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TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > King's College London

King's College London (informally King's) is officially the oldest (having received its royal charter before UCL) and one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of London. It was founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829 as a university college in the tradition of the Church of England. Today it has more than 14,750 undergraduate and 7,005 postgraduate students in nine schools of study spread across four Thames side campuses and one in Denmark Hill, South London.

It repeatedly features as one of the top 25 universities in the World (QS World Rankings) having placed 21st in 2010. As well as consisting of the largest medical school in Europe, King's College is often said to offer a world leading Dentistry and War Studies course. KCL is also credited with having one of the best Law departments in the country, which will be shifted to the newly acquired Somerset House (East Wing) on the Strand.

There are a total of 10 Nobel Laureates in the staff and alumni of King's who made major contributions to 19th-century science, medicine and public life in general. In the 20th century eight people from these institutions were awarded the Nobel Prize.

KCLSU, the Student Union is the oldest in the country and contributed to the concept of student unions in universities. The first KCLSU President was also the first ever president of the NUS (Sir Iveson Macadam).

Facilities

Libraries

King's College's main library, the Maughan Library is located on Chancery Lane, about a five minute walk from the Strand Campus. It is home to the American studies, Australian studies, Byzantine & modern Greek, classics, cultural & creative industries, digital culture & technology, English, European studies, film studies, French, geography, German, history, linguistics, music, philosophy, Portuguese & Brazilian studies, Spanish & Spanish-American studies, theology & religious studies, war studies, law (including the Institute of Taxation's Tony Arnold Library), medical ethics, computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics collections. It also houses the Special Collections and rare books. There are numerous computer rooms throughout the library.

The Franklin-Wilkins Library at the Waterloo Campus is home to extensive management and education holdings, as well as wide-ranging biomedical, health and life sciences coverage includes nursing, midwifery, public health, pharmacy, biological and environmental sciences, biochemistry and forensic science.

Guy's Campus has two libraries, one in New Hunt's House and one in the Hodgkin Building. The one in the Hodgkin Building is open 24 hours a day, though the one in NHH is only open until 9pm. The NHH library is, however, open 24 hours a day during the exam period. New Hunt's House covers all aspects of biomedical science. There are also extensive resources for medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy and health services.

The Weston Education Centre Library at the Denmark Hill Campus has particular strengths in the areas of gastroenterology, liver disease, diabetes, obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics and the history of medicine.

The St Thomas' House Library holdings cover all aspects of basic medical sciences, clinical medicine and health services research.

KCL students can also join the University of London library at Senate House for free. The library has an extensive collection as well as study rooms and computers. It is located along the same street as the University of London Union (ULU) near to Russell Square and Goodge Street tube stations. The library's main hall that combines the two wings was used for a brief scene in Batman Begins.

IT and Computing

There are computer rooms dotted around each of the campuses with over 1,600 computers and wireless throughout the university and halls of residence too.

Sports

KCL has a wide range of Sports clubs and fitness societies. Four sports grounds located in New Malden and Cobham in Surrey and Dulwich and Honor Oak Park in south London which cater for hockey, football, rugby, cricket, tennis and netball. Rowing takes place on the river Thames by Chiswick Bridge, 800m from the University of London boathouse. The nearest station is Mortlake.

The Strand has rifle ranges and Guy's Campus has a swimming pool and gym.

There is also a dedicated fitness society for female KCL students, which runs various classes during term time.

For more information on Sports at King's, visit www.kclsu.org

Kinetic Fitness Centre

The KCLSU Kinetic gym and fitness club is located at the Waterloo campus just round the corner from Stamford Street Apartments. Kinetic is open seven days a week and offers sports massage services, personal trainers and exercise classes such as pilates, jitsu, dance aerobics, various forms of yoga, and high intensity training.

