Cost of Living

Catering and retail on campus

Catering in our outlets on campus is subsidised for students, meaning that our students benefit from good food at the lowest possible prices. You can find more information about our Catering outlets on campus and their accreditations on the Retail and Catering pages.

As part of the Northampton Bursary, eligible students can opt from their second year to receive credit in our catering outlets on campus as part of their additional support. Please note this support begins in the second year of study for eligible students due to full-time home students receiving our benefits package when they begin their studies at UON.

Every Friday afternoon our on-campus Catering outlets offer a £1 menu and share any excess food that’s available on the Too Good To Go app. We also provide free breakfast cereal in The Market every day for those who need it.

All students and staff receive a 10% discount when buying items from the catering outlets on campus, and you can also get an additional 20 pence discount when buying hot drinks and using your own reusable mug. The Market is offering students who eat in a discount on their purchases, to help them to become more sustainable.

We know that many of you like to bring in food from home to heat and eat and so we have also increased the number of microwaves available to use on campus, in locations near to The Ground and The Market, amongst others.

Pop-up Pantry on campus

In December 2023, we launched our first Pop-up Pantry on campus for students in need, we had over 270 items donated to the pantry, including donations from local charities. Five further Pop Up Pantry sessions have taken place since the first event providing support if needed during the winter months.

The Campus Pantry is always stocked with essential food and toiletry items from staff and local charity donations. Outside Pop-Up events students can access the pantry 24 hours per day, 7 days per week via our student support services teams. Grab bags of essential items are available via our Financial Guidance Team, ensuring practical support is always available when needed.

Free Sanitary products on campus

As part of the University’s efforts to help with the rising cost of living for students, we have begun our roll-out of free sanitary products on campus for students, staff and visitors to benefit from.

Free sanitary product dispensers have now been installed in the female toilets at Waterside Campus. Free sanitary products will also still be available in each of the Everyone toilets on campus, and at the Development Hub and Innovation Centre, as part of our efforts to tackle the barriers period poverty may present to our students and their learning.

We have partnered with sustainable sanitary product providers Grace and Green to include free products for our community that also fit with our sustainability commitments and pledge as a university.

Support within University Halls of Residence

Students who are living on campus can also access free hygiene products, as well as non-perishable food items, in their Halls of Residences through our Help Yourself Shelves. If you would like to find out more about this relating to a particular Hall/building, please contact our Residential Life Team or visit the Student Village Reception at Waterside Campus.