50 Gift Ideas For Students Starting University
Struggling to come up with a gift for a future uni student? Check out our top gifts for university students!
If you have a friend or family member who is starting their first year of university, you might be thinking of giving them a gift to help them celebrate the exciting time in their life. Gifts for university students can be tricky to think of, but no worries as we’ve got that covered.
Students will need household, kitchen and other useful items that they may not have thought of before, so there are plenty of gift ideas for students that you can look into getting for them.
If you’re trying to think up the perfect gift for university students, here are 50 gifts suitable for all budgets that they’ll not only love but are also super practical too!
In this guide:
Gifts for university students
1. Desk Lamp
A desk lamp is the gift that every student needs that they don’t really realise they need until they get to university.
Most halls or student houses won’t have the best lighting, and a desk lamp can be helpful for late-night study sessions, reading, or just watching Netflix in bed. If you’re looking for gifts for university students, a cute desk lamp can add a little personality to the room and brighten up those awful beige walls.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
2. Prime for students
Students will probably rely on Amazon Prime A LOT. You can find a bunch of things for super cheap on Amazon and by having Prime it means getting next-day delivery and some really good deals too. Save them the hassle and sign them up yourself.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
3. Amazon Echo
An Amazon Echo will be a student’s best friend. You can ask Alexa do to pretty much anything nowadays, from finding out the weather, booking an Uber or setting important reminders. Not only is an Amazon Echo a great speaker, but it’s also pretty handy to help out with anything else that a student is too lazy to Google.
Hey Alexa: Write my assignment for me…
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
4. Spotify subscription
There’s nothing worse than putting on a playlist at pre-drinks only to be faced with having to listen to ads. A Spotify subscription will mean ad-free and endless music, whether it’s to listen to while you’re studying, in the gym, or going out.
Music subscriptions make for great gifts for university students because although it’s not a huge cost, a little help goes a long way and it’s one less thing they have to worry about paying.
5. Photo frames
If you have a friend or family member going to uni and you don’t want them to forget you, a fun and inexpensive gift is a photo frame with a special picture of the two of you. This way they’ll have a piece of home at uni and will be able to look back on the memories too.
Get a student discount at Oliver Bonas
6. Apple MacBook
If you have a higher budget, gifting someone a MacBook for university is a gift they’ll really appreciate.
With lots of uni lectures being stored online, having a good laptop is essential and using your Student Beans account means you can get a discount on the perfect MacBook for uni.
Of course, you don’t have to fork out on the latest Macbook, we’ve got the best laptops under £300 that make great gifts for university students. If they’re a gamer and love playing the Sims, we’ve got the best laptops for Sims 4, too.
Get a student discount at Apple
7. Alarm clock
Ok, so this is probably essential to all students. Getting up at 9 am can be very difficult, especially when no one is forcing you to go to your lectures. An alarm clock is a gift you can’t go wrong with, especially one that projects the time onto the ceiling so they really can’t forget or have an excuse for missing that lecture.
While most phones have an alarm clock anyway, buying a physical clock will be better for them – hopefully reducing their screen time (at least in the mornings and nights).
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
8. Fitbit
Getting fit might not be on everybody’s mind when they start university, but a Fitbit or smartwatch may encourage them to be a little more active. Especially useful during Freshers.
Whether they decide to go to the gym or just increase their daily steps, a Fitbit makes for a practical gift for a university student. For students who want to track their stats, walk more, or access other health tools such as tracking food and water intake or sleep, a Fitbit can do all of that and more.
Get a student discount at Fitbit
9. Planner
A planner is a gift you can’t go wrong with. Sweet and simple.
Uni life can be hard to balance with a social life, and if you know someone who constantly likes to balance multiple hobbies and interests on the go, a planner is a great way to get organised and see exactly what’s happening on each day. Plus, it makes sure they schedule in some home visits to see you, too.
Get a student discount at Papier
10. Dinner set
Practical gifts for university students will never disappoint.
Many students probably forget the essentials, like more than one clean fork and plate. Gifting them a proper dinner set means they’ll be able to whip up dinners without having to worry that their one plate is dirty.
A cute and colourful set like this one from Amazon is sure to go down a treat and it’ll brighten up any drab student kitchen. The best thing is that it’s a set of 16 pieces – ideal for when friends and family come to visit them in their new humble abode.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
11. Bath Mat
Bath mats may not be the most exciting gifts for university students, but they will thank you for it.
Have you seen the state of some uni room bathrooms? A bright and cheery bath mat will add some vibrancy to dull bathrooms, as well as provide a safe landing for getting out of the shower. You don’t want to start the new uni year with a concussion from slipping.
