Surrey uni social life

Heyy, does anyone know about Surrey university nightlife, like anyone studying there or at least having any friends studying . I've heard it's pretty dead in terms of social life and clubbing, but i want to know from first hand

Reply 1

University of Surrey

Official Rep

Original post by nattferrerr

Hey @nattferrerr,

I attended Surrey from 2012-2015 and still live in Guildford, so I have pretty good knowledge of the local nightlife. Sorry in advance for the wall of text!

I'm not going to lie - the club options in Guildford are more limited simply because of the fact that there is a smaller population, so therefore the number of clubs is less than it would be if you lived in a larger city like Liverpool, London, Cardiff etc.

We've got our own nightclub (Rubix) on campus which holds roughly 1300 people, and the club nights on Wednesdays and Fridays are always popular. The club does themed fancy dress nights (like Where's Wally, Marvel vs DC, Fetish Night and more), as well as having the usual guest acts and DJs. They also run amazing events like Playtime, which is a club night where Rubix is transformed into the stuff of an 8 year old's dreams - bouncy castle, ball pit, face painting, space hoppers.... you can imagine how fun all that is when you've had a few alcoholic beverages (or even if you don't)!

The clubs and societies on campus run pub crawls and their own social events throughout the year. Normally these start in town and finish up at Rubix or one of the other clubs in town. Even if you're not part of the society/club, you can still buy tickets to their pub crawls, which is a great way of meeting people you might not otherwise socialise with. Surrey Snow Sports and American Football/Cheerleading always do some really good pub crawls. I wasn't a member of any of these sports but I tagged along with some friends and had some really great nights. People often have parties in the halls as well, which were always good! Added bonus: you don't have to pay for a taxi back from town haha.

I'll just give you a rough idea of some of the bars/clubs in town. We'll kick off with every student's favourite - Wetherspoons. It's cheap, it's got a dancefloor, and it serves food til 10/11pm. Spoons is open until midnight Sunday-Thursday, and until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. I've had some of my best uni nights out there. There are a number of other late bars that stay open til around 2, including Five & Lime, Alley Bar, All Bar One, Komo (specialist cocktail bar), and Pews. Personally I'd recommend Five & Lime and All Bar One, and Pews in the summer as they have a really nice beer garden out back.

I'm not going to lie: the clubs in Guildford aren't the coolest or trendiest that you'll ever set foot in. But if you're up for having a laugh with your mates, then they do the trick. Monday night is student night, with the clubs running discounted entry/drinks promos. Here's a quick list of the clubs in Guildford:

1) Spoons - as previously mentioned. Plays chart hits and some recent pop classics (think Goldigger by Kanye, Crazy in Love by Beyoncé, Mr Brightside by the Killers etc)

2) Popworld - I have had so many top nights here. It's cheesy. The drinks aren't as expensive as they are in Bar 13 or Casino. It has a light up dancefloor and plays a mix of current hits and all the best pop songs from the 90s/00s as well as a few classic floorfillers like Billie Jean, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Grease Lightnin' etc. If I want to have a night where I'm never of the dancefloor, I go to Popworld.

3) Bar 13 - This one only opened towards the end of my final year when I was super busy writing my dissertation and doing final assignments, so I only went there a few times. It has a really nice interior, probably the best of the clubs in Guildford. They do live bands as well as DJs, and they have girls walking around on stilts, drinks with sparklers etc. It opens til 3am each night, excluding Tuesdays and Sundays when it's closed. They play a mix of music, from chart to RnB to grime to house. They often have nights catering to specific genres, sometimes they're fancy dress too, like 'Dead Disney' (where you had to go as your favourite Disney character, but zombified. They played a mix of chart stuff with old Disney classics hahah).

4) 33Hz - Tbh I've never actually been in this club. It's outside the main 'strip' of clubs and is usually playing house/DnB, though I've seen photos up where they've had a live saxophonist in which would actually be pretty cool. I've heard that it's not a massive venue size-wise, but it's still running nearly 3 years in so they must be doing ok!

