University of Liverpool

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The University of Liverpool was one of the original 'red brick' universities created in 1903 but it has a history dating back to 1881 when it was created as University College Liverpool. The uni is mostly situated on a single campus just 5 minutes outside Liverpool city centre though a couple of departments are located across on The Wirral.

Facilities

Libraries

There are two libraries in the University:

The Harold Cohen Library contains the collections for science, for engineering, and for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science..

The Sydney Jones Library contains the collections for arts, psychology and social and environmental studies.

Both are open 24 hours during term time which allows plenty of time for study.

There are also many departmental libraries which hold a smaller range of books relevant to the subject taught by the department.

IT and Computing

If you have your own computer you can get 24/7 internet access in your room at halls or use wireless free in either library or the guild. If not there are computers available in the libraries and in many academic buildings on campus. There are also small computer rooms situated out at the halls of residence.

The library computer rooms are open 24 hours Mon-Fri, and during library opening hours at weekends (Saturday 0000-2300 and Sunday 1200-2300 (Sciences library) or Saturday 0000-2130 and Sunday 1200-2130 (Arts Library)). Most other computer rooms are open between 0830 and 1730.

Sports

Sports clubs at Liverpool (coordinated with the Liverpool Guild of Students) include:

Welfare

In terms of student welfare, most facilities are found in the Guild, where you'll find the Student Accomodation Office and Student Health. There is also a team of student representatives to deal with any issues. In addition to this, there is a free counselling service offered, where it is possible to book hour-long appointments in six-week blocks with qualified counsellors.

In addition there are childcare facilities, with a children's pre-school located on Crown Street opposite the Department of Chemistry, the fees are subsidised by the University, but are not free.

Healthcare

As well as Student Health (not really recommended for anything other than getting condoms and treating STIs) there are many GP surgerys around the area that are happy to take on students. This includes many on campus and around the halls and just off Smithdown Road. Due to the large medical school in the city, there is also no shortage of hospitals. Though the only A&E in the city centre is at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (near the university campus), with an additional A&E at Fazakerley Hospital on the North side of the city.

Students who try to do so don't have trouble finding an NHS dentist.

Shops

The main shopping areas in the city centre are:

• Church Street
• Bold Street
• Liverpool ONE
• St John's Precinct
• Met Quarter
• Clayton Square

Although formerly the city did not have the same standard of offering as Leeds and Manchester, Liverpool's city centre has a wide variety of shops. It's not missing any of the big chains and also has a wide selection of smaller, independent shops. A recent addition the world's largest Primark outlet, some 10,000 sqft larger than the oxford street store.

It also has a growing Met quarter where a number of high end retailers have opened branches.

The City centre has recently completed the current phase of redevelopmets, with the opening of Liverpool One. Liverpool has all the major brands you'd see in any city centre, as well as a new entertainment level with a new Odeon cinema and various restaurants. There is still the Church Street shops including Marks and Spencer, Primark and BHS. The other key shopping areas are Clayton Square (mainly clothes stores, but also has a Boots) and St John's Precinct (with a market, Wilkinsons, Pound shops, and various independant traders).

There is also Quiggins, which is similar to Affleck's Palace in Manchester or the Corn Exchange in Leeds.

In terms of Supermarkets, there is a large ASDA store on Smithdown Road (the main student road), which serves as the main student supermarket. There are Tesco Metro branches Edge Hill, Greenbank Road (near the halls) and in the city centre, with a 24hr superstore next to Liverpool One and on Allerton Road (also with a petrol station). There are also Morrisons (in Speke, near the airport) and Sainsbury's (in Old Swan). There are various branches of Aldi, Lidl and Netto.

Restaurants

In Liverpool City Centre you've got the regular McDonalds, Burger King, KFC etc. Going more upmarket, there are various Chinese restauranrs in Chinatown and there's a few restaurants in Liverpool One. Going out of the city, there's Lark Lane with many multi-cultural restaurants and Allerton also has various restaurants. Some student favourites include:

• Buffet Star (near Varsity) which as the name suggests is a Chinese all you can eat buffet
• Nandos (one near Queen Square bus station, and one at Liverpool ONE) which is a chain restaurant specialising in Chicken piri-piri
• Wetherspoons (Three in the city centre and one in Kensington) which serves reasnobly priced, but good quality pub food.
• Scream Bar (The Brookhouse off Smithdown Road and The Hope and Anchor near JMU) student bar, serving typical pub food and really good desserts
• The Font (just off campus), serves okay pub food and sandwiches during the day
• Kimos (on Mount Pleasant), technically a Greek restaurant, but also serves homemade burgers, good value food.

