31 really useful websites for students

by Jess Aszkenasy in Extra Guides, Lifestyle

Updated by Tom Allingham
12 October 2020

University can be stressful. Trust us, we've been there. But adapting to uni life is a lot easier if you know where to look for help with budgeting, mental health support and Harvard referencing...

Credit: (Background) Rawpixel, (Foreground) Deboraht Suarez – Shutterstock

Being a student can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a lot to deal with. Making new friends, finding your way around Turnitin and avoiding basic money mistakes... the struggle is real.

Try not to get too bogged down in the details though. After all, university is what you make of it. If you know where to go to get cheap food, help with essays and career support, you can't go too far wrong – and that's where these websites come in!

If your Maintenance Loan isn't quite stretching far enough, check whether you're eligible for any of these grants and bursaries.

Best websites for university students

Here are the best and most useful websites for students:

Approved Food

Best for: Cheap food

Approved Food is an online food retailer stocking products that are nearly (or already) past their best before date, but are still perfectly edible. Great for cheap dinners and healthy meals on a budget.

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Camelcamelcamel

Best for: Amazon price tracking

This Amazon price tracker is essential for buying electronics and books online. Camelcamelcamel is one of our top Amazon hacks, as it monitors products on the site and alerts you when prices drop to help you get the best deal.

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Cite This For Me

Best for: Harvard referencing

Imagine if there was a Harvard referencing website that could do your bibliography for you? Well, there is (almost), and it's undoubtedly one of the most useful websites for students!

Simply enter your source into Cite This For Me then copy and paste the end product. You're welcome.

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Citizens Advice Bureau

Best for: Legal advice

Is your landlord trying to avoid giving you your deposit back?

With a helpline and offices located all around the country, the Citizens Advice Bureau is a great port of call for any legal issues that may occur during your time at university – regardless of whether or not concerns are related to accommodation, finance or your consumer rights.

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Cold Turkey

Best for: Staying off social media

Cold Turkey isn't strictly a website, but it'll certainly help you make better use of the other sites on this list.

Download the application and it'll block you from accessing any websites you're keen to avoid while you're trying to work – perfect if you want to be more productive or if you need to write an essay in a day...

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Diversifying

Best for: Jobs for students from ethnic minority backgrounds

Diversifying is a search engine which includes job listings from companies who are keen to recruit people of different backgrounds and abilities.

It's not as extensive as other popular search engines, but it has some interesting listings from the charity sector and public organisations.

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There's also a whole world of funding out there for students from ethnic minorities.
Edx

Best for: Online courses

EdX is an enormous open online course provider, including some which are completely free of charge. It hosts courses on an array of disciplines at university-level – great for learning new skills to add to your CV!

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Ethical Superstore

Best for: Environmentally friendly household products and food

This is a great option for topping up on household essentials like loo roll, laundry detergent and binbags.

The Ethical Superstore is basically an eco-friendly online-only Tesco, and carries food, drink, health and beauty products and even clothes, just like a regular supermarket. Perfect if you're trying to use less plastic without changing your whole lifestyle.

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Freecycle

Best for: Free furniture

Looking for furniture for your uni room? Freecycle is filled with people advertising household items and old furniture they no longer use but don't want to see thrown into a landfill. And, you guessed it, all for free!

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Google Scholar

Best for: Academic texts

Google Scholar is a search engine for academic texts across a wide variety of topics. Some texts are included in their entirety and some are just partially included (especially books), but it's a great website for making your bibliography better.

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Graduate Recruitment Bureau

Best for: Placing graduates in jobs after uni

The Graduate Recruitment Bureau (GRB) is a graduate recruitment consultancy that connects students with graduate recruiters, SMEs and start-ups who are looking for candidates for full-time graduate jobs, graduates schemes, placement years and internships.

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Grammarly

Best for: Checking your spelling

Grammarly is an excellent spelling and grammar checker that you can install into your browser. No more typos in those essays!

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Gutenberg Project

Best for: Free e-Books of old texts

Project Gutenberg is an eBook library for free texts and books whose copyright has expired. Great for coursework, projects and making your essays better, and an especially useful website for students on social sciences or humanities courses.

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Hive

Best for: Not buying books on Amazon

For students worried about the ethical implications of making purchases on Amazon, Hive is a great alternative for books. It sells books from independent bookshops around the UK and gives a percentage of the profits back to them.

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Idealo

Best for: Price comparison

Similar to Camelcamelcamel, Idealo is a price comparison website for anything from smartphones to cheap flights. A great research tool for bigger purchases.

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JSTOR

Best for: Academic journals

A go-to for back-issues and current issues of academic journals, books and other primary sources for your essay needs!

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Milkround

Best for: Graduate jobs and internships

A job search engine (not a recruitment agency) specialising in positions, internships and placements for graduates.

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Mind

Best for: Support for your mental health

One of the UK's biggest mental health charities, Mind is a great place to turn to if you or one of your mates are struggling with any mental health issues. The charity also has a helpline if you're in need of more immediate assistance.

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Muslim Youth Helpline

Best for: Faith and culturally sensitive support

A charity providing help and support for young people of the Muslim faith. The helpline service is open seven days a week, 365 days a year (including bank holidays and Eid). Email and webchat services are also available.

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National Debt Line

Best for: Debt advice

The National Debtline is there to help people struggling with debt. You can get in touch with them by email, webchat or phone. The website provides fact sheets on how to recover from debt, settlements and court proceedings.

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Quidco

Best for: Cashback

Quidco is one of the UK's most popular cashback sites, offering money back on everything from flights to broadband contracts, and even purchases on eBay.

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Save the Student

Best for: #Lit student money advice

Time for some shameless self-promotion! Check out our guides on the best student bank accounts, how to meal plan, how to budget and how to make money at the drop of a hat!

More amazing resources »
Sexual Health London

Best for: Sexual health resources for London-based students

Working in partnership with the NHS, Sexual Health London provides free STI tests delivered to your house (if you live in London) and sexual health resources for Londoners.

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SH24

Best for: Sexual health resources

SH24 provides free STI testing, diagnosis and treatment, oral contraception, the morning after pill and remote clinical support for people across the UK (with the exception of a few regions).

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StepChange

Best for: Advice about debt management

StepChange is a debt charity offering free expert advice on debt and debt management (great if you're struggling with payday loans, for example).

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Student Minds

Best for: Uni mental health support

It's not a helpline, but Student Minds runs student-led support groups at various UK universities.

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TED Talks

Best for: Getting motivated

Videos of talks by experts from all over the world that will leave you feeling motivated (and that double up as a 'useful' way to procrastinate!). A very useful website if you're looking to increase your productivity.

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Thesaurus.com

Best for: Getting full marks for 'writing style'

As long as you don't go full 'Joey from Friends' and run every single word through the thesaurus, this website will be an absolute godsend when you're writing an essay.

There are usually extra marks on offer for coherent, grammatically accurate writing, so describing trends as something other than 'interesting' or 'surprising' could be what helps you get a first!

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The Ultimate Health Food Guide

Best for: Knowing the best food to eat when you're sick

A product of BuyAGift, this is basically a table of what to eat and drink when you're tired, for migraines, for concentration, for constipation... Especially useful when nursing a hangover!

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TopCashback

Best for: Cashback

Alongside Quidco, TopCashback is the other leading UK cashback website. Look out for their Free Cashback feature for completing simple online tasks.

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Young Stonewall

Best for: LGBTQ support

An LGBTQ charity for young people, Stonewall provides information on coming out, health and wellbeing, plus LGBTQ support and community groups in your area.

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