Rates for NUS members and King's College London Students / Staff: 1 Day £5.00
1 Month £30
3 Months £75
6 Months £125
12 Months £200
DD Monthly £23.50

Welfare

King’s welfare provision is all encompassing and includes counseling, a NHS health centre, a disability and dyslexia service and student advice. Further to this each student has a personal tutor who is there to advise students when issues arise. The counseling service offers counselors, psychotherapists, psychologists and a psychiatrist. Counseling is available at all campuses.

The Compass is located in the union building at the Strand. There, you can speak to student advisers about things such as finance, work, academics, housing etc.

Healthcare

The King's College Health Centre is located on the third floor of the Macadam Building (student union building) on Surrey street. Any King's student can register there and receive treatment from any of their several doctors and nurses. The health centre won the “Quality Practice Award” from the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2006. There is a walk-in clinic every weekday from 11:30 to 14:00. You can also, of course, make an appointment. They also host a sexual health clinic every Friday from 9:00 to 11:00 (although an appointment for a sexual health checkup can be made anytime). There is also a free counselling service that is available at all four campuses.

Shops

There are student union shops in the Strand, Waterloo, and Guys campuses. There, you can buy snacks, drinks, stationery, college merchandise, and other miscellaneous items. At Guy's campus, the shop is also where you go to buy event tickets, to join clubs and societies, and to get your TFL form stamped (this provides you with a student oyster card, saving a third off fares). Event tickets can also be bought at the desk in the Union building at the Strand. You can also apply to work part-time at any of the shops.

At the Strand, there is also a Blackwell's bookshop, Endsleigh Insurance, and a Natwest branch. There is also a Blackwell's on Guy's Campus.

Restaurants

There are three restaurants and cafes located at the Strand campus among others in different campuses. At the Strand, there's Chapters and Somerset Cafe located opposite one another on the second floor of the King's building. Chapters has a canteen open during lunch hours, serving hot food. The cafe sells a range of sandwiches and drinks and snacks. The Terrazza, is located in the student union building, offering sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Some food can also be purchased in the Waterfront bar. There is also a Cafe Direct stall in the middle of the day in the Strand's reception that sells coffee, muffins, cookies and rolls. There are also many cafes and restaurants along the Strand itself, including a Greggs next to Somerset House if you want something very cheap.

There is a restaurant on the ground level of the Henriette Raphael building on Guy's Campus. There is also a café inside New Hunt's House, also on Guy's Campus.

Banks

There is a Natwest on the first floor of the Macadam Building on Strand Campus, and various banks and cash machines along the Strand itself.

There is a Natwest cash point at Guy's campus. Alternatively, you can take a very short walk to Borough High Street where there are many cash points for many different banks available.

Transport

The Strand Campus's nearest tube is Temple, but it is also walkable within five to ten minutes from Covent Garden, Embankment, Holborn, Charing Cross or Waterloo. It is likely that you would only walk from Waterloo after getting off of a train that got into Waterloo station, as there are certainly much closer Underground stations than Waterloo.

Aldwych is a central point and is served by a multitude of buses - see www.tfl.gov.uk Including: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 59, 68, 76, 87, 91, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, RV1.

Guy's Campus's nearest tube/rail is London Bridge, but it is also walkable from Bank/Monument and Borough.

Buses include: 17, 21, 35, 40, 43, 47, 48, 133, 141, 149, 343, 381, 521, RV1.

St Thomas' Hospital can be reached through a free shuttle bus that leaves from Guy's Campus every half an hour (and every 15 minutes during peak time, which seems to be from 5-6pm). The trip takes 15 minutes. Anyone can use this bus - you don't have to be medical students.

King's College Hospital can be reached by bus (the number 40) or by train (Denmark Hill). As of 2nd June 2008, there is a new shuttle bus service to King's College Hospital from Guy's and St Thomas campuses which runs every 30 minutes from each site.

Waterloo Campus's nearest tube/rail is Waterloo. There are regular buses from Waterloo campus to London Bridge, and alternatively you could also walk to St Thomas' Hospital to use the free shuttle bus if you want to avoid paying 90p (this assumes you don't have a Travelcard).

www.tfl.gov.uk answers any transport questions you might have.

