University College London - Student Life

Housing: Excellent halls near main campus; flats for couples; 2 bungalows for students with families. Private accommodation found through London University or UCL accommodation services, noticeboards or Loot. Many students live at home.

Eats: 15 Union food outlets dotted around, with plenty of variety, hot meals from £2.20. UCL refectory a bit more expensive. Loads of restaurants in walking distance, many with student offers eg Ravi Shanker, McDonald's.

Drink: 10 UCL Union bars on 3 sites - pints start at £1.50. Pubs and bars locally quite expensive, especially in the West End.

Nightlife: Ents on every night at Union: comedy, house nights, sports night, live bands, jazz - some free, some eg £2. Freshers' week events include Back2Skool, Three Wise Monkeys, Mission Improbable, Krisis, TGV. The 2StepXpress, The Freshers' Ball @ Turnmills, Doctors & Nurses Freshers' Fortnight Finale. Usual London ents.

Locals: Pick and choose. Fairly safe area with common sense, eg don't travel alone late at night.

Sports: Fitness centre on campus (membership £51 a year for students); Somers Town community sports centre; 2 sports grounds.

Travel: Some departmental travel scholarships (always ask; they are kept very quiet). Most students travel on foot or by public transport (student discounts).

Financial help: Access funds (mostly allocated in first term but some in second). Union loans in extreme cases. Union produces money management guide.

Jobs: WorkStation helps find temporary and part time jobs (min £3.70/hour).

Best features: Location; quality of institution.

And worst: Lack of Union space.

Informal name: UCL, UC, College.

More info: UCL Union Media & Communications Officer, on Tel 020 7679 7985, Fax 020 7916 8533, email: mc.officer(at)ucl.ac.uk

Past students: David Lodge, Jonathan Miller, Jonathan Dimbleby, David Gower, Margaret Hodge, Fiona Armstrong, Dr Hillary Jones (TV-am), Coldplay, Derek Jarman, Christopher Nolan (film director), Marie Stopes (birth control pioneer).