Studying in London

Explore the capital’s student community

Interested in studying in London? Then read on...

First off, we're not going to sacrifice truth at the altar of PR. The city's negatives, then: Yes, London is expensive. You can pay north of £2.50 a pint in many a bar around town. Private sector rents in Zone 2 can hit you for £100 plus a week. That's per person and it excludes, well, everything. No, there's no sense of a 'campus' in the true sense of the word. The University of London straddles Royal Holloway to the south (out in Egham, Surrey) Wye College to the East (near Ashford, in Kent), Imperial College School of Medicine (In East Acton) to the west, and the Royal Free Hospital (In Hampstead) to the north - but that's not to say that there's no sense of community, and the city's plethora of colleges, institutes, Union facilities and Halls of Residence have community spirit in abundance. And you may have a 20-minute train ride before you find your nearest uni sports ground, but frankly, the hundreds of thousands of 18-somethings who flock to study in London from Britain and abroad don't come here to play football. They come to play a tireless, cranky but spirited city at its own, unforgiving game and come out richly and justly rewarded for having the sheer wherewithal and youthful verve to do so. Once you've taken on London, you can, truly, take on any city in the world: and what's more, there's terrific fun to be had in trying. 

The Best Of London

London is the best for societies and politics Every time a college election takes place, a low voting turnout prompts accusations of apathy to fly like wildfire. It's an unfair accusation: having no interest in the price of sandwiches in a cafe that you'll only be visiting for three years hardly translates as political apathy, the abundance of political and debating societies that pepper the Unions will tell you that. Situated within 12 miles or less of Britain's political core, the chance of a society nabbing an audience within an MP or backbencher is higher than most places, and the audiences are keen. And what's more, the NUS HQ (www.nus.org.uk) is down Holloway Road in North London, where many an events officer or sabb end up after college. London is also allows plenty of interesting societies. Got a weird fascination in tiddlywinks? Chances are you'll find someone else who is in the city. And be able to nab a speaker from the Tiddlywinks Union (if there is such a thing), too. 

London Is The best For Unions London's Union club nights are small fish in a very, very big pond. But they survive, and many do a grand job in luring student punters away from the bright lights of bigger places. For a start, they're cheap. Entry is cheap, the booze is cheap (£1-a-pint nights are almost a prerequisite), and PR hungry drinks companies are more than happy to lay on a multitude of special offers. In the hearts and minds of club-fussy students, they view the college Union with the same kind of affection as the punters do of Cheers: anonymity can be a blessing or a pain, and if you feel the latter, everyone does, after all, know your name. You may have to be signed in if you want to go to a club night at another Union, but any University of London Student has unrestricted to access to the University of London Union (www.ulu.lon.ac.uk) and its bars, swimming pool, shops and other facilities. It's also a major gig venue too, and has seen the likes of Elbow, Starsailor, Lowgold and Goldfrapp grace its stage in the past year.  The international Students House (www.ish.org.uk) is going from strength to strength, with a whole host of facilities and evening activities. For comedy, head to LSE for its chuckle club, where those in the know come for the cheap booze and the big names on a Saturday. Check out the infamous Cocktails at UCL (on a Thursday at all of its Union venues); Curry Night on a Monday at Queen Mary and Westfield always goes down a treat and for top notch clubbing, check out the indie and alternative Collide-a-Scope night at King's College's Strand campus. It's long been a hit with the general public, and if nothing else, it's worth it for its terrific views across the river.    

London Is The best For courses The University of London becomes more and more integrated every year, making it easier to take crossover courses at other member universities. Intermingle between the London Institute colleges for art-based courses, check out the London Business School and LSE for economics and business, and combine language courses at the city's numerous specialized colleges and institutes. So if you really want to take Russian with Equine Business Management, then the chances are, you probably can.

London Is The best For Careers Advice The city has a high number of employment fairs run by the private sector, often by recruitment consultants or media organizations. The University of London Careers Service (www.careers.lon.ac.uk) also runs an annual Gradate Recruitment Fair (attended by a huge number of companies) as well as industry-specific fairs, courses and workshops. If you fancy some cash after you graduate, you're in the best place.      

Travelling in London Get on tube and you'll be at Heathrow in 40 minutes. Jump in a car and you can be at Gatwick in less time. Stroll down to Waterloo and you can catch a train to Lille, Paris or Brussels (www.eurostar.com). The temptation to travel is strong as a student, and nowhere else makes it so easy and so tempting. And if there's not an STA travel (www.sta.co.uk) or USIT campus (www.usitcampus.co.uk) within spitting distance of your Union, we'll eat our Persian rug. For short escapes in Britain and Europe, International Students House (www.ish.org.uk) run an excellent and jam-packed travel programme throughout the year.  

London’s famous Alumni Including, among many, many others: Rory Bremner (UCL), Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey (King's), Arthur C Clarke (King's), Blur's Graham Coxon and Alex James (Goldsmiths), Elastica's Justine Frischmann (Slade School of Fine Art, UCL), Olympic gold medal rower Greg Searle (South Bank). Mary Quant (Goldsmiths), Jarvis Cocker (Central St Martin's), Mick Jagger (LSE), not to mention its acting schools throwing out a whole host of prolific thesps. The list goes on.

The Gay and Lesbian scene In London With an increasingly wealthy gay and lesbian crowd, parts of London have become gentrified and welcoming communities. Stoke Newington is a popular destination for the lesbian crowd, while the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a mecca for local gay residents. Of course, there's still Soho and clubs like GAY can still pull in the punters: don't have any fear of coming out here Great comedy In London Most areas of London have a couple of comedy 'locals', either purpose built venues (generally more expensive) or, more likely, a room above or below a pub. Most will only set you back a few quid: for good bills, head to Bound and Gagged in Palmers Green or Tufnell Park; the Hampstead Clinic if you live in North London; Lee Hurst's Back Yard Comedy Club for top bills in Bethnal Green; Up the Creek, which amply serves Greenwich and Jongleurs, which can be found in Watford, Bow, Battersea or Camden. Otherwise, a top night out is guaranteed at the Comedy Store: it's pricey, but it's allowed to be. This home of cutting edge comedy since the 1970s, this club broke the likes of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, and a whole host of other comic legends.

Great theatre In London Where Hollywood actors and C-List celebrities come to prove they worth - Brendan Fraser in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Denise van Outen and Clare Sweeney in Chicago, Kim Basinger in The Graduate. The demise of the big shows (most recently Starlight Express) and the downturn in tourism paves the way for closures and fresh beginnings in Theatreland (the theatres that straddle WC1, WC2 and W1), which is never a bad thing.

Great Clubbing In London It goes without saying that the number of clubs in the city means that there is something, as the saying goes, for everyone. However, it's at New Year when the mega clubs (think Ministry of Sound, Fabric and School Disco) really come into their own, and are often out of this world. Great films To See In London You'll discover a whole host of miniature film festivals and seasons run by various cultural institutions dotted around the capital. Among others, check out the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (usually in spring, see www.llgff.org.uk for information) and the biggest of them all, the London Film Festival (www.rlff.org.uk) that hits the screens in the autumn.

Article By: Sharon Locher Editor Student Time Out Guide

For full listings of London Events, check out Time Out magazine each week. For new students, the Time out Student Guide and the Time Out Visitors Guide are both indispensable guides to the city, available at all good newsagents or log onto www.timeout.co.uk