Grace found Oakley Court in Pritchatts Park sociable, peaceful, and well-located - modern facilities and great flatmates made her first year unforgettable.
I'm a second year student at the University of Birmingham and I'm studying Politics and International Relations. I know it can be hard to choose and figure out which is the 'best' accommodation so i wanted to tell you about my experience in Pritchatts Park.
During the summer before moving to university, I was anxious at the thought of living away from home with new people. Reflecting on this a year on, I had the best time in my student accommodation. The people in my flat and our neighbours were the ones who made it so special, rather than all of the minor details I spent too much time stressing over!
I lived in Pritchatts Park in one of the newly developed Oakley Court townhouses with 11 other students. Due to the townhouse nature of our accommodation, we were quite a large group. Our accommodation was self-catered, and we shared two ovens, two sinks, three fridge-freezers, and 3 cupboards each, so there was plenty of storage. We had 6 bathrooms, each one shared between two of us. My room included a ¾ size bed, a wardrobe, under-the-bed storage, a desk, desk drawers, a desk chair, a full-length mirror, a pinboard for decoration and shelves.
The large kitchen, paired with a living area, and a ‘house-like’ set-up created a really social space for us, like a home away from home. After returning from lectures in the evenings, everyone would be cooking together. We celebrated so many events and birthdays in the house. We hosted a Christmas dinner, a Halloween party, a Valentine’s Day dessert night, a St Patrick’s Day party, cooking nights and many other chill nights in. These days are some of my favourite memories of my first year. I must stress that although I was blessed with really lovely flat mates, so many of our friends who attended these social events were from our courses, the neighbouring flats, sports and societies. Do not worry if you don’t get on with your flat mates!
In terms of the surrounding area of Pritchatts Park, campus is only a 10-minute walk through leafy and safe Edgbaston. Aldi in Selly Oak is around a 25-minute walk away. However, Harborne, a neighbouring town is a 10-minute walk from Pritchatts Park, and there is an Iceland, M&S and a Sainsburys. I often would get my food shops delivered for only a £2.50 delivery fee, or my friends and I would walk to Aldi and then split an Uber back, so we didn’t have to carry our bags, for only about £2 each.
Harborne also has a range of restaurants and cafés that we would treat ourselves to for birthdays and days out such as The Plough pub, Rudy’s Pizza place, Costa, Boston Tea Party, Arco Lounge and so many others. There are also so many shops such as Superdrug, Boots, charity shops, WHSmith’s, the Works, as well as some higher-end clothing stores. It was a reassuring feeling to know I could get anything I needed only a 10-minute walk away from my accommodation.
Pritchatts Park is also only a 10-minute walk from the university station, making it incredibly easy to get into central Birmingham. It is also known as one of the quieter accommodation villages, there is still lots going on but I would say it is particularly peaceful at night. There is 24-hour security provided in the student hub reception, making it a really safe environment.
Overall, Oakley Court was a sociable, modern, peaceful and sustainable accommodation choice for me. The facilities and surrounding areas provided me with everything I needed to have a great year and the people I met made it even better. Thank you for reading!
I am currently a second year politics and international relations student at UoB! I love going to the gym, playing netba...
