11 Apps Students Shouldn’t Live Without
Navigating student life can be a challenge when you have to juggle deadlines, manage your finances and make important decisions about your future.
Whether you’re looking to make your money stretch that little bit further or organise your time more effectively, there are plenty of apps available to help you throughout your time at university.
To save you time and hassle, we’ve whittled these down to a list of 11 must-have apps that are completely free to download.
11 must-have apps
Mo
More than £20 billion is loaned to students each year[1]. Mo gives students access to grants and scholarships to help them pay for tuition fees and living expenses. To date, Mo has matched students with over £3 billion worth of funding options. Competitive university accommodation rates and job opportunities can also be accessed through the app.
Stocard
Say goodbye to plastic loyalty cards. When you download Stocard, you can add all your cards to the app in seconds so that you never miss out when you’re on the go. The app allows you to collect reward points, pay contactless for purchases and discover exclusive offers.
Latest Deals
This discount app allows users to browse deals from top UK retailers such as Amazon, eBay and Argos and compare prices in seconds. Latest Deals also boasts a newly developed Supermarket Price Comparison Tool, so you can save on your food shop too.
You can even share voucher codes from the app with friends and family via Facebook, WhatsApp or Twitter.
Splitwise
Ease the pain of splitting bills through Splitwise. The app is an easy way to share expenses with your housemates and allows you to stop stressing about who owes who. You can create reoccurring bills, add multiple payers on a single expense and set reminder emails to help you all stay on track with paying your share.
Monzo
Challenger bank Monzo now has over four million users. The digital bank allows you to categorise spending so that you can see how much that morning coffee hit or random impulse purchase is affecting your finances.
You can also save money instantly with in-built pots. There’s flexibility too – you can lock money away until a fixed date or have the option to move it back into your available balance if needed.
Evernote
Evernote allows you to sync your notes across all your devices, meaning you can type on your tablet or phone and then access all your lecture notes on your laptop when writing your essay.
If you prefer to handwrite your notes, don’t fret. Evernote lets you take photos of your written notes and upload them to the app. You can even share your notes with other Evernote users, so it’s great for group study sessions and catching up with your peers if you miss a lecture.
Any.do
Do you love ticking tasks off a to-do list? Download Any.do which is designed to make large projects more manageable. Any-do offers reminders, and list sharing and lets you assign tasks to different people which is great for university group assignments.
BigOven
Research shows that young people aged 18 to 34 waste proportionally more food than other age groups. Avoid this by downloading BigOven, the app designed to transform leftovers into a tasty treat. With the Use up Leftovers feature, discover recipes with the ingredients you already have in the house. BigOven can also help you with meal planning which is a great way to save money on your food shopping.
UNiDAYS
Get instant access to discounts from your favourite brands via UNiDAYS. The student app makes it easy to save money whether you’re shopping online or on the high street. You can sign up to push notifications too so that you never miss out on deals from your favourite brands.
Microsoft Office
The Office app combines Word, Excel and PowerPoint to create a one-stop experience for ease of working wherever you happen to be. Microsoft Office allows you to easily transfer files between your phone and computer, sign documents, jot down ideas and scan QR codes to open links.
Thrive
Thrive, which is NHS-approved, prevents and manages stress to boost mental well-being through simple techniques. Student life can be demanding, so having this tool in the palm of your hand can help you alleviate stress or simply be used to build up your resilience during your time at university.
Other student apps?
Several alternative applications are available for students, with some being similar to the ones mentioned above. To optimize your experience with these apps, it is advisable to conduct research and determine which ones align best with your requirements and the demands of your course.
[1] Student loan statistics, House of Commons Library. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01079/. As of March 2023