Apologies if there is a category for this college already but I couldn't find it.

I've just completed my first year here which is the only year students have a chance to live in halls at SIHE.

There is student accomodation on both campuses, Townhill and Mount Pleasant, and I lived on Townhill. All halls are self-catering.

I wasn't impressed at all with the rooms. Most had no carpet and were cold, and kitchens were locked at about midnight so there was no chance of having a meal when you came home from a night out, or even a cup of tea if you didn't keep your kettle in your room. In addition the kitchen appliances were old and not particularly safe. I paid £42 a week for this. On the plus side though the rooms were quite big and campus security was good.

Townhill is about a mile or so from the main campus and the town centre, unfortunately it's at the top of a very steep hill. Walking down was easy enough but to get back again most people took the 95p bus ride because for most of us it's only really walkable when drunk! This campus is where humanities and teacher training were taught.

In contrast the halls on the other campus where my boyfriend lived were really nice. They had en-suite bathrooms, carpets, 24hr access to the kitchen and only costed about £8 more per week. The disadvantage was that there was a very limited amount of them and if you applied in line with the normal UCAS timetable then you were unlikely to get in. Foreign students also got priority (BF is Irish) This campus is about five minutes walk from the town centre, it's still up a hill but it's walkable. Management, engineering and leisure are taught here so I have to come down most days as my course is a management/engineering hybrid.

My advice (which is probably too late for the 2002 first years but might be useful for those applying this year) is that unless you can get into the Mount Pleasant halls, don't
bother and get yourself into private accommodation. They say its often better to live in halls in your first year but most of my class lived in rented accomodation and they seemed to make friends easily enough.

Swansea is quite a compact city, at least the areas where students tend to live are, so you won't have problems getting to see your mates if you don't live in halls. Most things are within walking distance and if not the bus service is reasonably priced and efficient.