Careers service

King’s Careers service is part of the University of London Careers Group. There is a dedicated careers office at the Strand campus in the Macadam Building. The careers service can help students look for part-time jobs during their studies as well as graduate jobs, advise students on their CVs and job applications, prepare for interviews and with general employment advice.

King's regularly has careers fairs in the Great Hall at the Strand campus with employers giving talks and advice. Departments also publicise specific careers talks given by companies and employers relevant to their subject area.

Part-time jobs

Part-time jobs are available through the student union. You can work in one of the retail shops, at reception, or at one of the bars. Hours are very flexible. You can get an application on kclsu.org.

Religous facilities

There are chapels at the Strand and Guy's campuses, as well as a prayer room at the Waterloo campus. There are also dedicated Muslim prayer rooms at all four campuses. King's also has several faith-related student societies, including Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and Sikh. These groups book centrally timetabled rooms for prayer, worship, and regular activities, and can also book chaplaincy facilities.

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Social

King’s has a lot to offer in terms of students’ social lives. From the bars at the Guy’s and Strand campuses, to Tutu’s club in the Macadam Building there are also over 100 sports clubs, student societies, campaign and volunteering groups and student media outlets run by the students' union.

Bars, Pubs and clubs

As the name suggests, the Waterfront is a gorgeous, recently refurbished bar that overlooks the Thames. It is in the Macadam Building, on the 2nd floor. They also sell coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and snacks (such as nachos and curly fries. I really recommend these). There are snooker tables and always music playing. The booths and tables are comfy. You can easily spend a few hours there before heading off to Tutu's or somewhere else.

Guy's Bar is in the basement of Boland House at Guy's Campus, which was also recently refurbished (and from the sounds of things it was fairly grotty beforehand). Guy's Bar also sells coffee, pastries, sandwiches, paninis, snacks, and if you're really lucky, absolutely gorgeous chocolate cake. Guy's Bar normally shuts at 11pm. However, on Sports Night (Wednesday nights), it's open until 1am. I believe this is the same for the Waterfront, but I'm not sure.

Tutu's is a club located on the fourth floor of the Macadam Building. The club for Guy's Campus is Inverse, and it lies opposite to Guy's Bar in the basement of Boland House.

Events

There are several regular club nights, the most popular, arguably, being Phase which is hosted at Tutu's at the Strand every Friday. Tickets cost 6 pounds. Phase features "pop, chart, cheez and Phase classics."

For those into "UK garage, hip hop, r'n'b, swing, bhangra," is Fuse, which is hosted at Tutu's on sporadic Thursdays.

There are also many bands that play at King's. Past bands have included: Los Campesinos!, Lacuna Coil, Feist, Bloc Party, Vampire Weekend and Alanis Morissette.

4th floor is an indie night which occurs on Saturdays at Tutu's.

Truffle Shuffle is an 80s night which occurs on sporadic Thursdays at Inverse on Guy's Campus. Inverse is also used after the Christmas Show and Sports Hop (Sports Hops occur in Fresher's Week and Rag Week).

Clubs and societies

KCL has over a hundred societies that cover a wide range of areas. They include politics, religion, course subjects, food and drink, geekery, music, film, sport and fitness, comedy, university newspapers, sexuality, and debating. There are also societies and groups that offer volunteering and local outreach opportunities. Most societies charge between £4-£10 for a year's membership that funds events and outings, paid either in the KCLSU or on the website.

