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If you live outside Dundee and it's too far to commute, we strongly recommend that your student try living in student accommodation for the first year.
It's a great way to get to know other people, learn about the city and the kind of living environment they prefer. Some people like house sharing, some prefer to live alone. Often they won’t know that until they’ve tried it. Once they've been in halls, they may meet friends they share with afterwards.
If you live locally, they can also stay in halls if they want (and can afford) to, though living at home can work too.
If you can make it, it's always worth coming to an Open Day. As well as seeing the university in person, we try to have accommodation tours designed to give you/your child a flavour of what's available.
We also have another page about our accommodation for parents and carers which may help answer some more of your questions.
Choosing a room can be daunting, so we've written a guide about how to choose your room. The most expensive may not be the best choice in the end.
Also, and just for fun, there's a lot to be learned from living in student halls.
We have agreements with companies who run student residences which means Abertay students get cheaper rent.
We send out emails when the accommodation booking opens, (usually in the spring). The halls we partner with can only be booked after you child has firmly accepted their offer to study here in UCAS.
There are lots of room types - from doubles, single rooms to bedsits. Find out all about them in the accommodation section.
The rent they pay entirely depends on the room they choose, length of the lease and the hall they decide to live in. This also covers wifi, heating, electricity and gas. See the Abertay Student rent costs.
They can only apply once they've firmly accepted their Abertay offer, so check out the Accommodation section for full details.
See all our rooms on the Student Residences and Rooms page and there is a parent's guide in the Accommodation section too.
This is a tough one because it depends entirely on the person and a number of factors including finances.
If you live away from Dundee, staying at home may not even be an option. But for local students, living at home can be a significant money saver. It saves money on rent, is convenient, and is a way to avoid moving in with new people and put off flat sharing for a while.
Sometimes it's not just about saving money. Many will want to move out even if they live locally.
As they are making steps towards becoming an independent adult, it may be the right thing for them if they can afford it. Some won't want to, and that's okay too. Often local students move out at some point during their time at university, but not necessarily in their first year.
Making a pros/cons list can really help you both work your way through the issues. And it's important to discuss what's best for everyone, personally as well as financially.
The UniGuide has a great article about it.
The good news is that Dundee is one of the cheapest UK cities to live in, and rents is pretty reasonable depending on what they want and where they want to live.
We can’t help your child rent a room or a flat or apartment, but there is a lot of sites out there to help them decide on the pros and cons of sharing v living alone, student accommodation v private renting.
UCAS - keep your wits about you when renting
How to pick the right student accommdation
The Student Room also has a lot of forums devoted to accommodation.
And here are some more suggestions:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/student-accommodation/Dundee.html
https://www.lettingweb.com/student-flats-university-of-dundee
These are third party web sites that we link to solely on editorial merit. Abertay University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of these sites.