You will be advised of your arrival date in your offer of accommodation; this is the date we will expect you to move in. On larger sites, students might arrive on different days to help ease congestion.

If you’re moving into University-Managed accommodation, you can request to arrive early from Tuesday 18 September, and you will be charged the relevant daily rate. Please contact us via our online form in the application portal to request an early arrival.

For Managed Partnership accommodation, you will need to contact your residence directly to request an early arrival; please see the “reception” tab on your specific residence page for contact information.

Early, late and weekend arrivals

If you expect to arrive to our University-Managed accommodation outside normal opening hours you'll need to contact our Estates Security Office on +44 (0) 191 208 6817. Security Officers will arrange to meet and give you your key and you will be asked to show a copy of your Accommodation Acceptance with details of your room allocation.

If you’re staying at one of our Managed Partnership sites, you’ll need to contact your accommodation directly in advance; contact details for your residence and the out-of-hours team is available within the location section of your residence webpage.

As a lot of students will be arriving to their accommodation in a car; when you get nearer, you will see AA signage guiding you to the best route to access your residence. To make the day less stressful, we will have staff directing visitors to spaces, and we appreciate your co-operation. Please note you may experience parking queues and will be given a set amount of time to unload. 

After you’ve unloaded, there is no time limit on how long your family can stay around on the day. We will, however, ask you to move your vehicle to one of the many public car parks around the campus and city. This will allow others to gain access to the site and reduce congestion. Maps indicating the nearest car parks will be made available, so you don't have to worry about trying to find a place.

When arriving at your site by car, you will be directed to available parking spaces by a member of staff; please note that due to the volume of arriving students there may be queues.

You will then have time to unload and take your belongings to your room; keep an eye out for student reps who will be more than happy to help you with moving your stuff.

Typically, you will then go on to meet your flatmates and neighbours, and take part in the numerous events put on by our Students’ Union – you definitely won’t be bored! If you pre-booked any freshers' activities, you will need to pick up your wristband. You will also need to pick up your university smartcard, which you can do in the Hadrian Building on campus between 18-26 September, or at Castle Leazes for any new students allocated to this accommodation who arrive on the main arrival weekend (Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September).

Normal reception opening hours can be found on Our Accommodation pages, within the “reception” section of each residence.

Although it is tempting to bring as many of your belongings as possible, you should consider the amount of storage space available in your room and communal areas – filling most of the cupboards with your things before anyone else arrives might not be the best way to meet your flatmates!

Bedding and crockery isn't automatically included in your accommodation, but you may have the opportunity to purchase items when you accept your accommodation contract depending on where you will live. For more information, refer to our Accommodation Overview (PDF: 75KB) which details what each residence provides. 

You can order essential things such as crockery, bedding, etc. online from various retailers (such as Tesco, Asda, Next, Wilko, John Lewis, etc.). If you’re staying in Park View Student Village, you can also do so via our preferred partner UniKitOut (with a 10% discount with the code NU10).

Some items can also easily be purchased once you’ve arrived, such as stationery, books, food, etc. There are plenty of shops in town, and you will be able to find most of the things you need there.

Typically, the things that new students find most useful to bring with them are:

• Documents – ID, passport, bank card, etc.
• Your National Insurance number
• Clothes (don't forget your fancy dress!)
• Necessary medicine, plasters, etc.
• TV licence - if you'd like to watch TV as it's being shown on any of your personal devices (TV in your bedroom, PC, laptop, tablet, phone), or use BBC's iPlayer, you'll need to be covered by your own licence!
• Hygiene products (toothbrush, hairbrush, soap, etc.)
• Towels 
• Bedding (if you have not purchased one of our bedding packs when accepting your contract)
• Tea towels
• Laundry basket
• Coat hangers
• Laptop/desktop PC
• Chargers
• Alarm clock
• Things that will remind you of home – e.g. photos of friends and family, a cuddly toy 
• Items to personalise your room with – cushions, bed throw, battery-operated fairy lights, photo frames

Generally speaking, we wouldn’t recommend bringing anything that might take up too much space, be a potential hazard (either to you or the property) or cause disruption to your flatmates and neighbours. Some examples are:

• Your pet (sorry!), no matter how small 
• A drumkit
• BBQ
• An inflatable pool
• Candles 
• Kettles, toasters, microwaves – your kitchen will be equipped with electronics which have been tested and proven to be safe
• Portable heater
• Mains-powered fairy lights
• Mini fridge (if you need a mini fridge for medical reasons, please contact us)
• Furniture - your room and flat will be fully furnished 
• Vacuum cleaner - your University-managed residence will provide you with this (for Managed Partnership residences, please check with them directly)
• Ironing board - as above