Here, we highlight the nine stages of first-year life – from enrolling to finding your feet.

For parents counting down the days to the start of the new term with a sense of dread, here we offer help and guidance on how to cope when your child leaves for university.

In this guide, we offer tips and advice on the steps you can take to maintain positive relationships with your university flatmates, giving you the best chance of making fast friends with those you live with.

We hope these seven tips help you tackle the exam period, achieve the best results possible and really savour that post-exam pint.

From computer whizzes such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to musicians like Lady Gaga and the founding members of Pink Floyd – opportunity can come when you least expect it.

We’ve put together a guide on making the most of a university open day, including an Open Day Planner you can download and print for use on the day.