There’s a huge variety of bath mats to suit your uni pal, but we love this one from Oliver Bonas – a cute way to add character to a bland space.
Get a student discount at Oliver Bonas
12. LED Lights
For that aesthetically pleasing lighting and great selfie-taking. LED lights can literally transform a room and can be useful for sleeping, or just for setting the mood in a room. May not be the best to study under, but at least the room will be vibey.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
13. Bottle Opener
It’s only right to assume that uni students spend a lot of their time drinking beer or cider or other alcohol that might come in a bottle that’s difficult to open.
A bottle opener might not have been on the top of the list of things to pack to take to university (in fact, it’s one of the three things we know students forget to bring to uni) but it’s certainly one that’s going to be needed and will come in handy.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
14. Mugs
You can never have too many mugs.
Mugs are super popular gifts for university students — whether it’s for your morning cuppa, a study-sesh caffeine kick, or to hold your cup of soup in, mugs are extremely versatile and a welcomed gift for almost anyone.
Uni socialising involves a lot of sitting in each other’s rooms or communal kitchens having a little gossip or debrief after the night before. A cute mug will bring a smile to their hungover faces and it will probably be used a lot.
Get a student discount at Typo
15. Stationary gifts for university students —Highlighters
Highlighters are the popular kids of any pencil case.
A mega highlighter set will come in useful throughout every year of university. Highlighter pens are great for studying or just for highlighting what’s important during a lecture, so this mega set should last a while without drying out.
Plus, who could resist making their work pretty with all the colours?
Get a student discount at Typo
16. Tea towels
Kitchen gifts for university students are always going to be welcomed. Even better if you could gift them their own personal chef.
Save their precious hands by giving them tea towels that not only will dry their hands, but act as oven gloves, too. Because let’s be real, oven gloves are a pain and I don’t know how anyone uses them correctly.
As a student, they probably won’t want to be sharing tea towels with their flatmates, so gifting them to someone is a great idea, especially as they probably would’ve forgotten to get their own.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
17. Sliders
University halls and shared spaces can be filthy. We’re talking night-club-sticky-floor filthy. Gross.
A pair of slippers or sliders will go down a treat. Avoid stepping in something suspicious with a solid pair of sliders that they’ll appreciate – especially for nipping outside to take the bins out.
Get a student discount at ASOS
18. Dressing gown
Student housing can get cold!
Any gifts for university students that will help them deal with the cold is a godsend.
A dressing gown is a great gift to help keep someone warm and cosy through the winter months, especially if the heating in halls isn’t as great as it should be. It will also provide some comfort for them, they can wrap themselves in the dressing gown and thank you for it.
Get a student discount at NEXT
19. Blender
For making smoothies, milkshakes, protein shakes and just about anything else you can think of that you can stick into a blender. Like we said, kitchen gifts for university students are great. They’re practical, useful, and will possibly save them during times of need.
Make soups in the autumn and smoothies in the winter — they’ll love having a handy blender in their cupboard.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
20. Kindle
Uni textbooks can be expensive but are almost always cheaper on a Kindle, not to mention you can buy and download them instantly without having to search for them in the library or wait for them to arrive in the post (great for last minute deadlines).
A Kindle is a gift that will not only be practical for studying, but also just super useful throughout every year of uni. It will hopefully encourage them to read more.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
21. Laptop case
Students transport their laptops around campus all day, and just shoving it in a bag can lead to accidental drink spills and scratches — and unless you’ll fork out and buy them a new laptop, you’ll probably want to prevent any accidents.
Unfortunately, laptop repairs can be pretty pricey and way out of a student budget, so a case should hopefully prevent any accidents from happening. And they look really cute, too.
Get a student discount at Skinnydip
22. Toastie maker
Do we need to say more?
Toasties are a student STAPLE. They’re simple to make and super customisable, too. You could probably have a three-course meal with a toastie maker.
If you’re going to get any gifts for university students, a toastie maker should be high on your list.
Definitely a must for any student who’s still learning how to cook.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
23. Desk mirror
Another gift that might not be super obvious, but is super helpful. For students sharing a bathroom who want to get ready at their own desk, but don’t have a mirror in their halls.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
24. AirPods
Wired headphones can be super annoying, especially if the wires get tangled or if you’re at the gym.
AirPods mean no wires and are great for working out or for students who want to quickly switch between listening to audio on a laptop or phone. While it’s a little more on the pricey side of gifts for university students, the investment is worth it (providing they don’t lose a pod on their way to lectures).
