15 amazing Gifts for Students

A shiny new laptop tops our list as the ultimate student gift.

Laptops vary in price, but even at the lower end of the spectrum, you are still looking at spending in the hundreds, making this the most expensive item on the list. With that said, however, it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to find a decent laptop which more than meets the needs of the average student!

It would take an entire article of its own to get into which laptops best meet specific needs and which are the best at certain price ranges, so we’ll leave the research and shopping up to you. However, if your budget allows, we strongly recommend the brilliant Microsoft Surface Go. 

Not technically a laptop, the 2-in-1 Surface Go is a powerful tablet that doubles up as a laptop when combined with a Surface Signature Keyboard (Keyboard not included as standard). With such versatility, it’s just as easy to sit at a desk and type up an essay as it is to takes notes in a classroom – making the Surface Go the perfect companion for a student. 

Don’t be fooled by the word ‘tablet’. These are true 2-in-1’s, capable of doing everything that a laptop can do. And while the base model doesn’t boast the most impressive internal spec, it will easily handle the daily demands of student life (writing, taking notes, surfing the web, watching Netflix) and then some! 

Bear in mind, though, that if his area of study requires the running of memory-intensive software (think design, video editing, or computing), then you’ll need to consider the Surface Go’s more powerful sibling – the Surface Pro.

Students may think they are very busy – I know I did! But then you graduate and get a job that demands far more from you than the standard 9 – 5, and you realise just how much free time you actually had in those ‘busy’ student days. 

So if he reads, get him a Kindle and let him fill those endless days off with books instead of boxsets. 

What makes Kindles especially good for students is the amount of space they’ll save in their tiny student room, plus the great deals they’ll find on the Kindle Store.

Noah’s Student Starter Kits make awesome gifts for new students. The 65+ item kits include bedding, towels, and all the kitchenware they’ll need to get started in their new life away from home.

The kits are somewhat customisable, with a wide range of stylish bedding options and the choice to upgrade the standard non-stick pans to a premium induction pan set.

Best of all, this all comes nicely tucked away in one convenient box!

Headphones frequently appear on our lists, and that’s because they are such an essential item in the modern world – particularly for the young studenty types! 

With a quality set of headphones, they can listen to all the music they like, at any volume, without bothering their housemates. And likewise, they’ll be able to drown out any unwanted noise when they need to study. Go wireless, and they’ll also come in handy for the gym or out on runs!

Check out the Bose QuietComfort 35 II noise-cancelling wireless headphones. These cost a bit more than similar products, but the quality is second to none, and they are worth every penny. Everything from the audio quality to the noise cancellation is excellent.

Of course, if these stretch your budget a bit too far, there are some fantastic alternatives for under £100. Check the Soundcore range by ANKER

Whether studying, streaming movies, or scrolling through socials, students spend much of their time (mostly in bed or on the sofa) staring at a laptop screen. With a laptop tray, they can ‘work’ from anywhere, both comfortably and without fear of the laptop overheating as it nestles downs in the duvet.

Check out this Laptop Tray from HUANUO. I’ve had one of these while working from home, and they are quite simply fantastic. The freedom to take your work with you as you move from desk to sofa, and yes very occasionally even bed, make this an absolute must-have for home-workers and students (particularly the latter).

What set’s the HUANUO tray apart from others? Mostly, it’s the built-in mousepad, but we also love the convenient slots at the top for propping up phones, tablets, or just storing small desk items.

At just £35.69, one of these makes the perfect low-cost gift for a student.

When sharing a kitchen with several other people, having your own handy little appliance with which to effortlessly cook up a snack can be a lifesaver!

We recommend the tried-and-tested George foreman grill. These things are surprisingly low-cost, perform brilliantly, are easy to clean, and filter away any unwanted fat and grease. I was gifted an older model of the George Foreman when I first started Uni, and I can honestly say it was one of my favourite things at the time. It got A LOT of use.

While a storage device may not seem like the most inspired gift idea, it is one of the most practical. Students need storage! Throughout their time at college/university, they will fill their laptop up with study materials, music, videos, and lots of photos – that built-in 500GB hard drive will quickly find itself t capacity! 

Take a look at the 1TB Ultra Slim Portable External Hard Drive from UnionSine. This compact little device will give him all the additional storage he needs. Just be aware that this device is for use with PC’s, not MAC’s. If he’s a MAC user, you’ll need to find a MAC compatible product.

Late-night study sessions are practically a guarantee for students. Because why allow yourself plenty of time to finish an assignment during all those free afternoons you have when you could leave it to the very last minute of the very last night before it’s due? Make no mistake – he will need a study lamp.

The stylish SKYLEO LED Desk Lamp clamps onto the underside of the desk, meaning it won’t take up any space on a small desk. It has three different lighting modes and ten brightness levels – perfect for late-night use and tired eyes. And can be swivelled into practically any position you desire!

Coffee machines make excellent gifts for students. But it goes without saying that you should first check that he drinks coffee before gifting him with a coffee maker.

Nespresso Coffee machines are our go-to. They are small, surprisingly low-cost, and easy to use/maintain. The downside? The cost of Nespresso capsules can add up. However, this cost is relative to how much value you put on a cup of coffee. Individual pods vary in price from around 35p-65p per piece. To put that into perspective, 50 pods (50 coffees) at 40p each will cost you £20.00 – not bad when you consider the cost of a coffee on the high street!

As an added incentive to choose Nespresso, they offer a free collection service for used pods, which will then be recycled repurposed.

Slow Cookers make great gifts for anyone, but they really come into their own for people who share kitchens. 

There are plenty of decent slow cookers available, but we suggest something like the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew Slow Cooker, which is excellent value for money. The Sear and Stew comes with a removable hob-proof cooking pot allowing for searing before slow-cooking and makes for easy cleaning.

While many young men are perfectly at home in a kitchen by the time they reach college age, some are, quite frankly, useless.

I spent my first year at Uni living in student halls and was astounded at some of the things I saw in the kitchen: metal knives in the microwave and calling mum to brag about successfully cooking a stir-in curry being just a few. 

It goes without saying – some young men have been very well looked after and could do with a little helping hand when sent out into the world to fend for themselves. A student cookbook is a good place to start!

Check out NOSH for Students by Joy May. This fun and well-designed book is an excellent introduction to cooking, providing tons of easy to follow, low-cost, and delicious recipes. With handy price breakdowns for each recipe, this book is perfect for anyone cooking on a budget!

For someone who will be spending a lot of time in bed, what better gift than some decent bedding?

Just make sure you find out what size bed they’ll be sleeping in (most student accommodations provide singles).

For some affordable yet luxurious duvet covers, head over to the White Company.

These are fun, low-cost novelty gifts for students, but make no mistake – novelty gift or not, at some point, he is going to tear that box open and love you dearly for giving it to him.

This nicely packed little box is exactly what it says it is – a hangover survival kit. While we all know there is no definitive way to end a hangover, there are certainly a few things that help, and this box pretty much contains them all, or at least the non-perishable ones anyway.

Amazon gift cards make great gifts for students. You can’t always pre-empt everything a student will need, but you can almost guarantee that whatever it is; study materials, homeware, or tech – they’ll find it on Amazon.

Amazon gift cards are a breeze to purchase and can be sent via email directly to the recipient. So if you’re unsure what gift buy, and this list doesn’t help, head over to amazon and search gift cards. Problem solved.

Plants make lovely low-cost gifts and can go a long way towards brightening up an otherwise bland room in student accommodation.

Try patchplants.com. Of the many plants that now occupy our flat, the ones my girlfriend purchased from Patch have required the least maintenance to keep looking as healthy as when they arrived!