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University of Manchester
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of Manchester
 The University of Manchester is both fairly old, and very new. It was formed from the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) and UMIST on the 1st October 2004. It can, however, be traced right back to the Manchester Mechanics institute, started in 1824. In the most recent research ratings, academics in every subject for which the university made a submission were considered either nationally or internationally eminent, and only Cambridge can match the number of subjects that have secured excellent teaching ratings. Going further back, this is the place where Rutherford split the atom (1911), where the first modern computer was built (1948) and where 22 Nobel prize winners can be counted among current or former staff and students. The University of Manchester is the largest non-collegiate university in Western Europe, with close to 40,000 current students. It is the most popular university in the country, with over 64,000 applicants in 2006 and an average of around 9 students competing for every place. The university boasts over 500 degree courses, and the fifth highest research income of UK universities. The university is spread over two main campuses in the city centre, and Fallowfield. This is also reflected in the large number of halls of residence - allowing the university to guarantee one year in halls to every home student, and two years for every international student. Of course, "big" doesn't necessarily mean "overwhelming" - students here tend to spend most of their time on either one campus or the other. It does, though, lead to a great choice of facilities - there are, at a quick count:
Student LifeEntertainment & NightlifeManchester/Salford, with its three universities (UoM, MMU, UoS) has excellent nightlife - rumoured to be the best outside of London. However, if pubbing and clubbing is not your thing, there are plenty of other activities to keep you away from your lectures - that's to say, plenty of theatres, cinemas, and societies, plus anything else you enjoy doing. Quite a few of the cinemas and theatres offer very cheap tickets for students, so you won't need to max out your loan to have a good time. An indoor ski slope similar to the one in Castlefield has just opened up next to the trafford centre and is very affordable. The nightlife in Fallowfield has more of a student vibe, with pubs such as The Queen of Hearts proving very popular among students. The city centre caters a bit more widely for the tastes of the rest of Manchester, but you'll still be able to find an array of student nights at the most popular clubs such as 5th Avenue and M-Two. If gay is your thing, then gay Manchester has in abundance - especially in Canal Street, the gay village of Manchester. This vibrant area next to the former UMIST campus boasts a large number of bars and clubs. Just don't buy anything from McTucky's, however much of a good idea it seems at 3am in the morning. Deansgate Locks is a rather trendy development underneath railway arches slightly away from the city centre. Here you can find Revolution, Loaf, Bar Baa and the Comedy Club.
The Printworks is an enclosed area near the Arndale shopping centre comprising of venues such as Opus and Tiger Tiger. The Northern Quarter is home to a number of independent clubs and bars, including the award winning Socio Rehab, Bluu and Sankeys. LibrariesThe University boasts the largest non-legal deposit library in the country - The John Rylands University Library (aka "main library"), located just off Oxford Road close to the Steve Biko Union Building. There are over 4 million books, a half a million electronic books, and over 40,000 electronic journals. The main library opens from 8am-11.30pm Monday to Thursday, closing earlier on Fridays at 9.30pm, Saturdays from 9am-9.30pm and Sundays from noon-11.30pm. There are further libraries on campus, the largest of those being the Joule library - which is mainly for Science texts and is situated on the old UMIST campus on Sackville Street. The Eddie Davis Library (MBS), the Braddick Library (Physics), the JRUL Special Collections in Deansgate, the Kantorowich Library (Architecture, Geography, Planning and Landscape), the Leanagan Library (Music and Drama), the Learning Resource Centre (Education), Precinct Library, the Stopford Library (Medicine), Mansfield Cooper (Archaeology and Art History) and the ULC Library (Language learning) all complement the resources of the main libraries. IT and computingManchester is the birthplace of the modern computer and many modern aspects of computing are spin offs of the research carried out by Tom Kilburn and a team of associated researchers 60 years ago. The Kilburn building is the home of the University's School of Computer Science and a national centre for super computing and research. The provision of computing for teaching and learning purposes is largely driven by the teaching faculties and schools. These provide numerous computer clusters (some 24 hour) across the teaching and residential campus areas as well as labs for teaching and wireless Internet access hot spots - a summary of facilities can be found on the IT Services website. Every room in University managed accommodation has a dedicated Internet access point which connects to the Hornet Internet Service. SportsThe University of Manchester is ranked 10th in the UK for sport performance. Throughout the year over 40 Athletic Union clubs take part in weekly fixtures organised by BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) and the results are collated into a university wide league. Fencing, women's football and women's hockey enjoyed good seasons and have all been promoted to the premiership for 2008/09. WelfareHealthcareDuring freshers week, there is the chance to register with local healthcentres. If you're living in Owen's Park or Oak house, you can also register with the Fallowfield Surgery which is handily located beside Owen's Park. If you require A&E services, the nearest accident and emergency unit is at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) which is situated on Oxford Road near the main university campus. ShopsJust down the road from the main university campus is a small row of shops including Tesco and Lidl which is