Category: Travel

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From London to Hong Kong

We flew from London to Hong Kong to bring a unique teaching experience to students at our hosting school, Singapore International School (Hong Kong). Here are some highlights of an inspiring week.

Students were introduced to the British way of teaching and they explored a range of subject areas, such as Biomedical Sciences, Business Management, Chemistry, Law, Politics and Engineering.

It was a great opportunity for them to have an international experience in their own country, and some of the students got excited with the idea of studying abroad in the future.

 Professors returned fully inspired by the bright and motivated students that they met and came back with good memories.

Students attended special sessions on the British university application process delivered by our deputy director, Ian Fielding.

For more information on our pre-university summer programmes, please check our website.

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Summer in Berlin

Studying abroad is bound to be a life experience. It takes you out of your comfort zone, it challenges you and it teaches you to be more open. It also gives you the incredible opportunity get other points of view and explore another culture.

Every year, we welcome students from all corners of the world in London, but likewise many of our students also get the opportunity to go abroad.

Recently, 50 King’s students travelled to Berlin and explored German culture and history. It was an interactive, skills and knowledge-building programme, where they were intellectually stimulated and personally empowered. They were encouraged to think about their personal agency and the impact in their communities.

Here are some highlights of a memorable week.

 

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(Summer) Time of your life

Summer has started in London and the temperatures this week are reaching 29 degrees. The Undergraduate Summer School will start next week and everyone in our team is working hard to make sure that you will have an unforgettable experience at King’s. By now, you probably have mixed feelings; excitement, worry, enthusiasm and a lot of other emotions. Some of you are travelling alone, some are coming from far away and some are leaving your countries for the first time. But you are not alone, we can guarantee that most of your fellow students are feeling the same way and you will see that once you get here and meet them.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from the academics of one of the top universities in the world, expand your knowledge in the subject area that you have chosen and experience the British education system. It is also a chance to explore London, meet people from other countries, get exposed to other cultures and get out of your comfort zone.

Studying abroad is a way to get inspired and to think about what you would like to do in the future. Most people who experienced studying or living abroad are likely to repeat the experience. It can have an impact on your future and certainly in your outlook on the world.

Remember that not everyone has this opportunity; to meet people from other backgrounds, cultures and countries, so make the most out of it!

Why not to take the first step to meet someone? If at any point you feel lonely, insecure or scared just get in touch with someone in our team and we will be here for you.

Now review your packing checklist, do some research about your subject and get ready to fly in to London.

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Pre-University fun times checklist

The countdown has started! In less than a month, you will be in London having an unforgettable life experience on the Pre-University Summer School. Having the chance to be taught by King’s College London academics is a fantastic opportunity, and you should make the most out of it. London has so much to offer that we recommend you to make a list of the main attractions that you want to see when you are not busy with classes and studies. And don’t worry, London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, South Bank and the West End (an area of Central and West London where the main theatres are concentrated) are just around the corner from our campuses.

To help you prepare for your social experience, we have 20 tickets available for the musical comedy, Aladdin. Based on the Disney movie, it has been running in the West End since 2011 to raving reviews.

The dates and times of the show are:

  • 16 July 2018 at 7.30pm – suitable for session one students (9 – 20 July)
  • 31 July 2018 at 7.30pm – suitable for session two students (23 July – 3 August)

For further information and to book tickets, please click here.

We are also arranging day trips to the picturesque city of Oxford on Saturday 14 July and Saturday 28 July. These are fully escorted and guided tours on a private luxury coach. The day includes a walking tour of the historic city centre and what is considered a favourite tradition amongst students – punting along the river. For further information and to book tickets, please click here.

There is also the new Arcade Garden at Bush House, which is part of the Strand Campus, with free creative wellbeing workshops, including watercolour painting, mindful movement, garden workshops, breathful chanting and fragrance making. It is a perfect place for you relax, study and have a break. For further information about the workshops, please click here.

