Life at LSE

Page contents > Living in London | | Living costs | Accommodation | Food and drink | LSE Students' Union | | Athletics Union | University of London Union

London is an exciting, vibrant and colourful city. Whatever your interests or appetite you will find something to suit your palate and pocket in this truly international capital. 

Whether you are into art, architecture, dance, film, music, theatre, sport, shopping or even green spaces and the great outdoors, London really does have it all. As a student at LSE you will be studying in the heart of a multicultural city alongside students from across the world. Major cultural attractions such as theatreland, the West End, the Royal Opera House and the British Library and Museum are right on your doorstep. 

A short journey by bus, tube or even river boat will bring you to the wide open spaces of the Royal Parks or Hampstead Heath, to the homes of internationally renowned sporting events such as Wimbledon and to the many unique and varied parts of London – whether your taste is for chic boutiques and bright city lights, or quirky cafés and a village atmosphere. It is truly one of the most dynamic and exciting cities in the world.

International in flavour, London offers students an unparalleled environment in which to live and study. It is a centre for government and law, Europe's leading financial market and a style setting centre of cultural life. Educational benefits include libraries, professional institutes and all the resources of the University of London.

Living in London

The map inside the back cover shows many of the attractions that you will be able to access within easy walking distance of LSE.

In any one week, London's listing magazines are likely to tell you about:

• over 300 venues for all kinds of music including classical/opera, roots, folk and country, rock, reggae and soul, jazz and Latin style music;
• over 150 films (including late night shows);
• over 100 theatres (and over 30 fringe events);
• over 100 comedy venues including LSE Students' Union's own Chuckle Club;
• over 125 art galleries and visual arts presentations;
• over 100 nightclubs and discos;
• events in nearly 25 different sports;
• over a dozen dance performances and courses.

The School itself offers a very wide range of activities to its students. LSE's weekly News & Views lists many public lectures, films and concerts. The Students' Union has its own newspaper, The Beaver, and supports a lively variety of affiliated social, political and ethnic clubs and societies; there are many social events and entertainments throughout the year, at little or no cost.

Living costs

The perceived cost of living and studying in London is a concern for many students. However, it is possible to live economically in the capital by taking advantage of reduced price services and facilities, on campus and beyond, making the most of student discounts and concessions in shops, restaurants and bars, and by avoiding touristy areas of the city. In fact the Student Living Index, a survey published by the Royal Bank of Scotland, found that London is actually one of the most cost-effective places to study in the UK because of the range of part-time work opportunities available in the capital and the higher rates of pay. Information on how to find part-time work can be found in the Careers Service section.

LSE makes broad estimates of the costs of living in the London area and these are available on the School's website. For 2009/2010, the School estimates that students should allow about £1,000 per month for living costs, in addition to tuition fees. We advise that the total for a 9 month academic year = £9,000 and the total for a 12 month calendar year = £12,000.

How much you spend in addition to your tuition fees is your decision and these figures are only intended as a guide. The most important consideration is that you must satisfy yourself and the relevant authorities that you have sufficient funds to cover your entire period of study.

Accommodation

LSE and University of London accommodation

If we offer you admission, we will send you full details on how to apply for a place in LSE and University of London accommodation. Application materials and further details are available online at www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation. We guarantee the offer of a place for all first year undergraduate degree students and General Course students*. Students with disabilities, whatever their home address or year of course, may be given priority for residences most suited to their needs. Please contact the Disability and wellbeing Office, further information at Disability-Dyslexia@lse.ac.uk.

*In exceptional circumstances the School reserves the right to reject qualifying applicants at its discretion.

Further information is available from the LSE Accommodation Office:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7955 7531
Fax: +44 (0)20 7955 7717
Email: Accommodation@lse.ac.uk

LSE offers a variety of styles of accommodation. In all of them, there will be a varied mix of students, undergraduates and postgraduates, home and overseas, men and women; in 2007, approximately 28.5% of the places were allocated to new undergraduates with approximately 35% of these placed in shared rooms. In each residence there is a student committee to organise regular events, such as video evenings or film shows.

