University of West London

Student Life

Although your course and academic life is a major part of your time at University of West London, there is also plenty to do across the campuses to relax and even let your hair down.

Each of our campuses has its own individual personality and you can travel between them easily.

Central London is also within easy reach.
See what you can do in:

Ealing

Nightlife

As Ealing is only 20-30 mins from the centre of London it's great for nights on the town. The last Central line tube leaves from Oxford Circus to Ealing Broadway at roughly 12:30am and if it's been a really big night the first train is at about 6am, alternatively there are buses 24 hours a day. If you choose to stay in Ealing there is still no shortage of things that you can do.
There are over 20 restaurants within the centre of Ealing alone and you can choose from almost any cuisine including Japanese, Nepalese, Italian, Thai and Indian, to name but a few.
Ealing is also home to numerous bars, most of which have a DJ. If you fancy a quieter night there are lots pubs to choose from gastro type pubs with leather sofas right through to those which perhaps should have saw dust on the floor.
You can also visit the Students' Union Studio Bar which serves alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and is the main venue for their entertainment and events.
Live music

All the major music venues of central London are easily accessible from Ealing, so too is recently refurbished Wembley arena and the new Webmbley stadium.
Although Ealing doesn't have venues expressly for music many of the local pubs host acoustic evenings. The University of West London also has music events throughout the year ranging from jazz to classical music.

Every year Ealing Council presents Ealing Summer, a five week celebration of live music, comedy and South Asian arts. The high lights of the festival are the Ealing Jazz Festival and the London Mela.

The Jazz Festival is world renowned and for over 20 years has aimed to excite the jazz aficionado and the new listener alike, all for free. The festival draws crowds of up to 60,000 to Walpole Park and is held annually in July.

The London Mela has been running for four years and is regarded nationally and internationally as one of the most significant events of its kind.

Last year the Mela attracted over 55,000 to Gunnersbury Park for the one day festival.

Acts included:

* A European debut performance by Pakistani rock artist Atif Aslam.
* Nutkhut's 'Bollywood Steps' - a celebration of Bollywood films through bhangra, hip-hop, classical Indian dance, and salsa.
* 'Tabla Blah Blah' - a collaboration between DJ and broadcaster Bobby Friction and leading Tabla expert Pandit Sharda Sahai.
* London Flavas - Radio 1's Bobby and Nihal
* Other attractions included Classic Mela, specially commissioned street theatre, The Kaleidoscope Project for children, a photographic exhibition and a funfair.

Cinema

The Empire Cinema is right in the centre of Ealing. While it's only got three screens it does show the current biggest titles. All the cinemas of central London are also in easy reach, it is certainly worth while checking out the ticket prices before you head off, cinemas can vary from £10 in some of the smaller theatres up to £30 in Leicester square.

Theatres

As well has having great access to all the large theatres in London Ealing has it's own community theatre Questors Theatre, which is the largest community theatre in Europe.

There are also several other theatres in the surrounding area which have varied programmes from the year long Asian programme at Watermans theatre to the traditional pantomime at the Richmond theatre at Christmas.

Sports

If you are passionate about sport and fitness Ealing has facilities for just about everything. There are several gyms, football pitches, cricket grounds, rugby grounds and even one of the best kite flying and kite buggying areas in west London.
If you are interested in watching sport all of the major football grounds can be easily reached from Ealing. Twickenham and Wembley are also a short journey and accessible on public transport.

Reading

Nightlife

People come from miles around to sample Reading's nightlife and because there is also Reading University in the same town there is lots of entertainment aimed at students and lots to do.

There is a huge selection of pubs and bars to choose from, roughly 91 in fact. These range from small pubs who take their real ales very seriously to plenty of bars with regular DJs.

If you are grabbing a bite to eat there are lots of restaurants to choose from, you can find something for just about any taste from fine dining restaurants offering avocado ice cream to fresh homemade pies. If you are feeling lost The Oracle is a riverside development with just about everything in one place including cinema, bars, and restaurants.

Live music

Reading is of course home to the famous Reading festival which has been running for more than 30 years over the August bank holiday weekend. The festival attracts some of the biggest names in contemporary music.

As well as the festival the Reading Arts and Venues plays host to live music the Hexagon shows musicals and larger acts such as Jools Holland while South Street has smaller acts and Poptoys a regular band showcase night.

Cinema

If you fancy a quiet night but still want to get out Reading has three cinemas to choose from. There is the Vue Cinema in the Oracle in the Town centre, The Vue has ten screens and offers everything that you would expect from a large multi screen cinema.
The Reading Film Theatre is based at the Reading University at Whiteknights in Reading. It's an independent theatre and has a policy of playing the best films from around the world and shows at least one foreign language film (subtitled in English) each week, the rest of the programme being a mix of both mainstream and independent cinema.

Theatre

Reading has several theatres and arts centres within the city centre. Programmes are varied and include dance, comedy, poetry reading and theatre. The venues in Reading are as varied as the events, The Hexagon can hold up to 1686 people where as the more intimate South Street can hold 120.

Sports

Reading has a whole host of Sporting facilities and the University itself has a large sports hall that is used by the Students' Union teams and local league teams for events such as badminton, volleyball, basketball and five-a-side football.
Reading itself also has fantastic sporting facilities with 9 sports centres and pools. An Olympic size Ice skating rink is also within reach of Reading in Bracknell, there is also an artificial ski slope and toboggan run at the complex.

If you like to watching sport you can watch Reading FC who enjoy a great deal of support from the local town. You can also easily reach all of the major London clubs via public transport.

Slough

Nightlife

Slough has several pubs and bars and can cater for most tastes from a quiet drink to somewhere with a DJ at weekends. If you are looking for something more adventurous London is on your doorstep and trains run from Paddington back out to Slough until about 1:30am.

There are over 100 places to eat or get a take away in Slough and the restaurants are as varied as Caribbean to Indian. All are in easy reach of the town centre.

Live music

Although it is not solely a music venue The West Wing has music events throughout the year from Junk Percussion to World Music Night. Many of the local pubs and bars have live music evenings.

Cinema

The Empire Cinema in Slough is on the High street right in the town centre. The Cinema has ten screens and shows all of the latest releases and big titles.

Theatre

As well as being ideally situated to take advantage of both Ealing, London and Reading, Slough has also recently opened its own professional arts venue The West Wing.

The West Wing's Progamme covers traditional theatre as well as comedy, music dance and open events.

Sport

Slough is the only University of West London campus to have its own gym. The gym has everything that you expect to find and also runs classes. Equipment includes:

* cardio vascular equipment
* extensive range of resistant training equipment
* hi-tech training machines
* bikes, steppers, rowing and jogging machines
* large aerobic area
* classes - these run lunch times and evenings
* Shoto Kan
* circuit training
* stretch and tone and pilates
* and personal training is also available.

Slough is also well equipped for most sports and has a five a side centre, a tennis centre, an ice arena and is home to the Thames Valley Athletics Centre.
If you enjoy watching sport you can choose from the Slough Jets Ice Hockey team, Slough Town football club or the Slough Hockey club whose ladies team won the Slough Ladies National Indoor Championship 2007.