31,324 discussions, 145 guides
Southampton University
31,324 discussions, 145 guides
Southampton University
University of Southampton
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
Tel: +44 (0) 23 8059 5000
1952
SURGE
SURGE is the student station (Southampton University Radio from Glenn Ayre), which broadcasts on FM over the university for two months annually and on either 1287AM or at www.surgeradio.co.uk throughout the year. Playlists are predominantly more commercial indie mixed up with some more specialist shows.
The Wessex Scene
This is the University's main student publication. It concerns itself with student news and events rather than having a major political agenda. It is well balanced and is extremely popular with students, with one suggesting that she didn't know of anyone who didn't read it at some time or another. There is also plenty of local news and information available in both print and online versions.
Roger Black - Olympic Silver Medallist
John Inverdale - BBC Sports presenter
Guin & Miriam Batten - Silver medal winning sisters at Sydney Olympics
The main Highfield Campus site on Burgess Road is the location for Southampton's sizeable Students' Union. A multi-purpose space called The Cube is a recently developed amusement centre of sorts with a new cinema, club, sport facilities and cafe. The union is split into two buildings, one a redbrick school style affair and the other a portakabin type thing which actually has a set of big picture windows at one end with a really nice outlook. There are three bars, one of which is just a bar, the rest have dual purpose. The main SU bar can be described as a city bar - hardwood floors, lots of chrome, that sort of thing. It is situated next to Garden Court, a pleasant dinig hall with healthy food on sale. On major events nights, the two are opened right out to provide space for extra people and dancing and gigs are held inside. Another place to eat is The Piazza, which is open late but has less choice. There's a bar at Montefiore Hall. The Boiler House is used as a club on Fridays and Saturdays and has a late licence on these nights.
There are various special nights throughout a term and a varied ents calendar that caters for all tastes. Kinki every friday at the new Cube complex is popular with students, featuring dangerously cheap drinks promos and just about any music going. Generator is a newly launched indie night which caters to more alternative tastes, with decent live bands scheduled to perform regularly. The acoustic sets played during The Living Room night at The Bridge Bar provide a calmer option than clubbing at The Cube. Many of the halls have bars and at Wessex Lane, where a number of them are to be found, there are generous happy hours.
Southampton has the usual sprinkling of black tie/formal events but is different from some unis as it's biggest and best balls and events are organised by hall committees and clubs and societies. In the last few days of term the Glen Eyre all day event is held. This is a big outdoor party with a funfair and music. It is probably the sheer number of students in halls, Glen Eyre being one of them, that allows this sort of thing to happen. A similar affair called the Wessex Lane all day event is also held. For a summer ball the University has two functions, one of them a formal sit down dinner, often at The Guildhall in town and is maily aimed at graduating finalists. This is a black tie function but dinner is swiftly followed by dancing and debauchery. The informal event is again pretty sizeable and involves music, a funfair and half a shandy here or there. All in all we give Southampton a hearty pat on the back for its major social events, a great deal of time and planning goes into them and they seem to be a resounding success! Top marks.
Sports teams are pretty well organised and have a good social element, there are all the regulars and some more extreme choices such as the Handgliding and Paragliding Society too. Training facilities and equipment are good, as is the annual Sports Ball. Sport is taken pretty seriously at Southampton but it perhaps doesn't do quite as well as it should. Aside from this there is an excellent collection of cultural, religious, political, special interest, and some purely fun societies- Extreme Ironing deserves a mention, or a look here (www.extremeironing.com)! The Photo Club have their own dark room and run regular competitions during the year, and the popular Wessex Film Society can provide aspiring film professionals with quality equipment and editing suites.
The Uni Windsurfing Team tied first with Cambridge at the 2005 BUSA (British University Students Association) national event.
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The University has 17 halls of residence. A fair proportion of students live within 5 or 10 minutes walk of each other as most are in one area of the city. Most halls are about four stories high apart from Stoneham which adheres to the 'Tower Block Monstrosity' theory of architecture. This is countered by the pleasant surroundings. (Plenty of trees and greenery) Glen Eyre is the most popular hall and offers both catered and self-catering accommodation. Connaught is not bad either. Highfield Hall is smaller than the Glen Eyre and Wessex complexes and has a good reputation for being friendly. It is also nearer the main Highfield campus (than any other hall) and is next to the Avenue campus.
Most of the major halls have a small bar on site but the main union facilities are so close its almost not worth bothering. Good if you fancy a quiet one over a book, though. Montefiore is the exception and has a club with some decent ents.
The Avenue site, a few minutes further into the city, has Highfield as its closest hall. This is where most arts students can be found.