5) Legion - Again, Legion is a bit further away from the main Spoons, 13, Casino and Popworld square of clubs. I have been there a number of times though and never had a bad time! In fact, it was quite decent. I think they've renovated it since I was last there.

6) Casino - Oh Casino. Everyone loves to hate it. It's a bit grimy, but a lot of people will stumble across to it after they've been in Spoons. They play a mix of dance and chart music, with some RnB and Hip Hop thrown in sometimes. Again, I think it's been renovated since I've last been in there, so it might be better than it was!

That's all I can think of at the minute. If you do fancy venturing out to larger clubs which are more genre-specific, I'd recommend heading into London. It's only a half hour on the train to Waterloo, with the last train back to Guildford going at about quarter past 12 on Fridays and Saturdays. If you were going for a proper night out, I'd recommend grabbing an Air BnB or just keep partying through the night and get the first train back (roughly 6am) so that you don't have to leave early. There are some really excellent bars around Soho (The Friendly Society is small but amaaaazing, and Waxy O Connors and the Porterhouse are great Irish pubs in Leicester Square and Covent Garden respectively).

I think that in Guildford, there's enough to keep you busy but there are also nice places to go if you fancy having a chilled weekend, like to the White House pub by the river for a Sunday roast, or to see a film at the Odeon, or you could go bowling or ice skating at Guildford Spectrum if you wanted to do something a bit different. Thorpe Park is quite nearby if you fancy going on some rollercoasters, or you could go to some art galleries or museums in London. Brighton is also only like an hour or so away by train, and it's lovely to go to on a nice sunny day :smile:

Hope this helps! If you have any more questions please do let me know :smile:

All the best,
Ashley

University of Surrey

Guildford

Reply 2

username2877554

I just moved this to "University of Surrey" section so that you get better responses :smile:

Reply 3

AstroNandos

The post above was pretty spot on tbf

Summed up nicely:
Spoons - lit af, has a small dancefloor with classics, and everyone loves an £8 pitcher. I think it's open till like 2am too
Rubix - drinks aren't too expensive, I usually find it boring unless they have an actual event like paint v foam. Is on campus tho
Casino - so many people don't like it, i love it lol, drinks are cheap here and I've paid like £3.80 for a double vodka and coke on some nights
Popworld - pretty good in Guildford, cheesy like the rep said, but still a good night out if you're shitfaced
Bar 13 - i don't like it really, expensive drinks and i've paid £10 entry before, they have table football which was decent but i don't really enjoy it when it comes to the sesh

The rest are less mainstream clubs so idk, I haven't been to them (only a first year), but that's my opinion :smile:

Reply 4

AstroNandos

but yeah guildford is pretty dead for nightlife, small selection of not so great clubs. you'll like one at least and will probs be too drunk to care about the others half the time haha. Freshers week in rubix is v good tho

Reply 5

10ryasmi

Not trying to put people off but I thought it was absolutely dead, and dropped out after a few months, and am now at the University of Birmingham and am loving life.

Shops - 7 - There are plenty of little shops about with your standard retailers, urban etc. which are in the Friary shopping centre. But the rest of the shops are smaller ones on the high street, which are quite expensive.

Entertainment - 5 - Guildford is a Town, not a city. I can’t stress this enough. There’s an Odeon Cinema (£14 for a student ticket), an ice skating rink and a bowling alley in a sports centre out of town. If you want concerts etc. then you’ll have to go elsewhere (London). However it usually takes well over an hour to get to London by train, and then add on your time travelling within London to get to where you want to be so bear that in mind.

Social Life - 2 - Rubix is the SU club, which in three words can be described as hot, crammed and sweaty. Drinks are cheap and the music is alright, to be honest I quite enjoyed nights out at Rubix. Apart from that, you have a Spoons (can’t go wrong with a spoons), Popworld (no explanation needed) and Bar Thirteen which is expensive but fun. Apart from these all you have are a few pubs dotted around the place. So basically if you’re on a night out, you have a choice of 4 places, all with very similar music, and all absolutely packed, because there’s nowhere else to go. Talking of Popworld, if you see posters for ‘Raves’, they’ll be in Popworld, not my idea of a rave at all. Although to be fair, the societies and clubs are always doing things and occasionally going off to places which are all pretty well organised and are pretty fun.

