Services and Student Facilities

The University of Manchester offers more university-owned postgraduate accommodation than any other university in the UK.

Accommodation ranges from traditional or modern halls of residence with food provided, to smart modern self-catering flats close to the campus, to small Victorian houses in quiet suburbs.

Full-time international postgraduates coming to the University alone are guaranteed a place in university-owned accommodation for the duration of their course. To be eligible for a place, you must ensure your application for accommodation is submitted and you have firmly accepted a place by August 31.

Manchester Student Homes is an invaluable resource for finding privately rented accommodation around Manchester, whether you’re looking for a pre-dominantly student area or somewhere more professional. For advice on everything you need to know when renting a house, you just also pop into their Fallowfield-based office.

Transport in and around Manchester is excellent. City buses run through the night as do many local train services and metro services (light rail). You can easily access beautiful countryside in the nearby Derbyshire Peak District or the Lake District.

Many students purchase a weekly or seasonal bus ticket which start at around £6 per week for unlimited travel up and down the Oxford Road route. Most students live in South Manchester or in the city centre, from which the university is within a pleasant walking distance.

Manchester has an international airport with many UK, European and global destinations, and is just fifteen minutes by train from Manchester Piccadilly train station in the city centre.

Every student is allocated a personal tutor to help them with any problems they may have, and this relationship lasts throughout your degree studies. Your personal tutor will generally be a member of your department, although not necessarily one of your lecturers.

The University's Student Advice Centre provides impartial advice on a range of issues including finance and scholarships, housing, tax and employment.

The University Student Support Website provides help with student issues including registration and fees, documentation, loans and grants and exams, right through to graduation.

The University Counselling Service provides a friendly environment in which to learn to deal with issues that may arise during your time at Manchester. The service offers free one-to-one counselling sessions as well as a variety of free courses, such as meditation and anxiety management.

The value of a Manchester Computer Science degree is reinforced by our close ties with industry. Employers, from larger multinationals such as EA Games, IBM and Microsoft to small local organisations, actively seek out our students for projects, sponsorships, placements and graduate jobs.

A significant number of our graduates also go on to undertake research and higher degrees.

As you would expect from leaders in the field, we offer some of the most up to date facilities in the world. Amongst the wide range of facilities available to you are:

• Newly refurbished computing labs furnished with modern desktop computers
• Access to world leading academic staff
• Collaborative working labs complete with specialist computing and audio visual equipment to support group working.
• Over 300 Computers in the School dedicated exclusively for the use of our students.
• An Advanced Interfaces Laboratory to explore real time collaborative working;
• A Nanotechnology Centre for the fabrication of new generation electronic devices;
• An e-Science Centre and Access Grid facility for world wide collaboration over the internet.
• Access to a range of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
• Specialist electronic system design and computer engineering tools.

The John Rylands University Library has over 4 million printed items, the largest collection of electronic resources in the UK.

The Special Collections of the JRUL were designated as of international significance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 2005.

The School of Computer Science is one of the few schools within the university that provides its students with up-to-date syllabus reading books on loan basis. The university bookshop, Blackwells, is situated across the road from the School of Computer Science and stocks all course books on school reading lists. Blackwells also runs a scheme that allows students to sell used books back to the shop, and for students to purchase used books at discounted rates.

The student union exists to represent students at the University of Manchester. All University of Manchester students are automatically members. Every year students can run for committee positions at the union to ensure that they get their say in how the university is run.

The Student Union has links to:

• Over 200 International Societies, including music, debate, drama, chess, darts, photography, and many more.
• Student Direct – the university’s official student newspaper with a circulation of 60,000 across three Greater Manchester institutions
• Fuse FM - the University's own radio station
• Manchester University Debating Society - one of the most highly-rated in the country
• The University's very own Manchester Academy which is one of the city's biggest live music venues.

Manchester as a whole has just recorded its own sporting triumph, being named the World’s Best Sports City for its successful hosting of six international sports events last year, including three world championships. 2009 certainly looks set to continue the trend.

There is a great deal on offer for University of Manchester students, including discounted access to the Sugden Sports Centre, the Aquatics Centre and the Armitage Centre. And those of us who are really brave will have already dusted off your trainers in preparation for the popular 10k Great Manchester Run in May.

The university’s athletics union (AU) forms an active part of many students’ lives here at Manchester, and with all sports available from football to basketball to dodgeball, there’s something for everyone. Different sports teams within the AU host a social club night every Wednesday, which usually involves some sort of fancy dress!