On top of this, there's various Pubs and Chippys dotted throughout the city.

Banks

Being a big city, there are plenty of banks and cash machines throughout the city. On campus (or nearby) there is a branch of HSBC and Natwest (underneath Mulberry Court, opposite the Font Bar, these have limited opening hours, 9-4 term time only), Barclays (on the Alsop Parde (Brownlow Hill near the Vet Med faculty) and Royal Bank of Scotland (inside the Guild).

All of the above have a couple of cash machines each, there is also a Lloyds TSB cash machine. Most cash machines give out £5, £10 and £20 notes.

For the more obscure banks and the building societies, your best bet is the city centre, though some will only have branches in Manchester.

Transport

All transport is operated in zones, but for the most part you wont venture outside of the C (or city) zone. All services are subsidised by Merseytravel.

Arriva is the main operator of services in Liverpool, and serve all parts of Merseyside radiating from Liverpool city centre. There are also services operated by Stagecoach (mainly in North Liverpool) and various independant operators. Buses directly serving the University campus are routes 6 (to Warrington), 7 (to Huyton), 7A (to Warrington, evenings), 7B (to Rainhill, evenings), 14 (to Runcorn or Rainhill), 61 (to Widnes), 78 (to Halewood) and 79 (to Netherley)

The university has 2 main halls of residence, Greenbank and Carnatic. The number 699 bus stops solely at these two campus's and the Guild of students in the City centre. It goes every 10 mins from about 8am until 12:30 in the evening. It costs £1.40 per journey (student single), £3.20 for a day ticket or you can buy an annual arriva bus ticket online for £208. This is highly recommended if you live anywhere other than the centre of town. There are also multiple other routes that run within 5/10 minutes walk of the halls of residence. Including a night bus that runs until 4.30am.

In terms of other transport, Taxis are easily available all over the city centre and will cost about £9 to the Carnatic site or £6 to Greenbank, with taxis to other student parts of Liverpool being no more than £7.00 (in a hackney) or £5.00 (in a private hire cab).

For journeys further afield, the majority of trains operate to/from Liverpool Lime Street, located in the centre of town (near Queen Square bus station). There is also Liverpool Central, where the Merseyrail services operate towards Southport, Kirkby, Ormskirk and the Wirral. There are also stations located throughout the city. The airport is easily accessible via services 80A, 82A and 86A (don't get the 500, as it's a rip off compared to the previous services)

Careers service

The University has it's own Careers service located in the Guild building. It is known as "The Careers and Employability Service".

There's a couple of options as regards Guidance meetings, first there are "quick query" appointments which are about 15 minutes each, meaning you can get a couple of issues sorted (and can be taken by any advisor) or "guidance" appointments, which are about 40 minutes each (and have to be taken by the careers advisor specialising in your department/faculty). Quick appointments can be booked on the day whilst guidance interviews need to be booked in advance.

The careers office also has various reading materials about various part-time jobs, research oppurtunities and graduate careers. It is open 1000-1630 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with opening hours on Tuesday being 1000-1830.

Also, there are normally employment oppurtunities advertised in your department.

Part-time jobs

As it's a major city, there are various part time jobs availiable especially in the commercial and nightlife markets. For more information, consult the careers service.

Religious facilities

The University of Liverpool has a vibrant Christian Union. Called the City CU, it welcomes students from all 4 major Liverpool Higher Education institutes and meets all over the city. As well as main meetings, there are small groups that meet every Monday night at sites city wide.

Liverpool also has many lively churches, popular with students, alongside some more traditional one. Most people find a church they can settle into pretty easily. The CU are also involved with "Church Search" where older students take freshers to their churches with them so they can try several churches out without fear of getting lost.

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Social

Bars, Pubs and clubs

Being in the city, there are various bars, pubs and clubs within short walking distance.

Guild

The Guild (which is our students union) is good for a quiet drink in one of the bars, but not much else, they have ocassional club nights on (Double Vision is the major monthly event), but going out on the town is more favoured (as it's easier to get home from at the end of a night). It is the hub of activities in Freshers week, with the week finishing with the Freshers fair. However it is not open during weekend daytimes.

Inside the Guild is the base where you will buy tickets for most events linked to the Guild such as Concerts held there like The Enemy, Feeder and Dizzie Rascal and socials for societies.