KCL Dance Society:

One of the largest most successful societies at KCL, Dance Soc is a great place to meet loads of new people. We offer a variety of dance styles, including street jazz, salsa, ballet, ballroom, and hip hop. In the second term we rehearse and perform our sell out dance show. We have regular socials including the amazing Christmas and aftershow parties! Check out the website for more details. KCL Dance Soc

Accommodation

King’s has seven halls of residence in travel zones 1 and 2. There are apartment style residences as well as self-catered halls and catered halls. King’s students also live in intercollegiate halls shared with the other University of London institutions. Many students move into private accommodation during the second and third years of their studies. Towards the end of the academic year, there are events set up to help students who are looking for private accommodation for the first time for the next year.

Accommodation policy

Most students will only receive university accommodation for one year (generally, their first). Priority is given to international students and students living outside the M25.

Facilities

The facilities available at the different halls depend on the location but include a bar, television room, pool and football tables and computer rooms.

Residences

There are seven halls of residence at King's, ranging from catered, self-catered, apartments, and corridors. In addition, KCL students can apply for accommodation at the University of London Intercollegiate Halls, and private halls owned by Liberty. The private halls are much more expensive than KCL or UoL accommodation. KCL's seven halls of residences are:

Great Dover Street Apartments

Located off of Borough High Street, within easy walking distance from Guys Campus, Great Dover Street Apartments boasts 769 en-suite rooms within 113 apartments arranged around a courtyard. It is a self-catering accommodation. Borough tube station is a three minute walk away, located just down the street. The Strand campus is a 35-45 minute walk depending on how fast or slow you are. There's a pub opposite GDSA that offers free wi-fi. Behind the building is a small park, and two minutes away there's a small Tesco and various takeout places that deliver till late if you're lazy, drunk and in need of food.

GDSA has 10 blocks. Blocks 9 and 10 have slightly bigger rooms than Blocks 1-8 and are also off the main alarm circuit. Thus when alarms go off in blocks 1-8, blocks 9 and 10 are left in peace. Each apartment within its block houses eight to ten people.

The kitchen's are of a decent size and have a television in (may or may not work/get reception), as well as a microwave, mops, vacuum cleaners, brooms, a table and chairs. Each kitchen has a double sink. We got told that we could rent a freezer for the kitchen, but there was one in there anyway when we moved in. Although cleaners come in and remove waste in the kitchen once a week, you are expected to clean the kitchen on a weekly basis and are given weekly checks to ensure it is clean. If it is left in an extremely untidy manner then you might get charged for cleaning. You're in charge of cleaning your own room.

Each bedroom has it's own fridge with an ice box, so there's less worry about people stealing your food. Each room comes with some bedding, a desk, shelves, a noticeboard, cupboards, a wardrobe and a chair. The en suite facilities are small and more like a wet room. The layout of the corridors means that socialising is not as easy than in non-apartment style accommodation, but security doesn't seem to be too bothered about noise levels unless you're actually screaming. The walls are thick enough that noise isn't too much of an issue. Rooms have blinds rather than curtains. There are radiators in the rooms so that you can make your room as warm as you like, something that's nice during the winter. Rooms tend to be rectangle shape rather than square which means less floor space. I could fit one guest comfortably on the floor next to my bed. There's wireless internet throughout the building, requiring a KCL info to gain access, so freshers are unable to use the internet until they have registered and gotten their student ID cards with their student number. This is where the pub opposite with free wifi comes in handy. The rooms are quite cramped and claustrophobic, so you wouldn't want to spend a lot of time in there.

Bikes are kept in a room on the ground floor in each block. There are stands to padlock the bikes to. There's a computer room with printers, a lounge with pool tables and sofas, and a laundry room all located on the ground level.

Security is high at GDSA. To get to their room, a student must use a swipe card to get into the foyer, a swipe card to leave it to get to the courtyard, a swipe card to get into their actual block, a key to get into their apartment, and then a key to get into their actual room. Despite this, it's quite easy to smuggle visitors in without having them having to sign in and out. This is not true at Stamford Street. (Smuggling visitors in, not the high security)

Mail boxes are located in the foyer. You can pick up your parcels in the foyer by taking your postal notification and your student ID to the security desk.

