, and look out for student discounts. If you are unsure where help is available, your students’ union advice service is a sensible place to ask.

When is homesickness a sign of something more serious?

If low mood lasts for weeks, you pull away from people or you struggle to attend classes and look after yourself, talk to your university’s wellbeing service or your GP. You do not need to reach any particular level of distress before asking for help.

This guide is general information for students in the UK. Dates, fees and rules change, so always check the latest details with UCAS, GOV.UK, Student Finance England or your university or college before making decisions.