Practical Gifts for the Fresher University Student this September

Moneymagpie Team 20th Aug 2025 No Comments

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Whether you’re a student planning your first move to uni halls, a parent saying goodbye to your eldest, or a grandparent wanting to set your grandchild up for success: moving to university is a scary and exciting time. So, if you’re stocking up for your room or want to give the fresher student in your family a great send-off gift they’ll use all the time at uni, we’ve rounded up some ideas for university essentials for every budget.

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Kitchen and Home

Technology

Clothing and Accessories

Subscriptions

Kitchen and Home

Tassimo Finesse Coffee Machine, £89.99 (currently £44.99)

An easy to use, compact, eco-friendly coffee machine that will keep any student going with their caffeine fix! Made from 60% recycled plastic, it comes with great eco-credentials. It’s much cheaper to make a barista-level coffee at home thanks to the wide range of flavours available, including the new Cinnamon Rolls for a warming autumnal flavour. The machine-only model is £89.99 – or £44.99 at time of writing – but check for bundles to save even more. Right now, get the Tassimo Finesse Coffee Machine with ‘The Favourites’ bundle of 5 different flavours (56 drinks’ worth!) for just £49.99, instead of £122.24.

Aeropress Original, £39.99

A take-anywhere gadget for the biggest coffee lover, the Aeropress Original uses ground coffee for the perfect filtered cup every time. It’s portable and small, making it perfect for on-the-go students or those with limited facilities (a kettle in their bedroom is all they’ll need!). Brew up a perfect filtered coffee in under two minutes from start to finish, with easy clean up afterwards, too.

Flying Tiger Tumbler, £8

Staying hydrated is important on busy and long study days around campus. Taking your own drink saves a LOT of cash, compared to buying coffees or cold drinks when you want them. This affordable tumbler is heavy enough to not topple but not too heavy to carry, while the narrow base means it fits easily into cup holders. It’s a huge 1.2 litres, providing all-day hydration, keeping drinks ice cold or nice and hot for many hours. Available in various colours and patterns, there’s one to suit every style.

Hokan Bowls – From £25

Hokan Bowls are a ceramic multipurpose dish which can be used in the oven, microwave, and grill. The lids match every size, while the bowls are all stackable. They make a great alternative to tupperware pots for leftovers, too!

Night Lark Coverless Duvets, from £45

Night Lark Coverless Duvets are a firm favourite of the MoneyMagpie team. They are light yet warm, feeling like you’re wrapped in a cloud. With loads of designs to choose from, there’s bound to be one that suits a student’s aesthetic. Some come with pillow cases too, while others are Sherpa-lined throws for extra comfort on cold nights. They’re machine washable and dry quickly, too.

Big Bertha Original Highback Bean Bag Chair – £160 (currently from £69.90)

Turning any drab student room into a cosy nest, the Big Berta Highback Bean Bag Chair makes a great gift that they’ll use for their whole degree. Available in a multitude of colours and choice of material, the fabric is treated with a stain resistant coating, seams are double stitched incorporates a safety lock zip to prevent child access to the fillings.

Ultenic T20 Robot Vacuum and Mop, £305.99

The Ultenic T20 Robot Vacuum and Mop will help any student keep their living space clean and tidy with zero effort. Make sure you get housing deposits back at the end of the year by scheduling regular cleaning, and the smart mapping makes it easy to indicate which areas should – and shouldn’t – be mopped.

Levoit Fan – From £89.99

Levoit is a reliable brand with a reputation for silent and efficient fans. Their latest range of fans are guaranteed to keep any student room cool during the summer heat. Our particular favourites are the Silent Tower Fan and the Silent Pedestal Fan, both operate at 20db and include a sleep mode for dynamic cooling throughout the night.

Black & Decker Heated Airer Bundle, from £139.98

Laundry is the bane of any student’s life, especially when it means waiting hours to use an ancient tumble dryer. A heated airer is really cheap to run and dries clothes fast even in damp winter weather. In fact, it’s also a great way to provide some extra heat to a small student room while clothes are drying, too! This one at Robert Dyas by Black & Decker comes with a cover for faster drying, and fits in most rooms with loads of coverage to dry plenty of clothes or bed linens at once.

Meaco Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier, £189.99

A two-for-one gadget, the Meaco Dehumidifier and Air Purifier is perfect for student housing, which can have a tendency to be both dusty and damp. Keep your student healthy by sending them to university with this multifunctional gadget, which is whisper-quiet, cheap to run, and will considerably improve their living environment.

Technology

ESR MagMouse, £39.99

A lightweight and ergonomic wireless mouse with a bit of a difference: this mouse is hard to lose on your travels around campus, as the magnetic plate sticks to your laptop or any other device and lets you store the mouse securely with your computer. You’ll never lose – or forget – your mouse again! It also charges from your laptop with a built-in tucked-away cable, so you don’t need to carry extra cables or worry about the battery running out mid-lecture.

Boox Note Air 4C, €549.99

An incredibly versatile Android-powered e-ink tablet, perfect for taking notes in class, drawing sketches, and annotating texts, the Boox Air Note 4C is the latest colour e-ink paper-style tablet on the market. It’s portable and light, easy to convert handwriting to text, and has a wide range of colours making it perfect for students marking up revision texts or drawing for design-based courses. It comes with a magnetic case for protection and a pencil with extra tips.