Stamford Street Apartments

Undoubtedly the most convenient residence for students at the Strand and Waterloo campuses, Stamford Street Apartments is located just a couple of minutes' walk from Waterloo Station. It is right across the street from Waterloo Campus and a 10-15 minute walk from the Strand. It has 548 en-suite single bedrooms within 89 apartments. It is arguably the most sought-after hall of residence at King's, closely followed by Great Dover Street Apartments.

Like Great Dover Street, it is arranged into blocks, with flats inside. There are shared kitchens. Each room comes with its own individual small fridge and en-suite facilities are wet rooms with a toilet, sink and shower. When you shower, everything gets wet, even with the supplied shower curtain. Security is very high, requiring you to swipe your key card several times to get in or out. Post is collected from individual boxes next to reception. Rooms tend to be small, but come with a desk, noticeboard, lamp, chair, wardrobe etc.

The Rectory

Next door to Brian Creamer House, The Rectory is a self-catered residence for mature and graduate students only. It has 24 single rooms with shared kitchens, toilets, showers and bathrooms.

Brian Creamer House

Located very near Lambeth Bridge, it is a self-catered hall for KCL students, a walk or cycle ride away from the Strand along the South Bank. Rooms do not have ensuite showers but all have washbasins, and showers are shared between only a few people. The advantages of a halls layout and shared kitchens make BCH particularly sociable.

Wolfson House

Wolfson House is the closest accommodation to Guy's Campus. The rooms are not ensuite. The building is literally right next to the Greenwood Lecture Theatre, and so is ideal for anyone whose course uses this lecture theatre (ie medicine, biomedical sciences, neuroscience in their first year).

Hampstead Campus

Further away than most halls, but easily accessible via Finchley Road / West Hampstead tube stations. Quieter but a very nice area, most people dread it going then miss it leaving.

There are 7 accommodation buildings here, Maynard, Cameron and Chapman on the north side, and Chesney and Ellison on the south. The halls on the north side are generally nicer than those on the south side in terms of atmosphere, sized rooms and kitchens. Hampstead houses approximately 450 students. The surrounding area is very quiet and peaceful, but once you get onto Finchley Road, there is lots to do.

We have a wide range of facilities, including a bar with a club downstairs, a projector to show football games on etc. I don't know all of the prices, but spirts with a mixer (eg Arches and lemonade, vodka and orange), are £1.40, and beer is £2. Bay House has two TV rooms, two music practice rooms, and a "noise room". One TV room is Bay Lounge, and this is a really large room with a few sofas and a large range of videos (!) and DVDs. You can borrow the videos for free, and if you want to borrow the DVDs that's free too, but just requires a deposit o £10, which you get back on return of the DVDs. They have a PS3 and Wii that you can borrow too. The other TV room is quite large, with a huge plasma TV with built in DVD player, as well as a freeview box and video player. There's about 20 comfy chairs in there, laid out like a cinema, so it's cool for watching films with your mates. The noise room is basically a room where you can go and make as much noise as you like. This is usually active in the AM hours, for when people get kicked out of the kitchen, or when you get back from a club but don't want to go to bed. You can take anything down there, like alcohol, food, or guitars, for example. There are a lot of comfortable chairs and a couple of sofas, and a table as well. There are also several plug sockets. There's also a games room in the basement of Chapman with table tennis tables, snooker tables, an air hockey table, dartboard, oversized Kinect4 etc.

We're very near to several bus stops, and the quickest way to get to campus is to catch the bus (any of the ones that run down Finchley Road - 13, 113, 82), which takes about 5 minutes, or about 2 when it's not rush hour, and then get off at Finchley Road Tube Station. You could also walk to Hampstead Tube Station. It then takes about 15 mins on the tube to get to Waterloo; about 17 to get to London Bridge, for Guy's Campus, and for Strand it takes about 13 mins to get to Westminster and then a further 5 mins to change and get to Temple Tube Station. All of the tube stations are a 2 minute walk to the relevant campuses.