There are nine Halls of Residence:

• Bankside House: 617 places in mainly single rooms, many with private bathroom facilities, located just south of the Thames, next door to the Tate Modern gallery.
• Butler's Wharf: 281 spaces in mainly single rooms. The hall is self-catering and students live in flats of 5-6. It is situated next to Tower Bridge and near the Tower of London and provides a quieter atmosphere for studying/living.
• Carr-Saunders Hall: 132 single rooms and 12 twin rooms in the West End, near the Telecom Tower and Tottenham Court Road; meals are provided as required, costing on average £4.50 for an evening meal.
• High Holborn: 448 spaces just a short walk from the School, in the heart of London's Theatreland. This is self-catering accommodation.
• Lilian Knowles: 360 spaces in single rooms with private bathrooms. This hall is located near Liverpool Street station and the city of London and provides a quieter atmosphere for studying/living. The residence is entirely self-catering and is owned and managed for LSE by Shaftesbury Housing Association.
• Northumberland House: 370 spaces in single and shared rooms with private bathrooms. The residence is self-catered and situated just off Trafalgar Square in the centre of London (10 minutes walk from LSE). First year undergraduate students must expect to share a room.
• Passfield Hall: 100 single, 42 twin and 14 treble rooms in a Georgian terrace overlooking a tree lined square in Bloomsbury, near the University of London central precinct; one meal (dinner) a day is included in the fees.
• Rosebery Avenue Hall: 289 single (some equipped with mobility aids for wheelchair users) and 13 twin rooms close to Sadler's Wells Theatre; evening meals are provided as required, and cost about the same as at Carr-Saunders.
• Sidney Webb House: 450 spaces in single rooms all with their own private bathroom. The hall is near Borough Station and the Borough Food Market. The hall is entirely self catering and is split into flats of 6-8 students who share a kitchen. This residence provides a quieter atmosphere for studying/living.

The University of London also has intercollegiate halls which accommodate approximately 25 per cent of LSE first year undergraduate students. There are seven mixed halls: Commonwealth Hall, Hughes-Parry Hall, International Hall, Nutford House, College Hall, Canterbury Hall and Connaught Hall. Further information on all halls can be found at www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation

For married students, the School has limited accommodation in Anson/Carleton Road flats in Tufnell Park, North London and Silver Walk in Rotherhithe.

Private accommodation

Both the LSE and the University of London Accommodation Offices offer a comprehensive support service to students seeking housing in the private sector. This might be a room in a family house or flat, a bedsitter, or a share in a flat or house.

Further information and advice about the service offered is available online at www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation

Unlike many other European cities, central London mostly contains offices and shops. It is not uncommon to spend up to 45 minutes travelling between the School and private accommodation.

Costs and facilities

LSE halls

LSE halls continued

Intercollegiate Halls**

* LSE Halls meals consist of breakfast (replaced by brunch at weekends) and dinner (with the exception of Carr-Saunders and Passfield Hall where only dinner is provided). Meals are paid for separately, except at Passfield Hall where the rates shown include meals. All halls provide vegetarian food.

** Intercollegiate Halls room rates include breakfast and dinner each day for all halls. All provide vegetarian food.

+ Limited facilities are available.

++ Approximately only 100 rooms will have access to a kitchen.

† Rates quoted are approximate for 2009/2010 session.

‡ Journey time by underground.

Food and drink

Our catering facilities offer a wide range of foods and drinks together with the opportunity to socialise with friends and colleagues. In total, there are four School-run restaurants and cafés on campus, which provide quality food at affordable prices, together with a student pub.

LSE's Catering Services have been awarded Fair Trade Status for our commitment to offering products and services from fairly traded sources for more information, please see www.lse.ac.uk/collections/cateringServices/venues/Default.htm

LSE Students' Union

The Students' Union represents LSE students on the campus. It is there to ensure that your time at LSE is full,  trouble – free and as entertaining as possible. 

The Union organises entertainments – concerts, films, cabarets and discos – and funds over 150 student societies covering most interests. The societies of the LSE SU are a clear sign of the vibrant and inclusive nature of the Students’ Union. Every year societies add a huge amount to everybody’s experience of LSE and London. The variety of societies and activities change with the interests and initiative of each new group of students. In recent years there have over 30 societies for different kinds of academic and intellectual interests, 33 for social and political issues of all kinds, 66 for ethnic or national interests from every continent and 23 for more general social and leisure interests ranging from the Knitting Society to the Urban Music Society. A number of societies produce regular magazines, notably The Muse, produced by the Literature society.

