With a student population of 19,000 Bournemouth is a busy student town but is quite small in comparison to a lot of cities in the UK so you won't feel completely overrun by your peers (or anyone else for that matter!). Bournemouth is a technically a town, so if you're after something a bit more exciting than a small village with all the charms of the beach, B-town is the place for you! Plus, you can usually get everywhere on foot within the town centre so there's no need for expensive public transport passes.

1. The ranking

Bournemouth University is ranked in the top five universities for Complementary Medicine and top ten for Physiotherapy courses BU’s graduate employment rates are consistently high at over 93% and BU has more students on a work placement than any other university

2. The beach

There are seven miles of sandy beaches where you can enjoy sunbathing (when the weather's good!), watersports and the all important pier. Plus, the beach huts make cute photo-opps! ‌ ‌

3. Boscombe

Boscombe is 2 miles east of the centre of Bournemouth and is a cool suburb with it's own pier that's just gone under a £2.4 million restoration, independent restaurants and awesome market packed with food stalls such as Thai Noodles, home baking and the Relentless burger van, as well as flower and jewellery traders. I've also spotted a little haunt on Instagram next to the beach called Urban Reef and the chips look ridiculously good! ‌ ‌

4. Gardens and parks

Bournemouth offers 2,000 acres of glorious gardens and parks that are perfect to explore and are great for picnics and alfresco dining. If you love the outdoors, Bournemouth is a great place for you to be!

5. The nightlife

Bournemouth University's Student Union, The Old Fire Station is a popular Fresher's venue as well as holding theme nights for loads of music genres, comedy nights and live bands. Cameo & Vinyl are also popular student clubs and there's always a cocktail to be found at Sixty Million Post Cards.

6. The location

Bournemouth is about 100 miles from London, Poole is a short bus ride away and is also home to loads of independent shops to explore and if you fancy venturing to the New Forest National Park it's only a 25 minute drive.