The good thing about London means that you can get to and back from anywhere, at any time. We have a 24 hour bus (the N13) which goes to the stop by Hampstead Campus, and goes through places like Oxford Street and even stops right outside the Strand campus. But wherever you are, even if the N13 doesn't service that route, just ring TFL and they will tell you exactly which bus to get, and you can change for the N13.

Anyone at Hampstead is able to hire a fridge, for as long as they want, for 50p a day. It's fairly big, has three shelves and a little freezer compartment.

It's easy to sneak friends in to stay overnight, although you're supposed to sign them in and out at reception. The washing and drying machines are located in a basement on the south side.

Rooms at Hampstead are larger and more comfortable, and come with more furniture than those at Stamford Street or Great Dover Street. Around Finchley Road tube station there are many shops and restaurants. The Finchley O2 Centre is located next door to the tube, and holds a Yo Sushi!, Nandos, Sainsburys, Habitat, Wetherspoons, Fine Burger Co., Homebase, Starbucks, Walkabout, Waterstones, Zizzi, cinemas and fitness centres. There are also a number of restaurants, cafes and pubs along Finchley Road. About a minute away from the halls there are cornershops and pizza place. There are many takeout places that deliver to halls, including pizza, sushi, Chinese, Indian, Lebanese etc.

Reception:

There are about 5 or 6 security guards, that sit at reception on rota. They collect all of your post and will keep for you any parcels that get delivered. To get this, you just need to go down to reception with your student card. They are generally really friendly, however they can get annoying at night. They often try and kick you out of the kitchen by about 12am, but this, it seems, is changing, and we may well now be allowed in there till whenever, as long as we're quiet.

Maynard:

This is the building that I am in. There are three floors, and each floor houses 24 students. The rooms are not that big, but they're not small either. They are square shaped, so there is a fair bit of floor space (as opposed to a long room) - enough to sleep about 5 mates anyway. Starting with the basics, in the room everybody gets: a bed, matress, matress cover, two sheets, duvet and duvet cover, large noticeboard, two shelves, desk with drawers, a wardrobe, (with long door mirror inside) a sink, a mirror above the sink, a towel rail a waste paper bin, a chair and a wierd hollow box thing, the same height as the desk...perhaps a bedside table? Or just a table with a storage area? I don't really know what it is, but my fridge is in mine, and it's next to my desk, so I use the top as an extension to my desk.

With regards to the chair, people either get a comfortable chair for a desk chair, or a hard desk chair and an easy chair, although some people seem to have the comfortable chair and the easy chair.

The top floor have sloped ceilings, which means that we have massive walk in wardrobes (I'd imagine this is because they couldn't fit a full height wardrobe under the slope), which goes back about six feet, and has a cupboard above it. So there's plently of storage space.

Our accommodation was refurbished last year, so most of the other buildings are jealous of our luxury kitchens! We have a massive kitchen, allowing each student to have 2-3 cupboards each (with a place to have a padlock - which most people use), and a large fridge, large freezer and a fridge-freezer. This means people tend to get about 1 shelf each in the fridge and in the freezer. We also have two cookers (so 8 hobs in total), and two sinks. There's a couple of tables with 12 chairs, which seems strange for a kitchen on 24, but the only time we tend to have a problem is if we're all sat around there in the evening playing drinking games, in which case we need to grab a couple of chairs from people's rooms. The kitchen is looks really nice and modern too. It has white cupboards with chrome handles and the surfaces are all grey granite. There's always enough room when people want to cook, even if there's a lot of us cooking at once.

We have shared bathrooms, consisting of a girls' and a boys' bathroom, and a communal one. Both the girls' and the boys' bathrooms have two toilet cubicles and three shower cubicles, and the communal one has two more toilet cubicles. As of yet, none of us have ever had to wait for a toilet or the shower.