Now is the time to start making your check-list and booking everything you need before arriving, so you don’t need worry about anything apart from your studies and experience. Please visit our website for more social activities.

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Undergraduate Social ‘n Sports

So, you have accepted your offer to join the King’s Undergraduate Summer School, and you now probably have an idea of what you are going to study, where you are going to live and how much your workload will be. This is the perfect moment to start thinking about how to spend your free time. You probably want to go sightseeing or attend a musical or have some fish and chips.

We have put together the below social activities that you can enjoy during the Undergraduate Summer School programme.

Oxford and Windsor Day Trip

Oxford is known for its beautiful canal, pedestrianised central business district and fascinating architecture. In Windsor, you can visit the largest and oldest inhabited castle in the world and the Queen’s favourite weekend home.

For further information and to book tickets, please visit the links below:

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Trips

To celebrate some of the greatest works of William Shakespeare we will be offering our students the opportunity to attend a performance at The Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays are performed like they were in his time.

Session one students can attend a live performance of Hamlet (10 July 2018 at 7:30pm), and  Session two students can attend Othello (1 August 2018 at 7:30pm).

Harry Potter Studio Tour

Step across the threshold of the Great Hall, walk down Diagon Alley, visit Number 4 Privet Drive, board the night bus, and take a photo on Hagrid’s Motorbike.

For further information and to book tickets, please visit the links below:

  • Session one : 7 July 2018 – Tour 1 at 10:45am, or Tour 2 at 11:15am
  • Session two: 28 July 2018 – Tour 1 at 10:45am, or Tour 2 at 11:15am

Gym Membership and BeActive

King’s Sport and King’s Summer Programmes are delighted to be offering gym membership packages to summer students. Membership includes full access to the fitness equipment and access to a variety of group fitness classes such as yoga, pilates and spinning (booking required). Here is an example timetable. If you wish to purchase a gym membership, please do so via the e-store.

In addition to this, A BeActive programme is available to all students, which consists of:

  • Weekly Table Tennis sessions
  • Weekly GoodGym Run – a chance to work out and volunteer in the community at the same time
  • Bi-Weekly Rave Runs

We look forward to seeing you this summer and hope you are also excited to be joining us on the King’s Undergraduate Summer School!

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All you need to know about London

Public transport
Getting around London can seem really daunting at first, but don’t worry, you’ll soon get used to it. The first thing you should do when you get here, is purchase an Oyster card (unless you are a Pre-University Summer School residential student). This works on a pay-as-you-go basis, so all you need to do is top up at a machine (in a tube or train station) or online, when your balance is running low. Another way to pay for travel is to use a contactless card, which costs the same amount as using an Oyster. This means you have the added benefit of not having to worry about topping it up!

Both Oysters and Contactless cards are really simple to use on public transport. On the tube, trains and DLR, make sure you ‘touch in’ on the yellow reader at the start of your journey and ‘touch out’ at the end of your journey. If you’re taking the bus or the tram, you will only need to ‘touch in’ on the yellow reader once when you board. Also make sure you download a mobile app such ‘Citymapper’, as it is really useful for working out a route between two places.

Coffee and Culture
London is bursting with cool, quirky coffee shops and cafes, and some of the following parts of town are a great place to start: Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden, Pop Brixton, Brixton Village, Hoxton and Shoreditch. If you’re looking for other ways to spend your free time, head to Peckham, specifically Rye Lane for a unique and trendy part of London that is far off the beaten (and touristy) track! There’s also Richmond Park in South West London, a beautiful expanse of green space which is only 35 minutes from Waterloo on the train. The Southbank Centre, Somerset House and The Store Studios are all in walking distance of the Strand Campus and often have exhibitions and events on during the summer. 

Sight-seeing
Don’t forget about all of London’s famous sights. Just walking across Waterloo Bridge will give you an amazing panoramic view of some of them, but make sure you explore them properly. The London Eye, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, London Bridge, The Tower of London and Tower Bridge are all close to two of King’s campuses – the Strand Campus and Guy’s Campus. Other unmissable sights in London include Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.

