Are you coming to the end of your academic year and in the process of making preparations to vacate your room and leave your term time address? As a student you have a lot to think about, with upcoming exams, deadlines and living arrangements to sort out. The last thing that you want to think about is cleaning, and we don’t blame you. No one wants to spend time scrubbing and mopping up floors and throwing out junk, but seeing as you’re living in rented accommodation, you don’t really have a choice. Whether you’re living in halls of residence and have to vacate your room at the end of each semester, or if you’ve rented a flat with a few of your mates, cleaning is an absolute must, because we’re pretty sure that you’d want to get your deposit back. So follow our advice and make cleaning out your living accommodation a quick and painless task. •    Take a systematic approach to cleaning; whether you’re living in a flat or have a single room in halls, start off by carefully sorting through your possessions and making piles of things that you need and those that you want to throw away. Then walk around your living area and pick up any items that are to bin, which will make the rest of the process a whole lot easier and much more manageable. •    If needed, dusting is a good thing to do, and will make sure that your furniture is spotless and ready for inspection. There is no need to go out and buy any sprays or industrial type cleaners for this purpose; simply use a soft cloth and dampen with some warm water which will make the dust stick your cloth and reduce the amount of vacuuming that you have to do later on.•    Although not really necessary, you could polish your work surfaces, tables, lamps and chairs to make sure your landlord or university recognise that you have gone the extra mile in trying to make sure that you leave your accommodation spotless. Polishing is a simple process and will give your room the extra sparkle and finish that will ensure you get your deposit back. Simply spray your polish onto the surface and use a jay cloth to gently wipe it down. Not much spray is needed to polish a large piece of furniture so you won’t be running out any time soon and it’s a relatively cheap item to purchase when taking into account the fantastic finish that you’ll get and the spotless condition that you’ll be leaving your room in. •    Being a student with loans to pay off and accommodation costs to factor in, you’re probably intent on saving the pennies, so you wouldn’t want to hire any extra help. However if the stresses of student life are getting to much for you and you find yourself short of time, you can always hire a team of professional cleaners to handle all of your cleaning jobs. However when booking a student cleaning service, be sure to ask the cleaning company the best prices that they can offer and whether they can provide you with any student discounts. Most cleaning agencies probably won’t, however there’s no harm in asking. If the price is anything more than the cost of your deposit, then there really is not point in hiring help, and it’s best to just get on and do the work yourself. But if there really is no other option, hired help is always at hand.