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TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is both fairly old, and very new. It was formed from the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) and UMIST on the 1st October 2004. It can, however, be traced right back to the Manchester Mechanics institute, started in 1824.

In the most recent research ratings, academics in every subject for which the university made a submission were considered either nationally or internationally eminent, and only Cambridge can match the number of subjects that have secured excellent teaching ratings. Going further back, this is the place where Rutherford split the atom (1911), where the first modern computer was built (1948) and where 22 Nobel prize winners can be counted among current or former staff and students.

The University of Manchester is the largest non-collegiate university in Western Europe, with close to 40,000 current students. It is the most popular university in the country, with over 64,000 applicants in 2006 and an average of around 9 students competing for every place. The university boasts over 500 degree courses, and the fifth highest research income of UK universities. The university is spread over two main campuses in the city centre, and Fallowfield. This is also reflected in the large number of halls of residence - allowing the university to guarantee one year in halls to every home student, and two years for every international student.

Of course, "big" doesn't necessarily mean "overwhelming" - students here tend to spend most of their time on either one campus or the other. It does, though, lead to a great choice of facilities - there are, at a quick count:

• 15 libraries
• 2 sports halls
• 1 Aquatics Centre (a swimming pool built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games!)
• 2 University of Manchester Student Union (UMSU) buildings

Student Life

Entertainment & Nightlife

Manchester/Salford, with its three universities (UoM, MMU, UoS) has excellent nightlife - rumoured to be the best outside of London. However, if pubbing and clubbing is not your thing, there are plenty of other activities to keep you away from your lectures - that's to say, plenty of theatres, cinemas, and societies, plus anything else you enjoy doing. Quite a few of the cinemas and theatres offer very cheap tickets for students, so you won't need to max out your loan to have a good time. An indoor ski slope similar to the one in Castlefield has just opened up next to the trafford centre and is very affordable.

The nightlife in Fallowfield has more of a student vibe, with pubs such as The Queen of Hearts proving very popular among students. The city centre caters a bit more widely for the tastes of the rest of Manchester, but you'll still be able to find an array of student nights at the most popular clubs such as 5th Avenue and M-Two.

If gay is your thing, then gay Manchester has in abundance - especially in Canal Street, the gay village of Manchester. This vibrant area next to the former UMIST campus boasts a large number of bars and clubs. Just don't buy anything from McTucky's, however much of a good idea it seems at 3am in the morning.

Deansgate Locks is a rather trendy development underneath railway arches slightly away from the city centre. Here you can find Revolution, Loaf, Bar Baa and the Comedy Club.

The Printworks is an enclosed area near the Arndale shopping centre comprising of venues such as Opus and Tiger Tiger.

The Northern Quarter is home to a number of independent clubs and bars, including the award winning Socio Rehab, Bluu and Sankeys.

Libraries

The University boasts the largest non-legal deposit library in the country - The John Rylands University Library (aka "main library"), located just off Oxford Road close to the Steve Biko Union Building. There are over 4 million books, a half a million electronic books, and over 40,000 electronic journals.

The main library opens from 8am-11.30pm Monday to Thursday, closing earlier on Fridays at 9.30pm, Saturdays from 9am-9.30pm and Sundays from noon-11.30pm.

There are further libraries on campus, the largest of those being the Joule library - which is mainly for Science texts and is situated on the old UMIST campus on Sackville Street.

The Eddie Davis Library (MBS), the Braddick Library (Physics), the JRUL Special Collections in Deansgate, the Kantorowich Library (Architecture, Geography, Planning and Landscape), the Leanagan Library (Music and Drama), the Learning Resource Centre (Education), Precinct Library, the Stopford Library (Medicine) and the ULC Library (Language learning) all complement the resources of the main libraries.

IT and computing

Sports

Welfare

Healthcare

Shops

Just down the road from the main university campus is a small row of shops including Tesco and Lidl which is great for students staying at the Victoria Park residential Halls. After these is the famous Curry Mile, with over 70 takeaways, curry houses and restaurants. The main supermarket in Fallowfield is Sainsburys.