Pubs near Campus

In terms of pubs, the main starting point of a night is The Font pub (which has been discussed above), cocktails are £2 a glass and other drinks are reasnobly priced, other options include the Augustus John (or AJ), which has very reasnobly priced drinks (£1 for a Corona), but don't be suprised to see your lecturers there having a lunchtime drink. There are various other pubs around the campus (but these have less of a student appeal).

Pubs near the Halls

There are subsidised bars at the halls (Carnibar, RnG bar and Derbibar), which again offer reasnobly priced drinks and a good craic, but coming away from the halls, the main student place is the Brookhouse, which is a Scream bar (chain of student bars), which being designed for students, offers cheap drinks. There are also at least 11 pubs on Smithdown (good pub crawl material)

Bars in the City

There are many bars in the city centre, but a few student favourites are:

• Revolution Vodka Bar (three in the city), which while a bit more expensive than the above offers some good deals (especially during freshers), and some really nice flavoured vodkas.
• Varsity which is a studenty sports bar, with student discounts given via a v-card
• Bar CaVa (Wood Street), a bit of a dive once again, but £1 per shot of (flavoured) tequila, you can't complain
• Djangos Riff (Wood Street), which has live bands on most days of the week, and is underground, so has a nice atmospher
• Heebie Jeebies (Seel Street), half club half bar which is busy most weekends, but during the week it's not too bad.
• Baa Bar, well known chain in Northern University cities. Serves random shooters for £1, the music policy leaves much to be desired, but people are there for the cheap drinks. Just don't get a cement mixer!

Clubs

There is a club to suit all tastes in Liverpool, some of my favourites are:

• First, THE student club: The Razz (or Blue Angel as the staff prefer it to be known), it's has a huge mix of music from RnB, to 90s pop to cheesy 70s classics along with all your major floorfillers
• The most famous offering in Liverpool is the Krazyhouse (or Kray), never been there myself, but it's got a floor of dance music, a floor of Indie music and a floor of heavy metal.
• Mood, which is extortinate at weekends (£7 in), but has a decent club night on a Monday (known as Aquapop), and mainly specialises in Dance music.
• Popworld, Reflex and Flares (for your cheesy pop needs)
• Le Bateau (another good night out, specialising in Indie and Electro music), also has the big student Friday night known as Indiecation
• Medication (never been myself, but from what Ive heard it's a good laugh)

Events

Same fare as every other University city. There's gigs for all tastes either at the Guild, the Carling Academy and the Echo Arena, with smaller gigs going on at various bars and clubs across the city.

The main student pub crawl is Carnage, which has various stops before finally ending in the Krazyhouse. A good place to start if you don't know the city very well, but the stops may not be to all tastes. There's various departmental/society pub crawls and there's also pub golf.

Clubs and societies

There are probably around 100 non-sporting student societies at Liverpool Uni - all connected to the Liverpool Guild of Students.

You'll be able to join any of the societies once you are there and as if the 100 or so aren't enough for you to choose from, you'll be able to try and set up your own new ones too.

Accommodation

Accommodation policy

Accommodation is guaranteed to all first year Undergraduates as long as you have a firm place at Liverpool and apply for accommodation before the end of August.

Facilities

Residences

Off Campus Accommodation

• Mostly young Undergraduates, not aimed at Post-Grads.
• 3-4 miles away from the University itself but has its own bus.

Greenbank

• Two Halls: Derby and Rathbone (D&R) and Roscoe and Gladstone (R&G)
• Around 850 residents in total.
• On site tutor system - tutors live in most blocks and a warden is located on site.
• Reputation for being the quieter of the two sets of off site halls.
• Close to local amenities - Tesco Express (5 mins), Boots, Takeaways, Choices, Blockbuster, Limited Restaurants all less than 15 minutes walk away.
• All bills included in the price.
• Internet included in price.
• Located across from the famous Penny Lane!
• Secure area.

Derby and Rathbone

• Mixture Of Catered and Self Catered Accommodation.
• Around 300 Self Catered En Suite Places available for 2007, 38 week contact. About £71 a week.
• Around 100 Self Catered Places available for 2007, 38 week contract. About £82 a week.
• Around 150 Catered Places (some en-suite) available for 2007, 32 week contract (no Xmas or Easter). About £112 (shared bathroom) and £123 (en-suite).
• Washbasins in some rooms.
• The catered rooms at D&R (which from 09/07 will be the Old Court) are the biggest on offer at the University.
• From 09/07 there will be no dining room on site, instead catered residents will have to use the new dining room over at Roscoe and Gladstone Halls - around a 2 minute walk away.
• On site facilities include newly refurbished bar, reading room, badminton and tennis courts, laundry room, computer room and possibly from 09/07 a small gym. Also all facilities at R&G are open to use to D&R residents.

