By Justin Parkinson BBC News Online education staff

Nearly a third of a million first-year students are finishing their second term at university.

Students are facing a number of choices in the next few months

Since Christmas, MPs have voted in favour of "top-up" tuition fees, lecturers have held strikes over pay and conditions and the national Union of Students has held a higher education "shutdown" over fees.

And of course, it is time to start planning for the summer and next year's living and study.

BBC News Online revisits a group of "freshers" at Sussex University to see how things are going.

Nikki learns to relax

Nikki Holman, 18, was worried about money when she started at university last October.

At the end of the first term, reading requirements had replaced debt as her main concern.

Now she says she is taking everything in her stride and thoroughly enjoying herself.

It's been really good socially this term. I've been going out a lot more.

Nikki is more relaxed about her study demands

In the first term there was so much to take on board. I was trying to read every book on every reading list.

Now I know that's impossible and I'm trying to focus on the most important stuff. There aren't enough hours in the day otherwise.

It feels like the workload has increased, but I'm more able to deal with that now than when I started.

I had just finished my A-levels, so I hadn't experienced anything like it then.

It's important just to keep up with things. You can relax a bit then.

Some of our lecturers went on strike a while ago and now there is an essay-marking boycott going on. We were told it would mean they were graded a bit later. Hopefully it won't be too disruptive.

Meanwhile, there are eight of us looking for a house for next year. It's been a bit of a pain so far. I think we are looking at �65 to �70 a week to pay.

It will cost a bit more, but it will be nice to choose where we live. I'm not in debt at the moment, so it should be OK.

Alastair fears a freezer fracas

During his first term, Alastair Geddes went from a salad cream sandwich-eater to the Antonio Carluccio - or at least Delia Smith - of campus.

He prepared sumptuous meals for his housemates, while getting on top of his chores and fine-managing his finances.

Has this born-again paragon of student virtue returned to his bad old ways in the last three months?

It's great. I'm still enjoying it here as much as at the start of the year.

I'm getting more into my own routine. I go shopping every two weeks and go and see a film once a week. It's strange how organised I'm becoming.

Nowadays Alastair knows his onions in the kitchen

It can actually become a bit boring when my housemates are still struggling with their work and I've done mine. Other than that, though, they are good to live with.

There was one girl who was a bit annoying but she has left the house. She had a habit of playing awful Disney music late at night. It was horrendous stuff like Aladdin. I don't know why she did that.

My spending hasn't been as tight as last term's. I have a debt of about �100, after I bought loads of clothes at the January sales.

But I thought it would save money overall, as I haven't got spend as much later in the year. I want to get a job over Easter to pay off the debt.

For the summer, I'm planning a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express. It would be great for photography, which is one of my hobbies. I might also go camping with a few friends.

I'm still cooking better than I did when I first got here. But my housemates and I have given up the idea of doing it on a rota basis.

I just cook three portions of spaghetti bolognaise or another dish and leave them in the fridge to reheat.

If anything is going to be a source of tension, it's the tiny freezer we share. There's hardly any space and it gets very tight, but no one's killed anyone yet.

It doesn't matter that much anyway, because we've sorted out a private house for next year. It's actually going to cost about �5 a week less than we pay at the moment.

It should be good fun. But first it's time to enjoy my final term on campus.

Snow fun for Tara

Tara Bowker, 19, spent her gap year travelling the world before arriving at university.

She was confident of fitting in socially but, during her first term, the workload caused a few concerns.

I've met people in the third year who say the first year at university is the best. I believe them, too, as it's going well.

During the first term there was so much to get used to. Now, it is becoming easier as we know our way around.

My academic work has a lot more structure too. I've been attending lectures.

Tara enjoyed the recent cold snap, but is looking forward to summer

There wasn't much going on during the student shutdown. There are lots of rallies and demonstrations here about various things, so it didn't seem all that unusual.

I've been a bit lazy in terms of hobbies, but I want to sign up for some voluntary work next term.

We had a fantastic night when it snowed. Everyone was rolling around in the snow in their pyjamas and having snowball fights. It was great. I wouldn't mind a bit of sunshine soon, though.

During Easter, I'm going to do some work to earn a bit of money. But I've been surprised how well I've made the money last so far. It's always fun to go home.

Then it's time to keep looking for a house for next year. We can't find anywhere with a short enough contract at the moment.

I think I'll miss campus life, but it will be nice to live nearer the centre of town.