Lectures - n/a - depends on the course, but all of my faculty staff were on the ball and were more than happy to go out of their way to help me which is really nice.

Accommodation - 5 - Uni accommodation is of good standard although quite pricey. Whatever you do, don’t end up in Hazel Farm unless you’re looking for a retirement home vibe, an hour away by bus and a small costcutter. Also bear in mind that 2nd/3rd year accommodation is limited as there’s a housing crisis in Guildford, it’s also very expensive as a result of this, so I’d advise on sorting out accommodation for next year ASAP and definitely before Christmas.

Sports - 10 - The Sports Park is without a doubt amazing, with lots of sports clubs doing things all the time and their socials on top of that.

People - n/a - Bear in mind that Guildford is a VERY white, conservative and middle to upper-middle class area, with more private schools than there are postboxes. Whilst the students are mixed in terms of ethnicity, you’ll find lots of people that go to Surrey are from wealthy backgrounds and are looking for a quiet, happy life whilst they knuckle down to get a First. I was none of these things, and have never felt so isolated in my life during my time there. That’s why I ended up in brum, it’s the exact opposite and I love it here. Basically, the type of people that go to a certain uni are the type of people that would be more than happy to have grown up there, as well as see themselves staying there for a few years after.

Safety - 10 - I’m pretty sure I could leave my car unlocked with the keys in the ignition and come back a few years later and it would still be there.

Town Life - For a white, conservative and middle class town it’s a lovely part of the world. Just think about your options, what type of person you are, what type of people you want to meet at uni, and what you want to get up to whilst you’re there. I guess I didn’t think this through properly, and that’s why I ended up dropping out and going to Brum.

To clarify, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to anyone who studies or wishes to study at Surrey. But when I looked around, all I saw was positive things, and it really was too good to be true in my case. But that’s just me, we’re all unique and all we can do is be ourselves. If you’ve read this and like the idea of surrey, then go for it, I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time. But if you want somewhere where there’s lots going on and there’s a mixed student base from a socioeconomic point of view, then maybe think about other places. Just be yourself and take your time, even consider a gap year maybe?

Reply 6

annie79

Totally agree with the post above, however it's not all doom and gloom; uni life anywhere you go is entirely dependent on who you decide to hang out with. At any uni, essentially there are 3 types of friends you'll make at uni: housemates, coursemates and sport/society friends. In any of these settings, if you find yourself having to conform to fit in, change it, e.g. change the sport or just speak to other people doing that sport. Also at Surrey you can join a sport at any time.

I'd rate the Surrey clubs a 4 or 5 and the overall Surrey social life a 7, because the outstanding range of sports offered. I found fun by trying out lots of different sports however upon reflection, by all means, if you want to, try out new sports but try to stick to one sport (or more if you can manage it) to fully enjoy being in that sport/society.

A quick review on the uni club, Rubix: in first year, you will find it great; you'll go there during Freshers' week with your new housemates and you'll all bond etc it'll be so fun, however, you may find that housemates lose interest in nightlife or that couples develop in your house and choose not to go out anymore - that's. all. fine. - ask coursemates and/or sport/society friends if they'd like to go with you instead. If you find you start getting bored of Rubix, you can always ask people to try out some clubs in town instead. Basically there's always a to get out! Lastly if you find clubbing really isn't your thing, apart from sports/societies to get involved in, there's always the cinema in town that you can visit and the uni organises trips both abroad and to fun places like Thorpe Park that you can go to. There's also a weekly market at Rubix itself every Thursday where you can get fresh groceries and baking foods which you can visit with your housemates which is a good bonding experience :'), but obviously you can go there with any friends you make at uni.

Overall, uni social life is what you make it; but the most important thing is to find like-minded people at any setting you end up in in order to build those strong relationships that you'd want to last for the whole of your uni experience!