Get a student discount at Apple
25. Water bottle
A portable water bottle is probably going to be very handy to many students, especially if they’re walking around campus all day. Most unis will have places where you can fill up your bottle across campus, and it will save having to buy a drink from the campus shop — and save on plastic, too.
Most will also keep warm drinks hot for long periods of time, so it’s a great way to save money on all those coffee shop trips.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
26. Wireless charger
Wireless charging is pretty life-changing. For students who will be on the go all day and switching around between lecture halls, the library and their uni room a wireless charger is a super practical gift and saves anyone having to awkwardly ask the lecturer if it’s ok to plug their phone into the plug socket to charge in the lecture room.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
27. Backpack
A sturdy and practical backpack is a great gift to any student. Carrying around a laptop and heavy textbooks all day means most students will probably want a decent-sized backpack that can carry everything and hold the weight of it over time.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
28. Laundry basket
Laundry is another thing that students tend to forget about doing, but it’s something that can’t be avoided.
Rather than just using a plastic bag or even the bedroom chair to keep a pile of laundry, a laundry basket is a gift that any student would be grateful for.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
29. Cushions
Uni halls normally need a proper makeover to make them feel homely, so cushions are a good way to brighten up the place and make the bed just that little bit comfier.
Get a student discount at Oliver Bonas
30. Blankets
Fluffy blankets can make a uni room look more homely, and can help during the colder winter months but they’re also a super cute gift idea too.
Great for lounging in their rooms or the Baltic communal kitchen — blankets are the best gifts for university students.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
31. Headspace app subscription
The app uses science-backed meditation and mindfulness tools to help you in creating habits to support your mental health and find a healthier balance. Fighting every day stress and getting you through tough times? Sounds very useful to a new uni student…
Headspace app student discount
32. Rug
Brighten up someone’s uni room with a rug to help utilise the space and make it a bit more homely.
We’re not talking a huge rug that you’d have in a semi-detached house. We mean a little rectangle of rug they can place by their room door, under the desk, or by their bed for when they get out of bed.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
33. Travel mug
Heading to uni first thing in the morning without a cup of coffee is a bad idea. A travel coffee cup is not only a way to transport coffee across campus, but it’s also more environmentally friendly and most coffee shops will give you a discount too if you bring your own mug.
34. Notepad
Uni students will always need notepads. Even though a lot of uni can be done online, notepads will always be useful for writing down notes, revising, or scribbling down passing thoughts or drawings, so no student can ever have too many.
Get a student discount at Papier
35. Overnight bag
If you’re really going to miss the person you’re buying a gift for, you’re probably going to want them to rush home to see you ASAP. So, why not gift them an overnight bag big enough to hold all of their things for when they do want to make quick trips home? Practical gifts for university students will never go a-miss.
Get a student discount at ASOS
36. Food storage boxes
Students will soon discover that it’s expensive to grab lunch from the campus or library shop every day. Food storage boxes mean students can make their food the night before and bring it to class to eat the next day, without having to worry about buying lunch on campus.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
37. Reusable straws
Plastic straws have now been banned from restaurants and cafes, and while this is great for the environment it is not so great when you’re trying to enjoy a drink through a paper straw.
Reusable straws are a gift that can just be carried around and mean not having to finish your drink in 30 seconds before your straw disintegrates anymore.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
38. Starbucks gift card
Caffeine is definitely a student’s best friend. Weekly coffee trips can add up, so a Starbucks gift card is a nice gift to anyone that you know will be relying on their morning coffee most days of the week to help them save a bit of money while they’re still learning how to budget.
39. Reed diffuser
Most halls will have rules about using or lighting candles. However, that doesn’t mean all uni rooms have to smell bad. A reed diffuser is a nice compromise to get around the candle ban and leave a student’s room smelling nice and fresh all day long. Or encourage them to put it in the communal spaces if it pongs.
40. Pencil case
There are two types of students, the one who has one pen they constantly lose and the one who has an entire pencil case. Gift them a pencil case, and maybe a selection of pens, too. So they can think about you every time they write.
Get a student discount at Skinnydip
41. Coffee table books
Coffee table books have been super popular on TikTok over the last year. They can make a room look more homely, and make a really nice gift for someone who’s concerned about how their room looks.
Even better yet, get them coffee table books that they’ll actually want to read.
