Building student communities
- Written byStudent Communications
- Published date 02 February 2024
One of the best parts of life at university is building and being part of communities with fellow students; sharing, creating and socialising together. We are always trying to grow and develop our student communities and encourage you to join in and be a part of something together.
Over the last couple of years, we have been investing in expanding and upgrading the various networks and communities that students can join to enhance their experience at UAL. Ensuring that students have the opportunity to socialise and build connections with each other.
Find out more about some of the communities and ways to engage with them.
A brand new Halls Life
Moving to university accommodation is always an exciting and possibly scary prospect, it can be hard to find new friends and communities. This year UAL has relaunched our Social Programme as Halls Life, with the aim to create a home away from home for these UAL students.
Halls Life offers a holistic and supportive environment for all students who live with us, alongside the wider student population. One of the key changes when introducing the new Halls Life programme was to move it from being a ‘party programme’ and to being more of a community of support as well as fun. This can be seen in the replacement of Students Reps with Halls Committees.
The committees deliver events and wellbeing campaigns in the halls that they live. These events are created, budgeted, and delivered by the committees with the support of the staff team where needed. In the first term of this academic year alone 115 events have been held across the 8 halls currently with committees.
The new Halls Life offer was kicked-off in September for the 2023 Welcome Weekend, when the majority of halls students move-in to their new home. This year the welcome from Halls Life had over 50 events for halls and non-halls students, with 3,263 students attending – more than double the number of students that were able to attend last year.
Post-Grad Community
With almost 6,000 postgraduate students across UAL, it’s important that we provide a way for them to connect with other creatives within UAL and beyond. Since 2013 the Post-Grad Community have supported the postgraduate student experience, connecting students to services, opportunities and each other!
This year the Post-Grad Community are celebrating 10 years of fostering friendships, sparking collaborations, and amplifying emerging voices. Their year-long celebration highlights their last decade of events and achievements, culminating in the creation of a Post-Grad Community Family Heirloom tapestry. You can be a part of creating this vast and storied tapestry by joining the crafting drop-in session and signing up to designing your own patch.
The Post-Grad Community has always worked to host many events throughout the academic term to help build the postgraduate student community, connecting them with each other and also the vast numbers of creative UAL-alumni. This February, they’re hosting a Valentine’s Mix & Match, matching up students and alumni to find ways to collaborate, exchange ideas and pursue mentorship.
The Post-Grad Community also facilitate the building and developing of various student interest groups across UAL. These issue-specific, cross-disciplinary interest groups are student-led and encourage connection across shared research and interest subject areas. Make sure to check out and join some of the amazing interest groups covering topics such as Subcultures, Translation Cases and the PhD Tea & Chat – or think about setting up your own (PDF 65KB).
Your voice has always been a big part of what makes networks like the Post-Grad Community, make your voice heard as part of the Post-Grad Conversations by being a part of their podcast or having your story featured.
Welcome to UAL's Post-Grad Community
Arts SU
Arts SU is UAL's students' union, run by students for students. They are the student community, which then help create communities through societies, sports clubs, support services, social activities and events. Their aim is to help each student make the most of the life-changing experiences open to them as they study and develop their creative practice.
Arts SU has so many great ways that you can build and be a part of communities at UAL.
Join a society or sports club
One of the best ways to find a community at university is to join a club or society that align with your interests. Arts SU supports 77 societies and 29 sports clubs covering teams and topics like Pole Dance Fitness, Vlogging, climbing and curation. One of the most popular new societies this year is the Taylor Swift Society, who celebrate everything from “her Indie albums, to her Pop idol era, to her og Country roots” and host karaoke nights, discounted entry to Swiftageddon club nights and Taylor’s version release parties.
Though it isn’t just fun and games, there is also the biggest sporting events in arts education to consider – varsity! Every year, our sports teams compete against our rivals Goldsmiths’ sports teams, with the winner taking home the Arts Cup Trophy. The day is jam packed with various sports fixtures and is a great experience to take part in or to just come along and cheer! We have won varsity the last 2 years, so make sure you come along this year to support!
Come along to an event
The best way to find out about all the clubs and societies that Arts SU has to offer is at one of their biggest events of the year – Welcome Fair. It’s your chance to talk to our Sports Clubs, Societies, and student-led networks. Alongside student-led communities, there’s a great selection of national and local businesses, ready and waiting with freebies to give you.
This is just the start however, Arts SU hosts and facilitates hundreds of events throughout the whole academic year, from club nights and balls to society socials and support sessions there is always something interesting to join and meet people.
Buddy Up
We often find it difficult to meet new people at university, if you are struggling or just want to meet new people, then the Buddy Up scheme run by the Arst SU Advice Team is a great way to meet people.
Very simply you sign up by providing a few details of who you are and who you’d like to be matched to, then you are matched with a buddy; and you can email, video call, swap phone numbers or meet in person… whatever works best for you both.
Buddy Up - Arts SU