Almost three quarters of students had NEVER ironed their clothes or planned their own meals before making the move to university, a new survey reveals.  

Ivory Research surveyed 1,000 university students from around the country to find out which skills this year’s cohort might need to brush up on before moving into halls of residence. Shockingly, 64% had never done laundry, 53% had never gone food shopping, and 47% of students hadn’t practiced cooking. This compares to 9.5% of students that hadn’t practiced any of the above.

 

Due to the influx of remote learning many students admitted that learning new life skills is something they have missed out on this past year, with 27% admitting their development has suffered as they didn’t move out from their family home to go to uni. 

According to the study, the top 10 life skills students are yet to master are: 

Ironing (73%)

Meal planning (72%)

Laundry (64%)

Dusting (63%)

Managing money (59%)

Cleaning the bathroom (57%)

Cleaning the kitchen (55%)

Managing own time (51%)

Vacuuming (48%) 

Cooking (46%) 

While many students are worried about the life skills they require for university, many forget the academic pressures students face. Of those surveyed, two thirds (66%) of students had never written an essay before studying for their degree, with only one third (30%) feeling confident about writing an essay before attending.

Looking at the workload students face, 16% admitted they were surprised by the amount of work they were expected to manage, and 20% say sample essays would have been useful to them to understand more of what was expected from them. 

Maria Ovdii, Co-Founder of Ivory Research, said: “Going to university marks a huge change in any student’s life, first year is certainly about getting used to an independent style of learning before the pressures and stresses of second- and third-year sink in." 

“Some things we would suggest to those students eagerly waiting to make the big move would be to:

● Practice cooking – it seems simple enough, but so many students don’t have the basic cooking skills they require. It’s important that you keep your immune system healthy, especially to fight off any illnesses or the dreaded ‘Freshers Flu’. Try drafting a meal plan, do a weekly shop and cook simple recipes to see how much money can be saved this way.

● Manage your budget – for many students, university will be the first time they are completely in control of managing their own budget, whether that’s paying rent, paying for food, paying for extra-curricular activities, etc. It’s best to set up a student account before they go, and make sure that Student Finance has the updated information.”