Lady Chapman:

This building is situated on the North side. There are three floors, each with a shared bathroom and kitchen. The games room is in the basement. The building was recently refurbished so it's currently shiny and new inside. Outside there's a quad and a smoking shelter.

Once you walk into the shared communal bathroom, there are three individual rooms, each with a new shower, toilet and sink, so you don't have to worry about privacy. They get cleaned every day, and despite being shared between thirteen people, you never have to wait for a shower. The kitchens are also cleaned every day, and are a decent size. On my floor, the kitchen has an electric oven with five hobs, two separate oven compartments for baking/grilling, two fridges, one freezer, and a large cupboard for each resident. All the cupboards can be padlocked.

The bedrooms are large with a high ceiling. You could easily fit four or five sleeping bags on the floor when having people over. Each room has a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a bookcase, a sink, a towel rack, a desk, a desk chair, a comfy chair, a bedside table, a large noticeboard, a lamp, a bed (with bedding, duvet with cover, and one pillow in a pillow case). Windows are large and the rooms are comfortable. You can take your issued bedding to the laundry room on fridays and exchange it for clean bedding.

King's College Hall

King's College Hall is situated close to King's College Hospital and is the only catered KCL hall of residence.

Private sector

Privately renting accommodation in London will generally cost from about £90 a week upwards, depending drastically on how far out and how big places are! Many students choose to live in zones two or three. Because London isn't a student city in the same way as other places, housing is easy to find and many students leave it until mid to late August to start looking for housing to move into for September. Living with three or four people is generally cheaper than living alone or with just one other person.

Every year, KCL and the University of London puts on events and meetings to help students with finding accommodation. These are usually pretty helpful. The University of London Accommodation website has a database of landlords/landladies, but searching websites like Gumtree also brings up results.

Areas of London that tend to be popular amongst students looking for cheap housing include Elephant and Castle, Wood Green/Turnpike Lane, Caledonian Road, Borough etc.

Remember to budget for bills and travel, and that if you're all students sharing, you don't have to pay council tax. Council tax exemption forms can be picked up from the Compass in the KCLSU at the Strand Campus.

King's students can also apply to live in Liberty Halls, privately owned student halls that are generally individual studio apartments. It tends to be extremely expensive though (moreso than living in a house with other students) so unless you are extrememly rich and want to live alone, it's not worth it.

Student union

There are 2 main unions - Boland House at Guy's Campus and the Macadam Building at the Strand Campus

Boland House: Guy's Bar, a lot of society facilities. Guy's Bar holds some club events. Guy's bar is the place to be on a Wednesday night - sport's night! Pint of snakebite is £1.50, and it's always fun! Stays open a bit later, and puts on a dancefloor and music later in the night. Serves hot and cold food for most of the day and night - the nachos on a good night are amazing, as are the curly fries. Non and alcoholic drinks served all the time. VERY convenient for Wolfson students, also GDS is less than 10min walk away and SSA is a short bus journey (381/ N381).

Macadam Building (Main KCLSU): 6 floors - this building houses music practice rooms (B2) a large study area (B1), The Terazza Cafe (G), Blackwell's Bookshop, various financial services, careers service and a cash machine (1), The amazing Waterfront Bar, with panoramic river views (2), KCLSU health centre and counseling services (3), Tutu's (club and gig venue) (4) and upstairs on the balcony of Tutu's, a shot bar.

Tutu's hosts 2 weekly nights - Phase on Fridays (general pop/chart music), and 4th Floor on Saturdays (Indie). There is also a monthly 80s night called Truffle Shuffle (on occasional Thursdays), as well as other events, and public music gigs.

KCL students also have the option of attending University of London Union events.

KCLSU encourages active participation with the way it is run. Every semester, the student council holds a Rant Week where stalls are set up and postcards are handed out to actively encourage students to give their thoughts on the union. Rants can be read on the KCLSU website, and student reps appearing on campuses to discuss the issues. There are also KCLSU members meetings at least once a semester where students can discuss issues surrounding the union with the student council.

