Student Life in Edinburgh with Collegiate AC

Edinburgh has a lot to offer students – we pick out some of the best bits to look out for, with help from Collegiate AC

Advertorial by The Skinny | 29 Sep 2017
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Life as a student is exciting, interesting and full of adventures, but it can be tough to get into at first. Finding your way around a new city, making new friends and working out what’s going on are all challenges you’ll face, but don’t worry because we’re here to help. Fortunately your house-hunting doesn’t need to be too troublesome – Collegiate’s state-of-the-art private student accommodation blocks are a great base from which to explore all that Edinburgh has to offer students.

We’ll start at the cinema. At the Filmhouse on Lothian Road, your student card is a passport to a world of incredibly cheap top-notch arthouse cinema. Student tickets for Filmhouse’s Friday afternoon screenings are just £4.50 (or around the cost of a pint), allowing you to broaden your cinematic knowledge without destroying your student loan. Of course, if that’s too expensive, how about seeing some brand new films FOR FREE? Slackers Club, brought to you by Picturehouse Cinemas and E4, presents monthly screenings of new releases exclusively to students and they don’t even ask for any cash. As an added bonus, Picturehouse’s Edinburgh outpost – The Cameo on Home Street – is one of the city’s most atmospheric and welcoming cinemas, with outlandishly comfy seats and a great bar. Sign up for a free Slackers Club membership at The Cameo box office, and look out for details of screenings on Facebook.

If you fancy something a bit different, Edinburgh has plenty to offer. If you’re under 26, you can grab a ticket for the majority of Scottish Opera’s shows in the capital for just a tenner. The same applies at the Festival and King’s Theatre; the theatres offer £10 standby tickets for most of our shows on the day of the performance. Just turn up after midday with your student ID, and if there are tickets available, you’re in. And if you want to actually make some theatre rather than just watch it, Bedlam – the UK’s oldest student-run theatre – are always on the lookout for new members for on-stage and behind-the-scenes roles. Bring the right attitude, a love for the theatre and plenty of enthusiasm and you’ll fit right in.

Comedy-lovers are also well catered for in Edinburgh, with a host of open mics and new material nights that are great for those of you who want to have a crack at making people laugh, or those who just want to have the laughs without having to do the work. The Stand’s Red Raw night is regarded as one of the best new comedy nights in the UK, and features a host of new acts every Monday (you can apply to be part of it on The Stand website). The Pleasance at Edinburgh Uni is home to the weekly Grassroots Comedy night every Tuesday, and Monkey Barrel comedy club hosts its weekly new act competition Top Banana on Wednesdays.

If you want to get musical, Edinburgh offers a number of options. Want to play live? Teviot Row House host a free-entry student open mic night every Wednesday, while the Underground venue in the same building puts on weekly student music showcases every Thursday – get in touch via bands@eusa.ed.ac.uk if you or your band are interested in playing. Interested in playing other people’s music? Fresh Air, the student-run online radio station, is an excellent place to start. The station offers full training in the basics of radio production, as well as giving you a platform to put together your own show. It’s also a great way to make your first move into club DJing, helping you build up the contacts and skills you’ll need to get a dancefloor full and moving.

For those lazy days when running club nights and playing gigs couldn’t be further from your mind, when you’ve spent eight hours in lectures and don’t even fancy cooking, Edinburgh has you covered. From Topolabamba’s ‘burrito, side and a drink for a tenner’ deal to the ‘20-inch pizza and two beers for £20’ on offer at Civerinos Slice, there are a whole host of student-friendly deals doing the rounds at venues across the city. If you fancy a coffee, eschew the big chains and grab yourself a Disloyalty card from one of seven of Edinburgh’s best indie coffee shops – get a stamp at each, and you’ll get a free coffee at your favourite of the bunch. If you want to get a quick overview of some of the city’s best food, head down to The Pitt on a Saturday afternoon – the street food market off Ferry Road is home to a rotating cast of the best street food vendors around, with local coffee roasters Williams & Johnson and wine aces Smith & Gertrude making regular appearances as well.

Now of course, to enjoy all this lovely student stuff you’ll need somewhere nice to live. Collegiate’s Edinburgh apartments offer safe, secure and stylish accommodation in the company of your fellow students, as well a huge range of amenities that you’ll struggle to find elsewhere, from a private on-site gym to a film screening room. There’s high-speed internet throughout, plus work and study rooms to help you keep your studies and social life separate, and each of Collegiate’s Edinburgh blocks are ideally located for exploring the city and making the most of student life.


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