The Secret Life of Students

The Secret Life of Students follows all the drama and goings-on from twelve students embarking on their first year at Leicester University

This episode explores how the students cope making new friends and finding love and whether they can maintain long-distance relationships with girlfriends and boyfriends back home. The students are experiencing communal living for the first time. Hormones, texts and tweets are flying and the gossip is spreading like wildfire. How will this affect their relationships? And how will their social media updates correlate with their real life experiences? Jack loves going out partying. Will he find someone special, or settle for the first girl who comes along? Gemma goes home every weekend to see her boyfriend, and is struggling to settle into university life. And Helen has come to university to get a good degree, but can she resist being distracted from her studies by Michael, who lives a few doors down the corridor from her? They've sent each other over 1600 texts, and there's a picture of Helen with her arms round Michael on Facebook, even though he has a girlfriend back home...

Hassan is a bit of a mummy's boy. He's expected to phone home every day, and if he doesn't his mum starts calling and texting him to check he's okay. Hassan's an observant Muslim who prays daily, and is thankful that his mum isn't on Facebook. How will he cope living away from home and fending for himself? Brenda, from Tottenham, sends 100 tweets per day. She has big dreams and plans, but only if she can curb her shopping habits so that she can afford to pay her university fees and rent. Brenda has met a boy online, finding it easier to communicate through tweets and texts; could it be love? Aiden realises that life after freshers' week isn't the booze-filled party-fest he was expecting. His mum follows him on Facebook and Twitter, even if she doesn't like what she sees. It looks like he's having the time of his life, but is this just an online smokescreen?

The freshers approach the end of their first term. How well have they really settled in? Have they worked out the magic formula to balance a life of partying, studying, paying the bills and living with a group of students they have only just met? Living with other students can be messy and can distract you from your work. How do the students cope as exams draw nearer and they need to buckle down and revise? Will they crack under the pressure or manage to perfect the balancing act? And how will their social media updates correlate with their real life experiences?