Student life
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Student life
Join London's careers-led university
Find out all you need to know about life at the University of East London, and what it's really like to be a student here.
Campus life
As a University of East London student, you'll have access to more than 90 clubs and societies, one of the best gyms in London, two student hubs, a variety of cafes and restaurants, a community garden, an on-site nursery, our student bar and a lively programme of on and off-campus entertainment events.
Clubs and societies
Going to university is not just about academic study. It's about becoming independent, growing as a person, pursuing non-academic interests, making lifelong friends and having fun.
One of the best ways to meet like-minded people and enrich your student experience is to join a society or a sports club - and you'll find almost 90 to choose from at the University of East London.
They include 26 sports clubs - from rugby union to competitive cheerleading - with many of our students experiencing the thrill of using the iconic facilities at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
University of East London's huge variety of clubs and societies reflects our multicultural energy. Whether it's a cultural or faith group or an academic society, you're sure to find something of interest.
You'll find societies dedicated to film, fashion, gospel music and many, many more. Why not try out the 'Barking Bateria' samba fusion band or our student radio society?
The best time to sample the range of opportunities on offer is during Freshers' Week when many of the University's clubs and societies set up stalls at the Welcome Fair in the main hall of SportsDock.
Some of the sports clubs run trials and free taster sessions throughout the week. Anyone for trampolining?
Entertainment
Beginning with Welcome Week, you'll enjoy a varied programme of entertainment at UEL, including live music, comedy and dance nights, quizzes and competitions.
To help break the ice, Welcome Week includes a series of nighttime coach trips where you'll have the chance to experience some of the biggest and most popular entertainment venues in London.
The University of East London Students' Union (UELSU) runs a lively social calendar throughout the year. The Underground Bar at our Docklands campus hosts regular comedy, karaoke, 'open mic', sports and party nights attracting DJs and bands from across the musical spectrum.
Also popular are the regular games evenings, run by our computer games students, as well as film screenings of classic and recent movies.
If you fancy a change of scene, we also organise occasional day trips outside London by coach. Recent destinations include Stratford-upon-Avon and Brighton.
Food and drink
The University of East London caters for all cultural tastes, preferences and appetites - reflecting the diversity of our students.
At our Docklands campus, you'll find plenty of places to eat, drink or just relax over a coffee. As well as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, we have The Edge canteen, serving a wide choice of different cuisines, including vegetarian and Halal.
Alternatively, our Munch café (located at SportsDock) serves hot meals and cooked breakfasts, while Origins (located at the Royal Docks Centre for Sustainability), offers lighter snacks. Alcoholic beverages are available at the popular Underground Bar.
Our Stratford campus has a Starbucks and 'The Green' restaurant, which serves hot meals during the daytime.
If you are living on campus and you prefer to cook your own food, shopping for groceries is easy and convenient. There's an on-campus shop for essentials, plus two superstores - Asda and Sainsbury's - within walking distance of the Docklands campus.
Sustainability
UEL Eat Well, our catering company, gives away leftover supermarket food to students every Thursday evening as part of our commitment to fighting food waste. Check out their Twitter feed for details.
Our Starbucks cafes offer recycled coffee grounds for you to add to your compost or garden. Find out more about our commitment to sustainability.
Track my future (TMF)
Track My Future (TMF) is your personalised, online platform to help you make the most of your time at the University of East London.
Track My Future will let you monitor your studies, book appointments with our services, submit daily health updates, find a part-time job and so much more.
The TMF platform is ever-evolving so keep checking out what's new.
Sign in to TMF.
Sport for all
Our location in the Olympic Borough of Newham put us at the heart of the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, and the legacy of those Games is still being felt.
Our £21 million SportsDock complex has outstanding facilities (Team USA, including their 'Dream Team' basketball squad, chose it as their pre-Olympic Games training base.) Located at our Docklands campus, it is one of London's largest indoor high-performance training centres and sports venues.
Boasting two huge indoor sports arenas and a 120-piece fitness centre, it offers a fully equipped strength and conditioning room, dance and aerobics studios, a sports therapy clinic and outdoor pitches. It also has conferencing and meeting rooms, lecture theatres and teaching rooms and its own café.
Outdoor sports facilities at Docklands include an outdoor gym, a basketball court and five-a-side football pitches. Rowing takes place on the nearby Royal Docks, while there are full-sized grass pitches for football, rugby and American football just two stops away on the Docklands Light Railway.
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford also plays host to our swimmers, tennis players and hockey players. It's hard to think of a better place for sport.
Getting around
Whether you're based in Docklands or Stratford, you'll be able to take advantage of superb public transport links, including a free university bus that operates between campus (with step-free access), and convenient train and public bus links to central London and beyond. We also have bike shelters on all campuses, so you can travel cheaply and sustainably.
London
Whatever you're into - sport, clubbing or culture - London has something for you.
It's a city that's positively bursting with attractions, with historic buildings such as Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London rubbing shoulders with 21st-century icons such as Tate Modern and the O2 - the world's busiest music arena.
London is home to some of the world's most famous sporting venues - Wimbledon's All England Club, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Lord's Cricket Ground to name just a few - as well as five Premiership football teams: Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Crystal Palace.
If culture is more your thing, you'll be spoilt for choice in London. Take your pick from world-leading museums and art galleries, most of them free of charge, as well as famous theatres and performance venues.
You'll also enjoy some of the best shopping areas in Europe - from the upmarket West End to vibrant markets such as Camden and Spitalfields. Then there's also a bewildering choice of restaurants and bars, music venues and nightclubs to suit every taste and pocket.
One thing's for sure: you'll never be bored.
Going out
You'll be living and learning in one of the world's greatest cities, and you certainly won't be bored. Whatever your interests, you'll find something in London to excite you and inspire you. It's a city that has something for everyone.
Check out our studying in East London pages for more tips on what our students enjoy doing in the area.
East London
It's hard to imagine a richer and more dynamic environment than UEL's east London home. This is one of the city's most diverse areas, and our campuses in Docklands and Stratford are at the heart of a rapidly evolving landscape.
It's also London's creative hub, where young artists, musicians and designers choose to live and work. Media and technology companies and arts organisations continue to move eastwards. The area is full of art galleries, studios and avant-garde music venues, and this creative buzz spills out onto the streets, cafés and bars.
Stratford may be best known for hosting the London Olympics and Paralympics but it's also home to Westfield Stratford City - the largest urban shopping mall in Europe. It includes a wide choice of restaurants, cafes and bars as well as a casino and a multi-screen cinema.
Nearby, you'll find another cinema, a famous theatre and, of course, the Olympic Park, where the swimming pool and velodrome are both open to the public.
In 2016, the main Olympic stadium, now called the London Stadium, became the new home of West Ham United Football Club.
Elsewhere in east London, there are plenty of options for shopping and going out at night - whether for a meal or something more energetic.
Brick Lane is known popularly as the 'Curry Mile' for its huge number of South Asian restaurants. It also boasts a number of lively and highly popular bars and nightspots. Shoreditch is equally vibrant, with restaurants and bars as well as arty shops and galleries. If you're looking for a place that's edgy and creative, you'll love it.
UEL in pictures
57%
57% of our students are the first in their family to attend university
160
Our students represent over 160 different nationalities