Logitech Casa Pop-Up Desk, £179.99

A take-anywhere workstation in a notebook size, the Logitech Casa Pop-Up Desk includes a trackpad, wireless keyboard, and a case that turns into a laptop stand. It fits in any backpack alongside your laptop, making it perfect to take to lectures and study groups, as well as set up on your desk in halls. Available in several colours, it’s a sturdy solution to creating an ergonomic workstation wherever you sit.

Tribit StormBox Blast 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, £279.99

This Tribit Bluetooth speaker has a huge sound, and is perfect to listen to your favourite music anywhere – while the karaoke function makes it a perfect addition to house parties!

Panasonic Technics AZ100 Earbuds – From £259.99

For noise-cancelling earbud heaven, the Panasonic Technics AZ100 create a perfect environment for true study focus, even in noisy places. With accurate bass, low distortion and advanced noise reduction, they can connect to three devices at a time, making it easy to take phone calls while working from your laptop.

Jorvik Tricycles Electric Tricycle, from £1959

For students who need to get around a big campus, travel across town to lectures, or simply want independent travel without the running costs of a car, a Jorvik Electric Tricycle is ideal. The power assist from the battery makes even long and hilly rides easy, while the stable base means even those with limited mobilty can ride safely. The luggage rack and basket make it easy to carry books and equipment to and from lectures with ease, too. Read our editor’s full product test review for more details.

Clothing and Accessories

Heavenly Feet Slippers, £16.95

A pair of Heavenly Feet Fireside slippers are affordable AND comfortable. They’re perfect for students walking around halls, or who are reluctant to put the heating on too early in winter. At just £16.95, they’re a great price for the high quality, and it’s like walking on a cloud.

Gomatic Phone Wallet – From £40

The slimline Gomatic MagSafe Phone Wallet is slimline and attaches to any magnetic phone case or phone. It’s a great way to reduce the amount of bumpf students have to carry with them, with space for their cards and ID easily attached to the phone, slim enough that it will still slip into any pocket.

Gomatic Travel Pack – From £259

Another of Gomatic’s high-quality, lifetime-warranty products, the Travel Pack comes in both 14L and 20L size, with expandable pockets to carry extra. It’s perfect for students who have to carry a lot of kit, including a separate laptop pouch in the 20L version. The expansion zips take the 14L to a 21L capacity, or from a 20L to 30L capacity. This makes it an ideal pack both for commuting to and from lectures but also for quick weekend trips home, in either size. It is also carry-on approved, meaning it will fit under the seat on most airlines (always check before you fly as airlines may change their sizes at any time). What makes the Travel Pack different from most backpacks is the way it opens: the full perimeter zip allows easy access, without the need to rummage top-down. It also has a side handle, making it super easy to switch from backpack to briefcase carry style, and a luggage sleeve to go over suitcase handles when students are travelling on their holidays or back home for reading week. (If you want the full set, check out our Gomatic Luggage In-Depth Review here).

Merrell Moab Speed Shoes – RRP £125

The Merrell Moab Speed 2 Hiking Shoe is perfect for students who walk everywhere to save money on travel. Comfortable, supportive, and stylish these are perfect shoes for everyday wear. They come in three colour-ways and sizes 2.5 to 8.5 UK.

Subscriptions

Readly Subscription, from FREE

Access to thousands of newspaper and magazine titles, including back issue archives, a Readly subscription is useful for so many students. Claim two months free with our exclusive link, and if you enjoy it then when the trial ends it is £12.99 a month, which you can cancel any time.

75-Day FREE TRIAL with BookBeat

BookBeat is a brilliant service for anyone who loves reading but prefers to get their stories via audiobook. A streaming service for audiobooks, it usually costs £6.99 a 20 hours. £10.99 for 40 hours, or £17.99 for 100 hours a month – but you can get 40 hours to try for free with a trial before signing up. Make sure you click this BookBeat link and use the code TRY75 to claim a 75-day (40 hour) free trial, instead of the usual 30 free days. Cancel anytime.

TOTUM Card, from £14.99

The TOTUM card is what some of us might remember as the NUS card from days of old. It’s now available to a wider number of people including part-time students, adult learners, and even non-students who are part of a union or trade organisation. This card can save hundreds of pounds a year, from a free Tastcard subscription for cheap food to huge discounts on technology like Apple. It costs £14.99 for a year, £20.99 for two, or £24.99 for three years. For under-30s, it includes international student discounts with an ISIC card, also.

Six Months Amazon Prime, Free

Amazon Prime includes free next-day delivery, Amazon Music, Amazon Books, Prime Video, free trials of Kindle Unlimited and Audible, and so much more. Students can claim six months free with an education (‘.ac.uk’) email address. But you can easily send gift cards to count towards their membership or purchases, helping keep their costs down while giving practical help with a card rather than cash which can be spent anywhere.

Bird and Blend Tea Subscription, £9

Bird and Blend have a huge range of teas, and a tea subscription is just £9 a month (plus p&p) for 30 cups of tea, allowing you to try lots of different flavours throughout the year.