Students share lessons on leaving home for university

The University of the West of England (UWE) advises parents to help build their children’s confidence before they move away by teaching everyday skills, from cooking simple meals to doing laundry.

Once term begins, calls and messages can provide reassurance while still allowing students the space to become independent.

Fuller said parents should listen without judgement and remind their children that anxiety and mistakes are a normal part of adjusting to university life.

“It’s encouraging them to kind of have some agency in making some choices,” and “help them to go and talk to somebody.”

She added that the transition can be challenging for parents too.

The role of a parent changes quite sharply because problems at university now need to be dealt with by the student rather than the parent, “which can be hard for them [parents]”.

Fuller said some parents also experience “dual anxiety”, where a child leaving home triggers anxieties of their own.

While every student’s experience is different, Fuller said many of the challenges of university stem from encountering new situations for the first time.

Getting things wrong is inevitable, she said.

Her advice is for students to speak to someone they trust, whether that is student services, a flatmate, a lecturer or a parent.

“The more you keep things to yourself the more anxious you become.”