The Union funds a Media Group, whose constituents include a free weekly student newspaper, The Beaver, a termly magazine, The Script, the radio station, PuLSE, and the television station, LooSEtv. The Union also supports RAG (Raising and Giving), which raises as much money for charity as possible in every way imaginable, giving you the once in a lifetime opportunity to spend your Uni days having fun, meeting new people and having some of the best, most exciting and unforgettable experiences you will ever have!

The Union also runs a shop, a copy shop, two cafés, a coffee cart and three bars which have a joint capacity of 1,500 people, and which on Friday and Saturday nights provide a venue for what is one of London's  top student nightclubs, CRUSH. Space  is also provided within the Union's premises for a second hand book shop and a travel agent. The Union provides (in conjunction with the Athletics Union) a well equipped fitness centre. It also provides a student advice and counselling centre which offers advice on all student welfare and housing issues and a counselling services.

LSE is famous, or perhaps infamous, for the political activism of its students. Many former students maintain that they learn more discussing in the bar and the Quad then they ever did in class. The crucible for debate is the weekly Union General Meeting where left, right and centre compete for the hearts and minds of the uncommitted – few students can resist at least one visit to this hotbed of revolution, reaction and intrigue.

The Union is a member of the National Union of Students; all LSE students are also members of the University of London Union, and are entitled to use its premises and services. ULU is housed in nearby Malet Street, and the premises include the following facilities: fitness centre, swimming pool, aerobics/dance classes, discos and live gigs, bars, banks, general store, sports shop, copy shop, ticket agency, travel office, day nursery, opticians, insurance centre, health spa, badminton court, squash court and a range of other recreation facilities. The newspaper London Student is also housed within the building. The Union is responsible for the management of the sports facilities of the University including coordinating the ULU sports leagues, running the boat house at Chiswick and the sailing clubhouse at the Welsh Harp Reservoir. All students are welcome to make use of these facilities. Further details are available at the University of London Union website.

Athletics Union

Athletics are the responsibility of the Athletics Union (AU), which is funded by the Students' Union. The AU is a member in its own right of the national British Universities Sports Association. All students are eligible to join the AU by becoming members of any of its constituent clubs. Some 26 clubs exist for a wide range of sports and many use the School's 25 acre sports ground at New Malden, Surrey. There are pitches for football, rugby, hockey (both men's and women's), cricket, together with grass tennis courts, and a restaurant and well-appointed bar are open on match days. New Malden is reached quite easily by train, and on most match days coaches depart from the School.

At Houghton Street the School has its own gymnasium (much used for football, badminton and other training sessions), a room for judo, table tennis, karate and boxing, while the SU provides a fitness centre fully staffed by qualified instructors and three squash courts. The School is fortunate in being situated in London within easy reach of other first class sports facilities. Lincoln's Inn, just around the corner, provides netball and hard tennis courts, and four competition size swimming pools are within two miles of Houghton Street. The University of London Union has many sports facilities, including squash, basketball, rowing and a swimming pool; these are nearby and available to all students. LSE cricketers play throughout the winter using the indoor facilities at Lord's.

The facilities at the University of London (ULU), and the access to competitive leagues in a wide variety of sports, together with the facilities at New Malden which themselves make LSE popular with visitors, ensure that the standards of sports at the School are high and rising still further. An additional indication of excellence is the increasing number of individuals progressing to higher sporting honours.

The AU is a friendly and thriving part of the School community and all sportsmen and women of whatever standard are always made welcome.

University of London Union

All registered students of the School are automatically members of ULU, and are entitled to make use of all the extensive facilities without payment of any extra membership fee.

ULU is housed nearby in Malet Street, and the premises include the following facilities: fitness centre, swimming pool, aerobics/dance classes, discos and live gigs, bars, banks, general store, sports shop, copy shop, ticket agency, travel office, day nursery, opticians, insurance centre, health spa, badminton court, squash court and a range of other recreation facilities. The newspaper London Student and NUS London offices are also housed within the building.

The Union is responsible for the management of the sports facilities of the University including the boat house at Chiswick and the sailing clubhouse at the Welsh Harp Reservoir. All students are welcome to make use of these facilities.

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