Selly Oak Court, Birmingham

The staff and amenities in these halls go above and beyond what I anticipated. Everyone is so lovely and it has such a welcoming community.

Selly Oak court is a really good place to live there’s loads of social activities put on all the time. The place has good security, which makes you feel really safe. You are further from the university than other first years but you are one Bristol road which is where most second and third years live so you get accustomed to the area better. The manager Chris is really nice and always happy to help. The court is a really tight and friendly community and I made amazing friends here. ... Read more

This was my 4th choice for accommodation at Birmingham and somehow ended up in this place. I have a few complaints and issues about this place. 1. There is currently a major construction site next to the accommodation, with my room directly overlooking it. I couldn't leave my window open, due to the noise waking me up before 8am on every weekday morning. In addition, if I ever did, black soot would form all over my window sill. Also had black mud splatter marks all up my window which was impressive considering I was on the second floor. 2. It is unsafe, it's not in the bustling area of selly oak where there are always people around, it's down a dead end where drug deals do go on. I've been asked if I wanted any drugs whilst walking down the road. In addition, been catcalled several times by males who park their vans on the pavement. Would look at police crime reports of the area too, as you're 2900% more likely to be involved in a crime whilst walking down this one street than the whole of the vale put together (I did the math). Big Johns in the corner even had somebody smoking pot inside whilst I was ordering. 3. Very expensive for what it is, it's not less than 20 minutes from the campus, even google states 23 and that is whilst expecting you to cross the very busy street with no waiting. 4. For first year students, you'll make no friends apart from those in accommodation or have great difficultly as it's literally 45 minutes away from everyone else in first year, and not only that, because of the unsafe nature of the street (Elliot Road) you can't hope to walk down that road at night alone, and a taxi is too expensive for most, so your social life does suffer immensely. 5. High amount of Asian students who don't wish to integrate at all with others, so the pool of people to make friends with in your accommodation is very limited. 6. The construction and design of the building also means that making friends is difficult, don't think about leaving any doors open to be welcoming (health and safety hazard) meaning you're stuck with the 5 in your flat. 7. If you have issues and want to leave a review, don't do it on their facebook page, where they use slightly a slightly threatening tone instead of being sympathetic to your views, which I find quite unprofessional. Only advantage would be that it would be great for somebody who never leaves their room. ... Read more

I would recommend this accommodation to any student! The grounds are lovely, the amenities such as the gym and study room were a fantastic addition to the grounds. The rooms are beautiful and very spacious, and the kitchens are lovely. This is the best accommodation I stayed at over my 3 years of University, and I would advise anyone to consider this accommodation when deciding where to live! ... Read more

Selly Oak Court is fantastic! This is my second year here, and I will be residing here for my third year also. It had newly opened when I arrived here for the first year of my undergraduate degree. This was to the extent that when I came to have a look at it in the summer before I started, it was still a building site. The benefit of this is that the facilities are new, and barely used. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, making it a pleasant stay. It has everything you need: clean and modern rooms/studios, common room, study room, TV area, gym, laundry room, garden space, and a bike shed. It is a secure complex: The area is gated, you have to use a fob to get into buildings, and there are CCTV cameras around the site. Also, when there have been reports of suspicious people in the area, then security guards have been hired overnight for periods at a time. This accommodation is a great distance from the university: around a 15-20 minute walk. The walk itself is a nice break from studying. However, if you would prefer a faster journey, then you can always hop on the train for a 1-2 minute ride to University. Likewise, within this walk, you have great shops: Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Poundland, TK Maxx, Next, and more. You also have a huge number of restaurants nearby. Overall, I highly recommend Selly Oak Court. It ticks all of the boxes for what you could possibly want during your time in Birmingham. ... Read more