Places like Albert Dock in Liverpool, and Newcastle’s Quayside, actually restore the areas to more like what they were in the 18th Century, with small marinas, landscaped river dwellings and cottage industries – today it might be cyber cafes and print shops rather than cordwainers and wheelwrights, but the air’s cleaner and the water a lot clearer now.Call-centres, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and financial services are the main expansion areas of the North of the late Nineties, opening up great opportunities for students.The growth of tourism throughout the region means that catering and other service industries are still expanding – good news for the ever-increasing number of students who have to work during term to survive.Entertainment of all sorts, including live music and other performing arts, is where the North probably scores higher than any other region. The darker days of industrial decline that hit their lowest point in the mid-Eighties are largely over. The once-desolate and mothballed ship-building areas on Merseyside, Teeside, Wearside and Tyneside have all been transformed and are now good to look at, pleasant to live in, and boast plenty of new businesses to make talk of a revival a reality. This isn’t geography, but demographics.Much of the North became prosperous on the back of its industrial success. Indeed, not a few of its seats of learning owe their foundation and later expansion to it. The biggest culture shock is more likely to be the difference between living in a small- or medium- sized commuter town or village, and moving to an area of urban sprawl where perhaps 30,000 students swell the local population in term time. Most students in the North come from the region originally, and there seems to be as much of a psychological barrier preventing them going South as there is in the opposite direction.But remember it’s not really much of a leap.

Sheffield’s Interchange – formerly known as Pond Street Bus Station – is a largely successful attempt to make it easier and pleasanter to use public transport to reach all the city’s areas.The North-South divide still holds, and living and studying in the North can seem a big step if you think south of Watford is where civilisation and sophistication begin. Newcastle’s metro service – with trains every five minutes from the student areas of Heaton and Jesmond to the city centre and both universities – is cleaner, quicker and a lot cheaper than London’s tube. While travelling cross-country has never been quite so convenient (you can end up having to change once or even twice to get from the North-west to the North-east), links from the Midlands in either direction are frequent and quick.At the region’s other corner Liverpool is two-and-a-quarter hours from London, 45 minutes from Manchester, and two hours from Leeds.National Express has good – and cheaper, though slower – links North to South and cross-country.All the major cities in the North have good public transport from the surrounding suburbs. GNER runs one of the few jewels that remained in the old British Rail crown, and the fast rail service from Edinburgh to London still stops at Newcastle, Durham, and York Newcastle to London is 21/2 hours on the fastest trains. There are deserted swathes of moorland in Yorkshire and Lancashire, empty beaches (even on the hottest June days) in north Northumberland, and the highest points in England in the Lake District.
You can enjoy more crowded days off in some of the UK’s traditional holiday spots, such as Blackpool (in easy reach of Manchester), Southport, Whitley Bay (a thriving club and pub scene on weekends, just 15 minutes by train from Newcastle) – and Scarborough is close to York and Leeds.Transport links with the rest of the UK are probably best in the North- east. Each of those cities has two universities, an FE college or two and specialist colleges for postgraduates or vocational qualifications.

And with the Lake District, Northumbria, the Yorkshire Dales and the Pennines practically on your doorstep wherever you are, it’s not hard to get away from the urban theme at weekends. Even smaller places – Warrington, Bolton, Lancaster, Chester, Sunderland, Durham – are no more than 15 or 20 miles at the very most from one, if not two, of the huge student cities of Newcastle, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester. As any northerner – as well as those who have lived and studied there – will tell you, life is best north of the Watford Gap.. If you choose one of the northern universities or colleges, you won’t ever feel far from a student culture. Not to mention the world-class academic facilities available to budding students. Indeed, wherever you are, you are never more than a few miles from the most glorious scenery.The lower cost of living in the North means that your cash goes further, so students can afford to be students and enjoy themselves even more.

Especially as the majority of people that make up the cities and communities of the North are richer in heart and soul than many give credit for.So, for all those who still believe it, it is NOT grim up north! This supplement will introduce you to the intense variety of culture, sport and leisure pursuits, job opportunities, and entertainments in the north of England. The Lake District is a mecca for those wanting to escape the rigours of city life and lose themselves in natural beauty. They are home to some of the most innovative contemporary music, theatre, arts and nightlife – and the atmosphere, night and day, will ensure that you are never tired of life as a student.Outside the major cities, the likes of Chester, Bradford, Lancaster, York, and others, offer strong communities, friendly environments, and easy access to all parts of the region.The North boasts some of the most stunning scenery in Britain. For the north of England matches and often surpasses anything the rest of the country can provide in terms of quality and enjoyment of life. The region is home to some of the greatest universities and colleges in the country, offering the widest variety of courses to the widest variety of student.
The cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle offer students a vibrant and energetic culture. Substitutes not used: Haaland, Robinson (gk), Hiden.Referee: A Wiley (Staffs)..