I don't know what to do. I’m completely stumped, like should I just start looking for jobs? Olivia, like a lot of students, just moved into her student accommodation this week, but it's been far from an easy journey to get here. I, so I originally planned to go to Manchester that didn't work out and then I quickly ended up realizing that I needed to go through clearing. Even when I thought that it was okay when I thought that everything was going to go to plan it didn't. So, the University of Bristol, they were really, really friendly in terms of, like the course I spoke to a few really nice people there, but in terms of accommodation, they were stretched. I don't know why they were advertising so many places on clearing and it wasn't just them like this was happening all over the country.Facebook uni groups are littered with comments from students struggling to find places to live due to being stuck on waiting lists. Many are looking for last-minute house shares; some have been offered accommodation in different cities to their uni whilst others say they've been offered cash to give up their rooms in Halls. I haven't heard back about my accommodation I was promised two weeks ago that I would know and then I called back up on a Friday. Every morning I'd be checking my emails like have I got my accommodation, have I got my accommodation? I called and called and called, I was listening to the wait music over and over and I was speaking to people from the University I was speaking to accommodation I spoke to everyone, and I was like please, please, please, like I need to know for my own mental health at this point.
The University of West England apologized to Olivia for her experience saying that due to a high volume of applications for accommodation this year, Hall's accommodation became oversubscribed.And I was told it's up to you it's your job to find your accommodation and I was kind of released into this really hostile private sector of renting and I didn't want to live in a spare bedroom, I wanted the uni Halls experience. Okay, I'm really hoping this lands on the right page for you because there is a humongous housing crisis for students at the moment and no one is talking about it. I was angry and frustrated and I kind of think that my generation uses social media to be their voice. I had so many messages from that TikTok saying like I'm going through the exact same thing right now and it's horrid.After weeks without an update, Olivia was offered accommodation in Newport almost an hour away from Bristol, she rejected this and decided to go back through the clearing process. I have two days until I’m moving to a university in Wales, so I am so, so excited because I did not think that I was gonna go to UNI. I'm now thinking okay this is the only place that said that they can give me accommodation it's a course I want to do they can facilitate it, why would I not you know what I mean but in the back of my mind I had this doubt like am I going to be let down like almost having like trust issues over universities because I've been through such a difficult process.
“I'm not paying nine grand a year”
When you go through school you have this idea that Universities, they're these really prestigious institutions and that you know they've got all these like different courses, and you can do such great things and you hear all these different messages about uni but I never thought that accommodation would be an issue. That was something that kind of, kind of sprung out of the woodwork for me. I was like surely; I'm not paying nine grand a year to not have accommodation when that's you know a priority is where somebody lives as their security it's their home and I didn't have that security for a very long time.
Questions:
Part 1: Comprehension
Watch and summarize the video thinking of who, what, when, where & why.
Part 2: True or False Questions
a) True or false – Lucy got accepted into Manchester University. T/F
b) True or False – The University of Bristol were very helpful and friendly in terms of the course they offered. T/F
c) True or False – Lucy was told it was her responsibility to find accommodation. T/F
d) True or False – Lucy knew that in some prestigious universities it would be hard to get accommodation. T/F
Part 3: Guess the meaning of unknown vocabulary.
a) "Stumped" (0:03 min)
b) "Clearing"(0:20 min)
c) "Littered" (0:40 min)
d) "Back of my mind" (2:33 min)
Part 4: Dictation
a) Fill in the blanks (0:25 - 0:39 minutes) So, the University of Bristol,___________________________________________, they were stretched.
b) Fill in the blanks (1:03 - 1:08 minutes) Every ____________________________________________________________________ my accommodation?
c) Fill in the blanks (1:50 - 2:03 minutes) I was ____________________________________________________________________voice.
Part 5: Talking Points
Part 6: Role play Scenarios
Scenario 1: University Administrator
You are a University of Bristol administrator, you receive a call from Olivia, a student upset about struggling to find accommodation. You aim to address her concerns, apologize for the inconvenience, and assure her of finding a solution.
Scenario 2: Accommodation Officer
You are a University of West England accommodation officer, you meet with Olivia, a student rejecting an offer for housing in Newport. She's frustrated with the accommodation process and wants a better option. Your task is to understand her concerns, apologize, and look for alternative housing within the university's options.
Scenario 3: Private Sector Landlord
As a Bristol landlord with a spare bedroom, you're contacted by Olivia, a student seeking accommodation. She's unsure about renting a spare room. Your aim is to highlight the room's benefits and provide rental details, addressing her concerns for a positive university experience.
Part 7: Writing Activity
Write about a special memory you have of a time at university. What did you do? why is it special?
Part 8: Critical Thinking - University Living
Objective: To discuss and reach a consensus on the challenges and potential solutions for the student accommodation crisis highlighted in the article.
Think about: What are the main challenges faced by students in finding suitable accommodation for university?, How do you think the high demand for student accommodation and oversubscribed halls affect students' mental health and well-being?, Do you think universities have a responsibility to provide adequate accommodation for their students? Why or why not?, What potential solutions do you think can address the student accommodation crisis?
In your groups come up with the best ways to solve the issues faced by Olivia.Come together as a class and reach a consensus on how to solve the problems.
Answers:
Part 1: Comprehension
In this video, a first-year university student in the UK talks to a news reporter about her difficult experience in getting accommodation at the universities she wanted to go to. She told reporters that although she got accepted into a few different universities she struggled to get into their accommodations. This would mean that she had to use private accommodation which can be more expensive and destroy her experience as a fresher (first-year student). After weeks of endless calls, and days counting down to her course start date, she was forced to enter clearing for a second time to find a university that would be able to facilitate her. She became frustrated by this situation and went on to the social media platform TikTok and quickly discovered that there were many others having the same experience.Finally, she was able to find a university but it caused her a lot of stress and gave her many sleepless nights.
Part 2: True or False
A: False B: True C: True D: False
Part 3: Guess the meaning of unknown vocabulary or phrases
a) "Stumped" Answer: I think stumped means difficult to find an answer to the question because in the video Lucy couldn’t understand why she wasn’t able to get accommodation at university easily.
b) "Clearing" Answer: I think clearing is a system used by universities to fill their remaining university places because Lucy says that she wasn’t accepted at the University of Manchester and then had to go into clearing to find another university.
c) "Littered" Answer: This means to be filled with examples of something unpleasant (in text format) because in the video Lucy describes how Facebook and other social media platforms had lots of complaints like hers.
d) "Back of my mind"Answer: I think this means to have something in your mind but not actively thinking about it because Lucy describes how she finally got accommodation but because of all the rejection still had that lingering doubt in her thoughts.
Part 4: Dictation
a) Fill in the blanks (0:25 - 0:39 minutes) So, the University of Bristol, they were really, really friendly in terms of, like the course I spoke to a few really nice people there, but in terms of accommodation, they were stretched.
b) Fill in the blanks (1:03 - 1:08 minutes) Every morning I'd be checking my emails like have I got my accommodation, have I got my accommodation?
c) Fill in the blanks (1:50 - 2:03 minutes) I was angry and frustrated and I kind of think that my generation uses social media to be their voice.
Part 7: Writing (example)
I remember a special time at university when I played football with my team. After the game, we all went to have drinks together. We stayed out drinking all night. It was fun because we talked a lot and laughed. We remembered the best parts of the game. This night was special because I felt very close to my teammates. We became better friends. It was also a happy and easy time. We didn't worry about anything except having fun. That night is a good memory for me because it shows the happy and simple parts of university life, like being with friends and enjoying the moment.