great for students staying at the Victoria Park residential Halls. After these is the famous Curry Mile, with over 70 takeaways, curry houses and restaurants. The main supermarket in Fallowfield is Sainsburys. RestaurantsThere are many restaurants both on campus and in Manchester City Centre itself offering a wide variety of food types suitable for any tastes and preferences. In the area of Rusholme (between Fallowfield and the main Uni campus on Oxford Road), also known as the 'Curry Mile' there are an almost overwhelming amount of curry restaurants/takeaways. If you walk along Rusholme in the evening, a lot of the restaurants managers stand outside and try to coax you in to their business. Use this to your advantage and ask if they are willing to give you and your friends a special deal. Many will offer you things such as free poppadoms and dips, no service charge and free tea or coffee without you even asking. All food is halal unless otherwise specified. BanksTransportAn article on transport in Manchester can be found here Careers servicePart-time jobsReligious facilitiesSocialBars, pubs and clubsEventsClubs and societiesManchester has a very active Gliding Society, which often spends weekends flying from the Wolds club at Pocklington, Yorkshire. They also make regular trips down to Gloucestershire to fly at Cotswold Gliding Club. TravellingTravelling in Manchester is ridiculously easy. The main student method of transport in Manchester is the bus, although the trains are cheap if you're going in the right direction. Night buses run after midnight, and are an easy and safe way to get home after a night out. It can be confusing at first, so reading the "Connecting People with Places" booklet before you come is a good idea. You should also check out the wiki article Manchester: A Guide to Public Transport. BusOxford Road, the main student thoroughfare in Manchester, is the busiest bus route in Europe - at peak times, there can be up to one bus every four seconds! Cheap tickets are available for students - I would recommend that, if you come, you should wait a week or so, and buy the pass that suits you most. If you would rather not buy a 'year-long' pass, you can buy weekly passes each week for Magic Bus or Finglands. these passes are £5 per week or £6 for a pass that enables you to travel with both Magic Bus and Stagecoach. You can use your £5 Magic bus pass on Stagecoaches after Midnight as the frequency of Magic Buses is reduced. You can also catch a free bus service which takes you around the city centre. There is a free 'uni-link' bus which runs between both the North and South campuses. TrainThere are four train stations in Manchester, the main two being Victoria and Piccadilly. Oxford Road station is just a few minutes from the university, which makes it an easy option for going home after lectures. The old UMIST campus is a very short walk from Piccadilly Station. MetroLinkMetroLink is a tram service, linking the city centre with the suburbs. At the moment, it doesn't go anywhere near the student areas so fares are expensive. However if you want to go to the outskirts of Manchester it's by far the easiest and most convenient option. There are three lines, running to Altrincham, Bury and Eccles. New lines, running to Droylesden, Oldham and Chorlton, together with a second route through the City Centre, have now got the green light, and will be up and running within five years, with further extensions planned to serve the Trafford Centre, Ashton and Stockport. ShoppingWhere to start? The choice of shops in Manchester is huge. From the consumerism of the Trafford Centre with its three miles of shopping, to the interesting and unusual shops found in Afflecks Palace and the Northern Quarter, lie shops for almost every conceivable thing. Then there is the Arndale centre in the city and other shops. And to get the must-have official University of Manchester Hoody, go to http://www.manchester.ac.uk/giftshop [insert more info] AccommodationHallsThere are many, many halls of residence at Manchester - 35 to be precise! Not all of these are suitable for the average first-year undergraduate, as some are set aside for post-graduates, mature students, or those with families. There is still a huge amount of choice though, and it can seem overwhelming when you read through the accommodation brochure. It's important to realise that you shouldn't worry about this too much - you only need stay in halls for one year, and if you are truly unhappy with your chosen hall, a transfer process operates from mid-October. You can even transfer between rooms in the same hall. The university offers an accommodation guarantee to all undergraduates and international postgraduates for their first year, and to international undergraduates for the duration of their studies (full details can be found by following the link). There are also a significant number of place allocated to returning students - second years and up who have chosen not to rent privately. For more information, check out our separate University of Manchester: Accommodation wiki page. Hornet InternetThe internet for The University of Manchester Halls of Residence is provided by Hornet. Hornet Internet Wiki can be found here RentingStudent unionPricesEnvironmentArchitectureLocal areaTeaching qualityThe university is rated excellent in no fewer that 36 subjects - anatomy and physiology; anthropology; archaeology; building; business and management; chemical engineering; chemistry; civil engineering; classics and ancient history; computer science; dentistry; economics; education; electrical and electronic engineering; geography; geology; hospitality, leisure, recreation, sport and tourism; land and property management; law; maths, statistics and operational research; mechanical engineering; medicine; molecular biosciences; music; nursing; organismal biosciences; pharmacology and pharmacy; philosophy; physics and astronomy; politics; psychology; social policy and administration; subjects allied to medicine (optometry); subjects allied to medicine (human communications); teacher training; theology and religious studies. Applying to ManchesterThinking of applying to Manchester? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other Manchester ArticlesWhy not read these other Manchester Articles? Useful Links
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