UK’s Top Freshers’ Essentials Revealed – New Research

What students really want vs. what their parents think they need

New research from Product of the Year reveals the gap between what students actually pack for Freshers’ Week and what their parents wish they would.

Photo by cottonbro studio

The online poll of over 2,500 students and parents collated from across Facebook, Instagram and X, shows that while students are more preoccupied with ‘making mates’ and queuing for kebabs, parents are stocking them up with duvets, cookbooks and cleaning supplies.

Battle of the checklists: students vs parents

It will come as no surprise that UK students’ number one pick for Freshers’ Week is none other than… ‘instant/pot noodles’, with just under a third of the vote (27%), while two fifths (20%) of parents placed a much more sensible ‘food staples’ at the top of their list with one in five making it the top pick for their university-bound offspring. Other student essentials lean heavily on caffeine, painkillers, earplugs, energy drinks and even fancy-dress costumes, whereas parents focused on more practical items such as kitchen starter kits, laptops, cosy bedding and first aid boxes. In short, students are gearing up for all-nighters, while parents are preparing them for ‘Armageddon’.

Student’s Top Fresher’s Products:

1. Instant noodles/pasta (27%)
2. Coffee (23%)
3. Painkillers (17%)
4. Earplugs and sleep mask (9%)

5= Energy drinks (7%)

5= Multivitamins (7%)

7.  Bluetooth speaker/extension leads (6%)

8.  Fancy dress costumes (4%)

Parent’s Top Fresher’s Products:

1. Food staples (20%)
2. Kitchen starter kit (19%)
3. Laptop and study tech (16%)
4. Emergency supplies (15%)
5. Bedding and cosy duvet (14%)
6. Toiletries & cleaning supplies (9%)
7. First aid box and medicines (6%)
8. Cookbooks and recipes (1%)

Freshers’ Week Fears Take Hold

Nerves are part and parcel of starting university – even among the most confident cohort. Two fifths (40%) ranked ‘making friends’ as their chief concern in the first few weeks, money worries and worse still, running out, is an anxiety for 35% and others are busy trying not to get lost on campus (20%), with a small minority losing sleep over the prospect of cooking for themselves (5%).

Making Memories or Misery?

Wild times are bound to ensue, but where are students most likely to end up at the end of the night? The majority reveal they would be ‘queueing for a takeaway’ (54%), while others suspect they won’t even remember getting home (24%), a fraction know they will end up in random halls to continue the party (13%) or will be trying to track down a lost wallet or phone (9%). Oh, Freshers!

Money Well Spent?

Week one and the loans are in. What’s the first thing Britain’s young scholars will blow their cash on? ‘Nights out’ is overwhelmingly the top expenditure – 44% say. Others prioritise nutrition in the form of ‘Deliveroo and late-night kebabs’, new clothes/fashion and a studious minority are saving it strictly for ‘course books.’

The Flatmate from Hell?

By far the worst culprit, when asked what the worst kind of dorm mate might be, is the notorious food thief (67%). The messy one comes second (31%), while the ‘hermit’ and the ‘oversharer’ barely register with a combined 3% on the “nightmare scale.” How tolerant!

Brands keen to get their products in front of students, parents and everyone in between there’s something for you. With a matter of weeks before the UK’s largest consumer survey of product innovation, Product of the Year, draws to a close… FMCG products are invited to enter here and TODAY before it’s too late!

Source: Product of the Year

  Freshers’ Week, Product Of The Year, Research