Prices

Drinks:

Vodka + Mixer: £1.80

Double Vodka + Mixer: £2.80

Gin + Mixer: £2.05

Food:

Large Sharing Platter of Chips/Curly Fries: £1.75

A Slice of Chocolate Cake: £1.10

Environment

King’s has a good and welcoming environment for students who enjoy a good work social life balance. Whether popping to the bar after lectures or enjoying the organised club nights during the week King’s students also take part in extra-curricular activities. From their central London location King’s students are well placed to make the most of all that London has to offer from museums, to theatres, parks, galleries and eateries.

Architecture

The King's Strand campus combines the Grade I listed King's Building of 1831 designed by Sir Robert Smirke, and the Byzantine Gothic College Chapel, redesigned in 1864 by Sir George Gilbert Scott with the more modern Strand Building, completed in 1972. King's has also acquired the East Wing of Somerset House to accommodate a cultural centre. The chapel is very attractive and worth seeing.

The Strand campus is also home to a a National Trust-protected Roman Bath. It can be accessed via the Surrey Street entrance. Hidden by surrounding College buildings, the Baths were mentioned by Charles Dickens in chapter thirty-five of David Copperfield. Moreover Aldwych tube station, a well-preserved but disused London Underground station, is integrated as part of the King's Strand campus. A Rifle Range is located on the site of a platform taken out of public service in 1917.

In addition, the King's Maughan Library is a Grade II listed building and received the 2003 City Heritage Award. The 19th century gothic former Public Record Office building was designed by Sir James Pennethorne. Inside the Library is the octagonal Round Reading Room, inspired by the reading room of the British Museum, and the former Rolls Chapel (renamed the Weston Room following a donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation) with its stained glass windows, mosaic floor and monuments, including an important Renaissance terracotta figure by Pietro Torrigiano of Dr Yonge, Master of the Rolls, who died in 1516.

The Guy's campus is also housed in parts of Guy's Hospital, established in 1726, and is home to an 18th century chapel.

Local area

The Strand Campus is located on Aldwych, a sort of oddly shaped roundabout connecting the Strand (going west towards Trafalgar Square), Kingsway (going North towards Euston), Fleet Street (going East towards the city) and Waterloo Bridge (going South to Waterloo and the South Bank).

This places it just on the corner of Covent Garden, and theatreland. Going slightly north and west leads to Leicester Square and Soho, and a bit further to Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. These places are walkable in 10-15 minutes, going through Covent Garden.

This places KCL in very close proximity to London's favourite shopping areas, markets, and tourist attractions such as monuments and art galleries, making it arguably the best located college in the University of London.

Waterloo Campus is located exactly opposite Stamford Street Appartments, and within walking distance of Waterloo Station. The local area is the IMAX cinema (about 200m away max), Waterloo Bridge, Waterloo Station, St Thomas' Hospital, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Tate Modern and Blackfriars Bridge. Of these St Thomas' Hospital, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are the furthest away, but this is still only a short walk.

Guy's Campus is situated a fairly short distance from Borough Market, which appears to be a fairly major tourist attraction. It is also right next to London Bridge (the actual bridge, not the station), which can be great fun to walk across, as it gives a lovely view of the river (odd that). Across the bridge lies the City (and in the City lies some good shopping, as long as you don't go during weekends, as everything will be shut. Everything). To the South of Guy's Campus is the Ministry of Sound and Elephant & Castle. Not really as impressive as Covent Garden and Big Ben, but still are worth going to. (Elephant & Castle is certainly a cheap area to buy things)

Trivia

• King's Department of Theology's library plays a widely fictionalized part in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
• The reading room of the Maughan Library was used as Dumbledore's office in the Harry Potter films.
• The Round Room, at Maughan library was used in the Da Vinci Code book and Derren Brown: Trick or Treat, amongst other programmes.

Applying to King's College

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Other King's College Articles

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