The small Co-op supermarket on campus told the story of university Freshers drop-off day perfectly. Emotionally ragged parents paced silently behind eye-rolling teens; everyone bracing themselves for the final goodbye. I watched mums sneak vegetables into student shopping baskets and dads make distracting jokes. Everyone was tense, bracing for the end-of-childhood hug before the dreaded long drive home.
Drop-off is different for everyone, but elements of the above are common themes. It’s a bittersweet moment. I should know: as a mother of four, I’ve now done it three times. I’m also a parenting journalist specialising in adolescents, which means that over the years I have picked up some wisdom on how to make this time as seamless, and hopefully painless, as possible.
According to UCAS admissions data, this autumn there will be around a quarter of a million new students being dropped off at university; a record-breaking number, which means there will be just as many anxious parents lingering around halls on move-in day.
Looking back on our family journey, my kids are now aged 15, 19, 22 and 24; here’s what I have learned about this difficult transition. Don’t make the mistakes we made.
