Students of London will arrive at University this week without the bare essentials such as underwear and a bank card a new study has revealed.
One in eight have to go home because they’ve left something important like a credit or debit card (30%), passport (29%), or Railcard (26%) behind. These are just a few of the most common items that students from the capital will forget when starting university, along with the paperwork they’ll need to enrol! More than a quarter of students in London (27%) admitted turning up without any documentation to do so!
The survey of 1,000 current or recently-graduated students across the UK was commissioned by National Rail and found that almost half of all UK students (45%) forgot socks and underwear!
As students across the country start to take up their places for the new university year, 20% will forget their 16-25 Railcard, which means they’ll spend more money going home again when they should be saving 1/3rd of their travel costs – even though they could have downloaded a digital version to their phone.
Nearly a third (30%) won’t eat proper meals, followed by 27% who admitted to forgetting to eat fruit and vegetables whilst away at university. As for hygiene – nearly a quarter of students (25%) forget to wash bed sheets and 23% fail to remember to wash dirty dishes. A fifth (20%) have even overlooked brushing their teeth!
Women are more likely to admit to forgetting to eat proper meals whilst away at university (31% vs 29% of men), while men were more likely to admit to forgetting to wash their bed sheets (25% vs 23% of women) and wash dishes (25% vs 20%).
Jacqueline Starr, Chief Operating Operator of Rail Delivery Group said: “as someone with personal experience of getting two family members ready for university, this is a hectic, yet exciting time. I experienced one loss of bank card, one loss of driving licence, one “I’ve smashed my phone”, several “I have no monies’, and countless “how do I’s” Preparing for this new stage in your life means that some things will get overlooked, but you don’t want to forget a 16-25 Railcard because it will save you money – and that’s essential for any student”.
As for saving money, a 16-25 Railcard also provides discounts and special offers throughout the UK, not just travel – from eating out, to days out and on a huge choice of different events. Jacqueline Starr added: “if you’re going to take full advantage of your university experience, get the 16-25 Railcard on your phone so you’re less likely to leave it at home”.
