What supermarkets would a student go to in the UK?

Aldi, lidl, iceland, farmfoods, b&m. Maybe ASDA (WAL-MART)

Tesco

I went to Tesco once!

Asda is good.

The same as everyone else. So I'm going to take this as asking where's cheapest, because that's always a concern for students. Wherever is closest is usually the major consideration for students as you won't have the money to run a car.

Aldi and Lidl are cheapest. Strange names but they're German chains that have really taken off since the financial crisis of 2008 because of price. You won't see any brand names you recognise (well, mostly - Aldi sells Nescafé coffee cheaper than anyone else). But the food is good whatever random "own brand" name they've put on it. They also have all kinds of short-lived special offers on non-food stuff so look at the "Specialbuys" they have too.

Tip for Aldi and Lidl checkouts: one way they stay cheap is by whizzing everything through as fast as possible. You won't be able to keep up for packing your bags. What you're expected to do is dump it all straight back in your trolley (cart) and when you've paid, go over to the packing table and sort it out into shopping bags there in your own time.

Which is another point with UK supermarkets - there is a government charge of 5p on plastic carrier bags to encourage people not to use them and "help the environment", so do what we've all learned to do and take your own. It's a policy that's actually had the intended result of drastically cutting the use of plastic carrier bags. The supermarkets all sell strong re-usable shopping bags, so first time, buy as many of those as you will need per shopping trip and remember to take them every time after that. I've had mine for years!

Iceland is also cheap and as the name suggests, they specialise in frozen food. They make a big point of how good frozen food is because you can just take as much as you want out of the freezer and put the rest back, where it will last for months, so you don't waste food. Perfectly true.

For anything those three don't do, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrison's or Asda. All much the same. I live on my own so I tend to use them for fresh vegetables because they sell them loose so I can just buy as much as I need, while the cheap supermarkets only sell family-sized packs that are too big for me. Avoid the small branches that stay open late, like Sainsbury's Local or Tesco Express, because they are more expensive.

Actually that covers all the big chains except Waitrose, which I didn't mention because it's the posh expensive one.

Students and those on a static or limited income tend to shop at Aldi or Lidl,
My local branch of Iceland is often full of students too.

Aldi is the cheapest.

The closest "budget" supermarket like Aldi or Lidl.

the nearest one

The ones that they have access to. They may favour the likes of Lidl and Aldi though if they have them nearby since they may be cheaper. But really it all boils down to what supermarkets are close to them.

Same as everyone else I guess.