Roscoe and Gladstone

• Around 300 Catered Places available for 2007. About £112 a week.
• Limited amount of Self Catered Accommodation (less than 10 rooms). Some of these are accessible rooms.
• Washbasins in all rooms.
• Cleaner inculded in price
• Some of the rooms have balconies ( all floors apart from the bottom floor so your odds of getting one is 3/4)
• On site facilities include 2 TV rooms, bar, library, computer room and laundry room. Also all facilities at D&R can be used by R&G residents.

Carnatic

• Six Halls: Morton, Lady Mountford, Dale, Salibury, Rankin and McNair.
• On the whole smaller rooms than Greenbank.
• All rooms rented on a 32 week contract.
• Bills/Internet included in price.
• Live in Tutors and Wardens
• Cleaner included in the price
• All facilities shared by the 6 halls; dining room, badminton and tennis courts, laundry room, music rooms, bar, tv rooms
• Has a reputation for being more social than Greenbank due to its layout.
• Close to a large Tesco (10 mins walk), many other amenities with less than 30 mins approx walking distance.

Dale

• Around 250 Catered Places available for 2007. About £108 a week.
• Limited amount of Self Catered for males only (around 15 rooms). About £70 a week.
• Share a bathroom with 1 other person.
• Reputation for being the nicest of the Carnatic Halls.

Lady Mountford

• Around 250 Catered Places available for 2007. About £93 a week.
• Share a bathroom with 3 other people
• Share a kitchen with 9 other people
• Female and male only floors

Morton

• Around 150 Catered Places available for 2007. About £109 a week.

McNair

• Around 200 Catered Places available for 2007. About £105 a week.
• Washbasins in all rooms.

Rankin

• Around 250 Catered Places available for 2007. Around £102 a week.
• Reputation for being the worst quality off campus residence.
• Washbasins in all rooms.

Salibury

• Around 220 Catered Places available for 2007. About £105 a week.
• Female only corridors are available.
• Washbasins in all rooms.

Campus Accommodation

• Reputation for being more aimed at Internationals, Post-Grads and Mature Students but there is a significant amount of Undergraduates live at these residences.
• Reputation for not being the same standard as the off-campus halls but many people are willing to overlook this to avoid to bus journeys.
• All self catered accommodation.
• All bills included in the price.
• Internet included in the price.
• Rooms suitable for families and couples are available.

Mulberry Court

• Around 350 places available for 2009. About £81 a week.
• Some couple only self contained flats (around 15). About £80 a week.
• Contracts vary from 40 to 52 week.
• Washbasins in some rooms.

Philharmonic Court

• Around 250 places for 2007. About £70 a week.
• Around 80 self contained flats (couples/families). Between £70 and £100 a week. More info further down.
• Contracts vary from 40 to 52 week.
• Washbasins in all rooms.

Philharmonic Court Flats Info on the 80 self contained flats:

• 10 single bedsits. Aimed at single people.
• 35 double bedsits. Aimed at couples.
• 30 small flats. Aimed at a couple with 1 child.
• 4 larger flats. Aimed at a couple with 2 children.

Melville Grove

• Around 350 places available for 2007. About £70/75 a week.
• Washbasins in all rooms.
• 40 week contract.

Private sector

• Large Amount of Private Halls Available in the town centre - all are self catered, most en-suite popular locations included Opal Court, Prospect Point, Lennon Studios and Capital Gate. Prices vary from £60 to £100 a week, dependent on location. Many of these companies do not hold a good reputation among the students but regardless are still full every year.
• Private Halls are well known to be popular among internationals, medics, dentists and some arts students.
• Large Amount of Private Housing available to suit all budgets (again dependent on location). The majority is situated off Smithdown Road, Penny Lane and in Kensington. Houses can be found for as little as £45 per week.
• LSH run by University to help students find private housing, they hold a number of reputable landlords and are very helpful in searching for houses.
• Most 2nd years and above live in Private Accommodation, mostly houses but there are a growing number opting for the town centre private halls.

Student union

The Student Union, known as Liverpool Guild of Students, LGoS or more informally 'The Guild' is the largest in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. During the day, the guild is generally rather full owing to the reasonable prices for food/drink, the warmth, and its central location with regards to the departments.

