Hi, reader! Thank you for tuning into our International Insights page! I’m Thinzar and I’m currently a 3rd year medical student at the University of Manchester! I am from Myanmar and am an ISY graduate (hello to anyone from ISY and any burmese reading this xD)
Today, I’m going to be telling you about my experiences of settling into Manchester as an international student. I’ll be covering things like how much I spend in a month in Manchester, what transport links I use and my favorite places in town! I hope I can be of help to anyone who is considering moving to Manchester to study or work. Hope you enjoy reading! :)
First of all, my reasons for choosing Manchester…
Before I get into what my impression of Manchester is, I figured I should tell you a little bit about why I chose to study at Manchester. One of my top priorities when choosing which university to study at was the city it is located in. Since Medicine is a 5 years course (or 6 if you intercalate), imagine spending 5 years of your life in a place you absolutely loathe (lol okay maybe not that extreme). Know your preferences and do you research first before choosing where to study! The best way to do this is through reading blogs like this (shameless self-promo ahaha), watching youtube videos about the city, and visiting the city to see what it’s like if you can!
As for me, my preferences when it comes to a city is, it has to:
● Be a big city
(I’m a city girl and I get bored when there aren’t many things to do around)
● Be affordable
● Have good transport links
● Be safe for students
Manchester fulfills all of these requirements and let me explain why.
Is Manchester a Big City?
Manchester is one of the biggest cities in the UK and I can assure you that you won’t get bored living here since there are lots of things to do and see! It is also the UK’s 5th most populated city!
If you are into shopping, the closest shopping mall to uni is the Arndale shopping center. It’s my most visited shopping center since it’s so close to Chinatown where me and my friends always go out for food! I always go there to buy clothes and accessories. Some of my favorite stores include Zara, H&M, Lovisa and & other stories! There’s also the famous Trafford Center which you can visit by taking bus 250 directly from the uni. It’s a lot bigger than Arndale and there are more brands but since it’s far, I don’t like to go there often.
If you are a foodie like me, you will never run out of restaurants to try in Manchester. There are new restaurants and cafes popping up every minute and I just can’t keep up! Because Manchester is so diverse and multicultural, you will find lots of international cuisines here! There’s the Curry Mile where you can get really decent curries and takeaways for reasonable prices. It’s always a plus that it’s so close to the university (especially to the medical school and Manchester Royal Infirmary (our teaching hospital)) so when you are feeling lazy to cook, you can just pop there to get some food! When I’m feeling a bit more fancy though, I like to head to Chinatown or the Northern Quarter (another neighborhood in Manchester with lots of independent restaurants and cafes) with my friends. Some of my favorite places in these places include Yuzu, Wasabi, Try Thai, Vietshack, and Lazy Sundae. I’ve inserted some pictures below so don’t get too hungry!
I also like to go to cafes in town sometimes to study or detox. Some of the best cafes in town are: Chapter One books, 19 Cafe Bar, Federal Cafe, Ezra and Gil (omg you gotta try their Oreo French toast!), and Black Sheep Coffee! There’s also Pollen Bakery that I really want to try because I heard they do amazing pastries but I just somehow haven’t gotten a chance to.
In terms of other things to do, there are also places for you to visit such as museums, parks, bars, and clubs. I am not really a fan of going to bars or clubs so I can’t comment much on those but I do love going to museums and taking a walk along the canals in Castlefield (a very pretty and relaxed neighborhood). Some of the museums you can visit here include Manchester Museum (right at the heart of the uni!), Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, John Rylands library (the so-called “Harry Potter” library), National Football Museum (if you’re a football fan) and many more!
Is Manchester Affordable?
I think everyone’s definition of affordable is different so I will just give you a breakdown of the living costs here in Manchester aka how much money I spend as a uni student in a month. This might not be truly representative of what every student spends because everyone’s different.
Groceries:
-20 pounds per week x 4 weeks = 80 pounds
(I am a foodie and most of my money goes towards food but you might not need to spend that much on groceries. I also love buying asian groceries which are kind of expensive here but if you are not into asian food that much, it probably won’t cost you a lot to buy groceries. My tip is to go to Lidl, Aldi, or Asda which are the cheaper supermarkets to shop for groceries! If you want asian groceries, go to Oseyo, Taste the Orient, or W.H Lung)
Eating Out:
-14 per week x 4 weeks = 56 pounds
(When I eat out, I usually spend around 8-10 pounds on a meal. There are cheaper options out there but I always go for asian food which is a bit more pricey. On top of that, I might get coffee or boba (at this point I’m addicted to boba) which is around 4 pounds. I usually like to eat out once a week with my friends or sometimes more :’) but let’s just assume here that I only eat out once a week)
Transportation:
-4 pounds per week x 4 weeks = 16 pounds
(A single journey bus ticket is around 1.5-2 pounds and return ticket is around 3-4 pounds depending on where you are going)
(Since I live near the university which is walking distance to town, I don’t spend that much on transportation since I like to be healthy and walk. But, on days where I’m lazy, I’ll take the bus)
Shopping:
-40 pounds per month
(Before my 3rd year, I really didn’t like shopping for clothes or accessories because I didn’t like spending extra money but I’ve been converted into a shopaholic somehow this year. I don’t have a set time when I shop but I can be spontaneous and buy clothes whenever I want (bad idea if you want to save money) I suggest you set yourself a budget of how much you are going to spend for each month.)
Accommodation:
-6300 per year/ 10 months (my contract is only for 10 months) = 630 per month
(I am living in a private student accommodation which is not too bad for the price I’m paying but you can easily spend a lot more or less on accommodation depending on which area of the city you choose to live at or if you are living in a shared house or in an accommodation)
Estimated Total Living Cost per Month: 822 pounds
Does Manchester Have Good Transport Links?
In my opinion, yes! There are buses that go almost everywhere, and also trams, and trains! In my 1st and 2nd years, since I don’t have to travel that far out of town for placements, I can usually get around by taking the Magic Buses from the university. These buses are numbered 142 and 143 and they would take me to most of the places I go to such as Chinatown, Arndale shopping center, and Northern Quarter. These cost only 1.5 per single journey. You can also take bus 147 for free if you flash your student ID to the bus driver. This bus runs between the uni’s north and south campuses.
For 3rd year, you might be placed out of town for your placements. You might have to travel to Trafford General, North Manchester General, Wythenshawe, and Salford Royal hospitals or other hospitals that are kind of far. So you might have to take the train or tram for those but this year I’ve been quite lucky since I can get to the hospitals by bus. There is a free shuttle running from MRI (hospital near uni) to Trafford General and Wythenshawe hospitals for staff and medical students so you can take those as well to save some money!
Is Manchester safe for students?
I think it’s pretty safe for students since it’s a student city but that might be because I don’t go out very very late at night. But, I’ve never encountered any dangerous situations or situations where someone is trying to commit a crime against me. (Other than this one time when a guy on a bicycle tries to snatch my phone off my hand. So, don’t be like me and hold your phones out in your hand at night. But, this only happened one time out of the 3 years I’ve stayed in Manchester.) I feel like if you are cautious and try to keep yourself safe, you should not have any trouble living here!
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