Access to lectures and tutorials should be easy enough. The only two outlying sites are the Oceanography Centre and The Winchester School of Art. Both are served by regular buses.
The local area is excellent for housing. There is plenty to go around so competition has driven down the price. Good areas to live are Portswood, Swaythling and Highfield. These are all well connected and have shops and services on hand. Portswood should be singled out in particular due to its student pubs and friendly atmosphere. Avoid St. Mary's and The Flowers estate like the plague.
Southampton is a big place so there's lots to talk about.
The uni is divided into a few clusters the main one being the Highfield Campus on Burgess Rd. Most of these clusters are located very near to each other in a nice leafy suburb about a 45 min walk out of town. In the city centre is the New College site tucked away in an area of Embassy style mews houses used as posh offices. The city centre has all the amenities you would expect of a somewhere the size of Southampton. The shopping is excellent, especially with the new West Quay development, which boasts swanky shops such as Jane Norman, Karen Millen and all the major high street stores.
As for nightlife, well its good! There are plenty of good pubs and clubs, most of which are friendly and safe. The Weatherspoon pub, The Giddy Bridge is worth a visit. Also try Squares, formally The Square Balloon, and enjoy what has to be the hugest pub in the world. They have drinks specials on Wednesdays with two cocktails for a fiver. After 11 many people head down to Leisure World, where a massive entertainment complex is situated. There are two clubs here, Ikon and Diva. Ikon caters for fairly standard club goers while Diva is decidedly more cheesy with big wigs and flares abound. Another 'legend' of a club (as described by one student) is Jesters in Portswood which just down the hill from most of the uni buildings. In addition you could try The Academy. There aren't exactly rave reviews of this place from students but hey they play music and sell beer so how bad can it be?
If clubs aren't your bag then there is a branch of Jumping Jack's which is usually open until midnight and Hotshots a sports bar popular with locals. After all that excitement, Southampton's fine range of late night eateries in Bedford Place will happily provide you with the cholesterol boost of your choice.
Southampton is a city so we shouldn't have to tell you to be careful, all the usual rules apply. It is worth bearing in mind though that there is a bad taxi shortage and it is not unknown for there to be 2hr queues after the big clubs chuck out. Also, most taxi firms won't accept passengers who haven't booked in advance.
First year students are not permitted to have cars on site and a parking permits are required for others. The city has metered parking but park and ride is the best option if you can't do without your beloved machine.
Lloyds TSB and NatWest have cash machines in the Student Union buildings. There are also branches of HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, and NatWest in the Gower building. Branches of all other banks can be found in the city centre.
Being a modern University, with 1800 students registered as disabled, you would expect Southampton to be good and it doesn't disappoint. There is a continually concerted effort to improve access and the Disability Service are active and helpful. One of the halls of residence is specially adapted for disabled students.
To call the main site's shops anything less than a retail complex would be an insult. You will find just about everything you need including a hairdressers, launderette and TV rooms. There is also a student travel shop, post office and a branch of Endsleigh Insurance in the Gower building.
There is a branch of Waterstones with 45,000 books on two floors. It is one of the largest university bookshops in the south of England. There is also an excellent coffee shop on the first floor.
The University has some excellent facilities on site. Notably six squash courts, a climbing wall, a large sports hall and tennis courts. There are acres of playing fields off-site and a dry ski slope can be found nearby.
This is another talking point at Southampton. A couple of years ago the University worked out a deal with a local bus company for all first year students to have a special bus pass forUni-Link services. This was added to hall fees rather sneakily and thus pushed up the price quite considerably. There was, of course, uproar when people found out. However, the bus pass continues to be included in students' rents and eventually has worked out reasonably well. A 90 day pass for students living off-campus is a relatively cheap £65. There is also a union-run safety bus which will take you to your door for £1 a journey and a growing car-share network.
Southampton has plenty of green spaces. The closest to the main site is the common which you can follow virtually all the way into the city. It is probably best to stay away from at night though. For more rustic charms the New Forest is really not far away and can be reached by train (Brockenhurst) in about 15 minutes.
There are 7 libraries controlled by the University, the main one is The Hartley Library at the main campus. Together they can lay claim to 1,000,000 books and 1300 study places.
Over 650 machines available for student use. There is also 24 hour access.
The student welfare setup at Southampton is excellent with counsellors on hand all the time. The University works in partnership with the local council in order to provide a vetting service for landlords in the local area. This takes a few headaches out of the renting process. There is also a Health Centre with five resident GPs and a nursery with 108 spaces located at the Highfield Campus.