Restaurants

Banks

Transport

An article on transport in Manchester can be found here

Careers service

Part-time jobs

Religious facilities

Social

Bars, pubs and clubs

Events

Clubs and societies

Travelling

Travelling in Manchester is ridiculously easy. The main student method of transport in Manchester is the bus, although the trains are cheap if you're going in the right direction.

Night buses run after midnight, and are an easy and safe way to get home after a night out.

It can be confusing at first, so reading the "Connecting People with Places" booklet before you come is a good idea.

You should also check out the wiki article Manchester: A Guide to Public Transport.

Bus

Oxford Road, the main student thoroughfare in Manchester, is the busiest bus route in Europe - at peak times, there can be up to one bus every four seconds! Cheap tickets are available for students - I would recommend that, if you come, you should wait a week or so, and buy the pass that suits you most.

You can also catch a free bus service which takes you around the city centre.

Train

There are four train stations in Manchester, the main two being Victoria and Piccadilly. Oxford Road station is just a few minutes from the university, which makes it an easy option for going home after lectures. The old UMIST campus is a very short walk from Piccadilly Station.

MetroLink

MetroLink is a tram service, linking the city centre with the suburbs. At the moment, it doesn't go anywhere near the student areas so fares are expensive. However if you want to go to the outskirts of Manchester it's by far the easiest and most convenient option.

There are three lines, running to Altrincham, Bury and Eccles.

There are plans to add more lines, but these haven't been finalised yet.

Shopping

Where to start? The choice of shops in Manchester is huge. From the consumerism of the Trafford Centre with its three miles of shopping, to the interesting and unusual shops found in Afflecks Palace and the Northern Quarter, lie shops for almost every conceivable thing. Then there is the Arndale centre in the city and other shops.

[insert more info]

Accommodation

Halls

There are many, many halls of residence at Manchester - 35 to be precise! Not all of these are suitable for the average first-year undergraduate, as some are set aside for post-graduates, mature students, or those with families. There is still a huge amount of choice though, and it can seem overwhelming when you read through the accommodation brochure. It's important to realise that you shouldn't worry about this too much - you only need stay in halls for one year, and if you are truly unhappy with your chosen hall, a transfer process operates from mid-October. You can even transfer between rooms in the same hall.

The university offers an accommodation guarantee to all undergraduates and international postgraduates for their first year, and to international undergraduates for the duration of their studies (full details can be found by following the link). There are also a significant number of place allocated to returning students - second years and up who have chosen not to rent privately.

For more information, check out our separate University of Manchester: Accommodation wiki page.

Hornet Internet

The internet for The University of Manchester Halls of Residence is provided by Hornet.

Hornet Internet Wiki can be found here

Renting

Student union

Prices

Environment

Architecture

Local area

Teaching quality

The university is rated excellent in no fewer that 36 subjects - anatomy and physiology; anthropology; archeology; building; business and management; chemical engineering; chemistry; civil engineering; classics and ancient history; computer science; dentistry; economics; education; electrical and electronic engineering; geography; geology; hospitality, leisure, recreation, sport and tourism; land and property management; law; maths, statistics and operational research; mechanical engineering; medicine; molecular biosciences; music; nursing; organismal biosciences; pharmacology and pharmacy; philosophy; physics and astronomy; politics; psychology; social policy and administration; subjects allied to medicine (optometry); subjects allied to medicine (human communications); teacher training; theology and religious studies.

Applying to Manchester

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

Other Manchester Articles

Why not read these other Manchester Articles?

• Personal Statements

Useful Links

• Main University of Manchester website:
• University Accommodation
• Guide to Manchester bars and nightclubs
• Short history of the University
• Manchester hotels
• Undergraduate Applications
• Postgraduate Applications
• Manchester wikispectus

Transport:

• Transport in Greater Manchester
• Stagecoach Manchester and Magic Bus (runs on Oxford Road)
• Finglands (runs on Oxford Road)
• Arriva (runs in the south of Greater Manchester)
• First (runs in North Manchester and Salford)
• System 1 travelcard - any bus, any time