Double Vision on the last Friday of the month is the main event at the guild, but not very well attended, with double vodka at £1 and single vodka and a mixer at £1.30, bottles and pints are also cheap, but rarely bought. Double vision also occasionally has a special Double Vision Extra, with a decent live band, Karl Kennedy from Neighbours' band is on the lineup this year. None of the other events at the guild are frequently attended though.

The guild is also used for society meetings, for example debating society, and as the starting point for departmental pub crawls. Freshers' fair is also held here, and any large meetings or talks from the university staff are generally given in the hall.

Prices

Prices in the guild are good. However, since the shop changed at the beginning of the academic year, it's generally cheaper to bring food in from Greggs or Tesco (across the road near SAS building). Prices include:

Wraps and sandwiches range from about £1.70 to £2.90 but surprisingly they're pretty appetising. A pint starts at about £1.40 and can be as much as £2 depends on the current offers. I'm sure like me though, you'll know the exact price of your drink of choice after about a day. Spirits vary, with a double spirit and mixer about £2.50. Soft drinks are dirt cheap, 30p for a cordial and soda, and coke is about £1.40 for a pint.

Halls bars serve at a similar price.

Environment

Architecture

Unfortunately, Liverpool gets a bad press for it's architecture, with the news always being about the Edge Lane terraces (which seem to be taking a long time to be knocked down). However, this reputation is unfair.

The city centre has some good examples of architecture, with the main highlights being the Catholic Cathedral and the three graces at Pier Head. There is a mix of very modern and very old buildings, and the skyline suggests this

In terms of the campus, the majority of buildings on the pure sciences campus leave much to be desired, they were more built for function rather than asthetics, and seem to be mostly 1960s style buildings. The Guild (or at least the Brownlow Hill end of it) on the other hand is in a rather art-deco style. The arts and social sciences campus (the area around Abercromby Square), is the complete opposite, with most departments being based in Georgian Terraces (with lectures taking place in the University lecture theatres). The medical faculty is mixed, varying from the very modern Sherrington building (across the road from the hospital) to the rather grotty Duncan building (which is more an extension of the hospital).

Local area

Liverpool's city centre is nice, and still improving. However, there is no major reason to go onto the other districts of Liverpool (especially in first year), as there's not much in terms of attractions, it mainly consists of lots and lots of houses. In terms of parks, there's various parks dotted about the city, with the major park being a stonesthrow from the halls (known as Sefton Park or Seffy). There's also Wavertree Park (or the mystery), Newsham Park (just outside of Kensington) and Croxteth Hall and Country park which includes a farm and a stately home that you can visit.

Further afield, the main places of interest are: Birkenhead (a large park and also a space museum (alot better than it sounds)), Freshfield (aka Formby point, a nice beach especially in the summer), Southport (an upmarket seaside resort) and West Kirby (a very wild seaside town). Chester is also very easily accessible from the city centre. These are all on the Merseyrail network, so trains are every 15 minutes to all points except Chester which has a half hourly service.

Teaching quality

Liverpool normally ranks in the mid-20s to mid 30s in the league tables - a pretty decent position. The entry requirements range from just above average to high depending on the course (so from about 280 UCAS points to 390 while the National Student Survey ranked the uni 4 out of 5 for the quality of it's teaching. It's considered a great place for subjects like veterinary science, graduate entry medicine and Irish Studies.

Applying to Liverpool

Thinking of applying to Liverpool? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here?

What Liverpool is

• A student city (you can't get away from it), with a student population of c. 50,000 (city's population is ~450,000)
• A generally friendly city.
• A safe city as there's lots of police on the beat (especially of a night)
• A good place to live with frequent transport, and everything you need is in close proximity
• A good night out with nights out to suit all tastes
• A cheap city with cheap accomodation, cheap taxis and cheap drinks
• A good University, with some of the best faculties in the country

What Liverpool is not

• Posh, it's a very working class city, and there's alot of deprivation, but it is on the up.
• Violent as said above, you generally don't get alot of undue hassle, but stay away from the rougher areas (around North Liverpool)
• Stereotypical, you wont get people saying "Calm down calm down" (that's a Harry Enfield stereotype), but the accent does exist

Other Liverpool Articles

Why not read these other Liverpool Articles?

• Personal Statements

Links

• Our Liverpool Discussion Forum
• Liverpool University Homepage
• A-Z of Universities