Get a student discount at Skinnydip
42. Hoover
Again, a hoover is something that every uni flat needs, but not every uni student remembers to bring. To be fair, many university accommodations will have a hoover to share (usually between several flats). Opt for buying hoover gifts for university students as they’ll last the entire time (fingers crossed) and they can take it onto their post-uni adventures. I.E. moving back in with mum and dad…
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
43. Polaroid camera
Uni is a place to make memories, and what better way to remember all of those fun first-year moments than with a polaroid camera to capture them? Not to mention that polaroids look great on a bedroom wall too.
Get a student discount at Skinnydip
44. Bedside table
Uni rooms can be sparse and bare, so opt for furniture gifts for university students to help them make their space cosier.
Bedside tables, if they have the room, are great bits of extra storage — desk lamps, alarm clocks, phones can all be placed within reach.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
45. Wall tapestry
Uni halls can be pretty plain and ugly, so a tapestry is a nice way to switch up the space and make it a bit nicer looking. Just buy some command hanging strips so you don’t damage the wall with holes!
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
46. Wireless printer
Printing credits are a scam. If you know someone who’s going to uni that is probably too lazy to go to the library to print out their work, then a wireless printer for their uni room is probably going to change their life (and make them very popular with their flatmates once they discover they have a printer in their room).
Get a student discount at HP
47. Jewellery storage
For the student who has lots of nice jewellery, but nowhere to really keep or display it without it getting tangled or lost.
Get a student discount at Oliver Bonas
48. Pizza cutter
Students eat a lot of pizza, that’s just a fact. However, ordering takeaways all the time can add up, so relying on cheap frozen pizzas tends to make up a large part of the average student diet. The problem with frozen pizzas is, that they’re hard to cut up so a pizza cutter will truly be a very useful gift.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
49. Wine glasses
Students that drink wine will often drink it from anything but a wine glass, normally due to not actually owning wine glasses and resorting to mugs or cups instead. These glasses from Oliver Bonas are great quality and should last a while, providing your giftee looks after them.
50. Hardrive
Throughout uni, students will have to keep a lot of documents on their laptop and the average laptop might not have enough space to keep everything. So, gifting someone a hard drive means they won’t have to worry about running out of memory or having to delete stuff that might be important.
Get a student discount at Amazon Prime
So, hopefully, with all of those ideas, you’ll be able to find the perfect gifts for university students, starting uni this year to last them throughout every year of uni!
Gift ideas for neurodivergent students
Show your friend you really care about them by getting them a uni gift that can help with their time at uni. Neurodivergent individuals may process stuff differently, struggle with communication, or struggle to pay attention — these things may hinder their university life, so why not gift them something to help them out?
Here are some gift ideas for neurodivergent students:
- Weighted blanket — can help with anxiety and overwhelming feelings
- Noise-cancelling headphones — provides a sanctuary for individuals sensitive to sound and hopefully increases concentration/focus. Shop the best noise-cancelling headphones under £100 UK.
- Fidget tools — great for stress relief and restlessness
- Loop earplugs — choose from a variety of earplugs to suit their needs. From helping sleep and focus, to taking the edge off daily noise or music and events.
If you’re struggling with a neurodiversity at uni or know someone who is and want to learn more about it, read our guide to studying at university with different types of neurodiversity.
Frequently asked questions
What gifts to buy for university students
Gifts for university students can be tricky to think of, but a practical gift could be really useful for them.
Whether it’s a decoration for their university room, kitchen utensils, something for their new bathroom or something to help them with their course, there’s something to suit every budget.
Maybe buy them a subscription to their fave streaming platform or food box delivery, because you know how little students cook (no shade).
Or, if you’re after more meaningful gifts for university students, a necklace or watch with an engraving is a nice, personal gift. It shows them you truly care. Awww, how sweet.
Check out our what to take to university checklist to see if you can buy anything for your student friend to help out. It’s practical and they’ll be grateful for it!
What to write in a moving house card
Gifts aren’t the only thing you can give to university students. If you’re on a budget, a handwritten card is a sweet gesture.
If you’re thinking of sending someone a card to celebrate them moving into uni halls, you can be as sentimental as you want.
Going to university is a really big time in someone’s life, and it’s normal to feel emotional about it, whether you’re the one going or it’s one of your friends or family members.
Are you allowed candles in uni halls?
Candles are usually a great gift for a variety of people. Cute tealights and holders, elaborate pillar candles, scented fruit-shaped ones…it would be hard to miss when gifting candles. But, students are probably one of the only exceptions.
If your friend is moving into university accommodation like halls, candles and similar products (e.g. incense) may be on a list of prohibited items to not bring into halls. Every uni will have their own rules but generally avoid bringing candles due to the risk of fire hazard. Maybe opt for a reed diffuser instead.
Save even more cash by using Student Beans Student Discounts.
