University rankings place Southampton at the higher end. In 2024, it was ranked between 17th and 21st in the UK in many of the main rankings. It’s also in the top 100 in the world. Southampton isn’t a place known for its nightlife or buzzing city, but I’m here to change that perception. With its vast swathes of green spaces and excellent variety of basically anything (shops, transport, etc.), Southampton has everything a student needs and more.
Academic life and facilities
The University of Southampton has 7 campuses – 6 in Southampton and 1 in Winchester. The main campus houses the library, Students’ Union, and sports centre. This is where you’ll most likely be. Aside from that, there is also the Boldrewood campus for engineering and business, as well as Avenue Campus for humanities. Finally, if you’re studying ocean or earth sciences, you’ll be based at the Waterfront Campus. All 7 campuses are well served by bus services and many are in walking distance from halls of residence.
For me, my academic life is spread between Avenue Campus where I have most of my lectures, and then Highfield Campus where I make use of the library, gym, and have the rest of my lectures. The gym has just this year been given a £40 million refurbishment, meaning the university now has the largest gym in Southampton. Depending on where you live, everything is very close by, and the Highfield area is a nice green space to walk around.
I chose Southampton because, for history, it has a much wider range of modules to choose from than some other universities owing to its sizable and friendly department. They also offer a semester or a year abroad, offering travel to the university’s own campus in Malaysia.
Social life
There is nearly 250 societies to choose from – everything from subjects and sports, to debating and even tea drinking(?). The Student Union does an excellent job of hosting events throughout the year, with curry and quiz nights and karaoke nights hosted weekly at the student bar.
As I said, Southampton doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for being a buzzing city, but I hope to change that. Southampton has 3 main clubs that run cheap student nights – Sobar, Trilogy, and Jesters. You can read more about them here, but in short they all offer affordable drinks and lively nights out. And they’re all easy to get to, particularly Trilogy which is just out of town.
Accommodation
In your first year you’ll probably live in halls of residence. There a wide range of halls, most uncatered (as is common at universities now). Wessex Lane and Glen Eyre are two popular halls near campus, while Mayflower Hall is in town. Highfield Hall is the smallest and offers a catered package at a relatively affordable price. I stayed in Highfield Hall during my first year because of its proximity to Avenue Campus (literally a 2 minute walk!) and it played a big part of making first year enjoyable. It was so easy to make friends as everyone shared the same common room. I was also able to eat with friends each morning and evening.
The city
It’s very easy to navigate as many attractions are in walking distance or easily accessible by a reliable bus service, and it has a little bit of everything. If you’re into music, O2 Guildhall is Southampton’s flagship live venue. If you’re into sport, Premier League football is on offer at Saint Mary’s Stadium. If you’d prefer to go shopping, Westquay shopping centre was expanded just 5 years ago. And, if you’re ever feeling like a change of scenery, Southampton has excellent road, rail, ferry, and even air links to places such as London and the Isle of Wight. I particularly liked being not much more than an hour away from London in my first year. Southampton is ranked third best city in the UK for green spaces, with its biggest being right near the university – Southampton Common. The Common offers over 350 acres of woodland, ponds, and parkland.
I visited Southampton first when choosing my options and I instantly loved it. After finishing first year, I can honestly say it has been even better than I thought it would be. As with any university, the course is arguably the most important thing, but if you’re considering Southampton, and the course seems right for you, all the other aspects will take care of themselves.
