My son has just come home from the end of his University course.

Unlike my days at University, thanks to COVID his learning has all been online. Apparently, according to StudentCrowd.com (May 2021), only 0.6% of classes have been delivered in person this year. My son, like many, has yet to set foot in a lecture hall. (In fairness, COVID doesn’t seem to have crippled his social life in quite the same way, although there have been obvious restrictions.)

But both he and his girlfriend had already booked University accommodation, and it’s suited them well to be on University grounds.

Sadly, only about a quarter of students in the UK thought they got good value for money from university in the pandemic. According to this year’s annual survey of 10,000 students by the Higher Education Policy Institute, most students felt their fees and living costs were not justified by the disrupted teaching they received this academic year. Many haven't met any of their classmates or tutors. Some just gave up and went home, and my heart goes out to those overseas students who have come over to beautiful Britain only to find themselves confined, and who will now return home after an unnecessarily expensive year.

Like many students, both British and overseas, at this, the end of my son’s first year, he’s having to make choices about living space for next year without any certainty that things will be better. And he’s had to find somewhere to put his belongings as he returns home to family over the summer.

This year is not such a big issue as he’s been in halls, but next summer, as a family, we foresee a bigger issue as he vacates an off-campus rental property. He will have even more things to travel with, and will also be preparing for a year abroad (COVID and Brexit travel restrictions permitting).

Until this year, around 10% of students took time out abroad to study. It will be interesting to see how this changes.

Meanwhile, a garage/loft can only hold so much, and my son, in common with other students, doesn’t want to return to find his exorbitantly priced trainers mouldy or inhabited by mice while he’s away.

Since it started in 2017, easyStorage has provided answers for many students each year (to say nothing of their relieved parents, friends and families). With safe, dry self-storage facilities at around half the price of traditional self-storage, easyStorage’s facilities  have proved a Godsend for them, storing goods over the entire holiday period, and even, like my son, for an entire year abroad. They often group together to share a pod, depending on their plans.

Quotes for this storage are easy to come by. The easyStorage website offers no obligation quotes, 24/7: https://book.easystorage.com/

All lucky students are even entitled to a discount through their university, including:

• University of Essex

• Oxford Brookes University

• Imperial College, London

• Magdalen College, University of Oxford

• Kingston University.

Any student wanting their university to organise a similar discount should speak to their Student Union representative or bursar, and ask them to contact our the easyStorage Partnerships Manager, Irene Kapetanaki. OR alternatively, call Irene with their details and let her team do the hard work on 0800 061 4091.

She may not thank me for suggesting you call her directly, but I know she’ll forgive me. She loves her job and, despite being incredibly busy, is also very efficient and willing to help.

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