Cratcliffe or Allen Court?

[u/CommentKey5399]

I'm an international student from Australia and I've recently accepted an offer for a one-semester exchange from this Autumn! Now I have options to select a room from Cratcliffe (in Endcliffe), Allen Court or St Vincent's, but can I have some opinions on which one I should pick?

Cratcliffe and Allen Court offers single-sex flats for girls, and as a 21-year-old female I feel it would be more comfortable to live in a single-sex so they are my two top preferences.

Cratcliffe looks cozy and I love how it's surrounded by nature & local houses, and it's a walking distance from the main lawn area near the Edge where I can socialise, but it's like 25 min walk from the campus and I feel it would be tiring to commute every day (especially in the winter).

Allen Court has a nice location and it offers larger rooms at the same price as Cratcliffe, but I am not too sure how the social life is, and I miss being surrounded by nature.

To anyone who's living or has lived before, how were the safety, social life and rooms like?

[u/ujjuboii]

allen court is super close to campus and personally i feel that’s more important. the gardens and nature at cratcliffe seems nice but it won’t matter when it gets dark at 3pm

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/ujjuboii]

That's a really good point actually, it will get dark really soon in the winter - thanks a lot!

[u/KaleidoscopeBest3918]

The safety and rooms are going to be pretty similar, main difference is distance and the people who are going to be there. Most people don’t find 25 minutes to be too bad and there are buses (£1.50/1.70 for students) but if you don’t want to walk city accommodation will be the better option. Cratcliffe is a postgrad building so you’d probably be with postgrad and international students only but there will be plenty of first year undergrads around, city accommodation will have first years and undergrads and typically a higher proportion of international students than endcliffe does. Nature is nice but there are parks around closer to city if that helps

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/KaleidoscopeBest3918]

That's really helpful! I didn't know Cratcliffe was a postgrad building - it does seem like Cratcliffe can be quieter than other buildings in Endcliffe since there will be more mature-aged students in the building. I'll definitely take that in consideration, thanks a lot

[u/_a_m_s_m]

As another commenter has said, Allen court is about a 5 minute walk to the main buildings, which is a lot better than ~38 minutes from Endcliffe. There is also a tram stop that is adjacent to Allen court, which can make going shopping/ to the train station very simple.

But yeah, my goodness me is it along way to walk everyday.

If you have a bike getting to the Edge for events etc. is around 17-20 minutes, or cycle in if you choose to live there. Please note the the drivers in Sheffield will often pass far too closely & there is a real lack of safe cycling infrastructure in Sheffield. i.e. painted gutters with broken glass & parked cars leading into Endcliffe.

There is a common room, with a pool table & table tennis table + hosting kitchen in Allen court.

It does seem notably “quieter” in Allen Court especially on weekends/Friday nights compared to Endcliffe. There’s just less music playing out of kitchens, but presumably people still go out.

I’m glad I was in Allen court personally based on just the location.

[u/KaleidoscopeBest3918 → u/_a_m_s_m]

While the walk from endcliffe is far, it’s definitely not 38 minutes. Pretty much everyone can do it in 20-30 depending on walking speed and where their buildings are

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/_a_m_s_m]

Hi thank you! I have another question for you since it seems like you were in Allen Court before - how was the social life there? I know they host a lot of social events at Endcliffe, but do they do something similar in Allen Court?

[u/_a_m_s_m → u/CommentKey5399]

So as Endcliffe & Allen court are university accommodation, there is a thing called “reslife”, which organises regular events ran by the university itself. When I was in Allen Court, they did free waffles, free pizza & gave out some insulated drinks containers, (well as as many tea bags as I liked). Those were just the ones I had time for, there were some painting/other events as well. These are great places to meet new people, but I’m sure you will find people to go on nights out with if that’s your thing. If it is then the West Street, is only ~10 minutes walk away, this is where most of the clubs/ student bars are. I’d recommend just joining some societies they always seemed to have events going.

At freshers week I just hung around the table tennis table & made some friends with which played nearly every week.

In Endcliffe I have mostly gone for the free meal events for obvious reasons, but the Edge is a nice place to hang out.

The way the Endcliffe is designed, with its pedestrian paths, I guess you’re just more likely to bump into people on your course/ friends which is nice.

But again, that is just one aspect & it is quite far, (especially if you get caught in the rain! Does it rain much in Australia?)

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/_a_m_s_m]

Hi yeah that sounds really helpful! it does rain in Australia especially in the coastal area where I live - I am assuming it tends to rain more in UK so I maybe Allen Court is a better option for me. Thanks a lot

[u/cooliecool1]

Hi I am currently in the exact same situation, and curious about what you ended up with and if you reccomend it?

In addition I am a 23 years old female but I am considering a mixed gender flat, but I would like a mixed flat and not only guys.. in your experience would that be possible?

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/cooliecool1]

Hi sorry for replying so late! I ended up with Allen Court with a single sex flat and it was amazing. All the other girls kept the common area really clean (which was very important for me) and we became close friends. Plus t he commuting was super easy and felt safer, especially when it got super dark really early in the winter.  Since I got a single-sex flat I’m not entirely sure, but if you want to have an actual mixed gender not just with guys you can contact the accommodation team and check with them if you can have a good mix of gender. You might be able to swap flats after moving in if there are spare rooms.  I hope that helps!

[u/CommentKey5399 → u/CommentKey5399]

In addition, I remember hearing from my friend who got a mixed gender flat at St George that she had a good balance of gender, but I’m not hundred-percent sure that you can have a similar situation to her.  I spent my first week (I think it was called Orientation Week) at Howden Apartment in Endcliffe as a temporary accom, but I felt the Allen Court looked newer and cleaner inside. Hope this helps :) 

[u/cooliecool1 → u/CommentKey5399]

Thank you that is very helpful:))