One day in the life of an IOE undergraduate student

24 September 2019

By Irina Filip

When I started university I was terribly anxious about what to expect in terms of my daily programme. After all, university is quite different from school and it’s hard to know what to expect. I remember that, for me, reading about a typical IOE student’s day would have been helpful, so I thought of writing about it for prospective students. Therefore, in the next paragraphs I will describe a typical term day in the life of an IOE student from morning to night.

8am

I lived in catered halls, so I would wake up early enough to have breakfast with my friends. Seeing your friends for breakfast presents a good motivation to wake up early, also in time for lectures! My friends who lived in self-catered accommodation had to wake up a tad earlier to prepare breakfast for themselves before heading to the IOE.

9am

IOE holds most of its lectures in the building at 20 Bedford Way, which is quite convenient as it is placed in a key location within the UCL campus. Lecture times differ each day, but mine would often start at 9am. Once I would get to the IOE, I would often grab a coffee in Costa, which is conveniently located on the ground floor of the institute (and had better coffee than my halls!). They also sell reusable coffee mugs, personalised with UCL’s logo. A great tip is that if you bring your own container, the coffee will cost less!

It took me a while to remember where lecture rooms were located in IOE, but the receptionists on Level 4 were always very happy to help, and eventually I got the hang of it.

11am

A good time for a little coffee/snack break. Usually, lectures would then continue afterwards. In the days in which I had a longer break (until lunchtime), I would use this time to work in the IOE library on whatever assignments I had at the moment.

1pm

Lunch breaks are always fun, as you are usually with your course-mates and can grab something together. If you are self-catered halls, you might want to bring a packed lunch and eat it either on the cosy sofas on Level 4, in the socialising space on the new wing of Level 3, or even in the Institute Bar. These are all great places to chat, relax with your colleagues and even make new friends. You can also buy food such as sandwiches in the Institute Bar located on Level 4, or in Costa. If you want to have a more proper lunch, you can always visit Neo Cafe on Level 6, where they have cafeteria food (such as soups, curries, etc), all for reasonable prices. And then you can eat at a proper table!

2pm

Most days I would have afternoon lectures. Otherwise, I would go back to halls for a couple of hours and have a nap or some well-deserved me-time!

4pm

Time to continue working on assignments and projects. A very important thing to note is that IOE is undergoing a huge modernisation project. This has already started, and now there are lots of new lecture, study and socialisation spaces on the Wing on Level 3, and a new and modernised institute bar. Thus, IOE is perfect for finding a cosy space to study in, whether you choose the study area on Level 3 or the library. The library is also being upgraded and modernised- and all these are just the beginning! Exciting, huh?

6pm

Even when lectures and studying are over for the day, IOE’s facilities are still appealing. Depending on your preferences, you might want to join various societies. For instance, I am part of the Yoga and Meditation society, which holds some of its classes in IOE in the afternoon – very convenient!

7pm

In the evening, as I lived in catered halls, I would usually plan my day so that I could be back in halls for supper. If you will live in self-catered accommodation supper times and menus are, of course, flexible!

8pm onwards

As we all know, a big part of student life is partying: in the evenings in which you feel like going out, the IOE bar regularly holds events – the drinks are reasonably priced, and they even have food like pizza and nachos. The bar is one of the most popular spaces to spend evenings with friends for IOE students. You can play darts, billiards and meet new cool people!

I hope that this short summary provides a sneak peek in what your life will be like in IOE – you can be sure that you will make great memories here! So, just relax and enjoy, as time flies so fast!