Download the King’s Mobile app if you are already enrolled on the Pre-University Summer School and the Undergraduate Summer School. This app will provide information about summer accommodation, social and sports activities, advice and tips on your stay in London, as well as FAQs. To download the app, click here.

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New Summer Programme- University Futures: Skills in leadership and innovation

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New to the King’s College London Summer Programmes Team portfolio for 2018 is University Futures: Skills in leadership and innovation conference.

Running from 1- 7 July 2018, this programme will be led by King’s College London’s Entrepreneurship Institute. This stimulating programme, aimed at high school students aged 14 and 15 years olds, will explore themes of innovation and leadership through a series of lectures, seminars and group work activities. More information about the academic content can be found on this webpage.

University Futures is a fully residential programme and all students will be housed in our Stamford Street Apartments. Every night there will be social activities for all students to take part in, including a treasure hunt along London’s South Bank, a trip to Covent Garden, a boat party on the Thames and a theatre trip.

You can apply online and you have until 15 May 2018 to submit an application to the programme. More information about the programme and how to apply can be found here. Good luck with your application and we hope to see you in July.

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Summer@King’s Scholarships

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If you’re interested in studying in London with us this summer, you may be pleased to know that we are offering a number of Summer@King’s Scholarships to our programmes. We are looking for candidates across all our programmes, who are passionate about learning, thinking and communicating.

For the 2018 Undergraduate Summer School there will be 8 tuition fee scholarships available. These scholarships will cover the tuition for one session on the programme, which costs £1,500.

There will be 10 tuition fee scholarships available to those wishing to study on the Pre-University Summer School in 2018. These scholarships will cover the tuition fee of £1,800. For Pre-University Taster students there are also scholarships on offer. There will be 10 tuition fee scholarships available and these will cover the £300 tuition fee.

All applicants need to apply for the programme in the usual way and must fulfil our standard academic criteria. For the guidelines on our available scholarships please visit our dedicated Summer@King’s Scholarships webpage. You have until 1 April 2018 to submit an application. Good luck!

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Applications now open: Pre-University Taster 2018

pre-uni (6)We’ve now launched our Pre-University Taster programme for 2018.

Our Pre-University Taster is a chance to explore a subject at undergraduate level, whilst studying at one of the world’s top universities.

The programme will run from 6-9 August 2018. Choose from a range of study areas including Business Management, History and Literature, Law, Science and new for 2018 is Engineering.

You can submit an application now and you will have until 31 May 2018 to apply to the programmes. This year we are offering 10 tuition fee scholarships for students wishing to study on the 2018 Pre-University Taster programme. These scholarships will cover the tuition fee of £300 and the deadline to apply is 1 April 2018. If you would like more information about this and details on how to apply please visit our Summer@King’s Scholarships page.

Accommodation is also available to those wishing to study on the Pre-University Taster programme. Upon receiving an offer you can purchase your accommodation from the King’s College London e-store.

If you have a question concerning an application that you have submitted please email the admissions team through your King’s Apply account. If you have a question about accommodation, the e-store or any other aspect of the programme you may also find the answer to your query on our website. Alternatively you can contact us by email at summer@kcl.ac.uk or call the office during opening hours.

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My Summer at King’s: Margherita Feleppa

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King’s College London Summer School offers a wide variety of modules. This past summer I took part in the Criminology and Criminal Justice module.

During the course we learned the core elements of crime starting from its understanding and moving on to analysing the major crime categories and finally discussing the criminal justice system. The course was organised in a interactive way: it was the tutor and the students – sometimes in groups- who held the lecture. It was very surprising to see how interactive participation can make the lecture not only more interesting, but also more efficient in terms of learning outcomes.

In this course I gained a comparative perspective of crime control and punishment in different countries. I believe that this is crucial for someone that –like me- is a law student, because in law courses the study of criminal law usually neglects a comparative view as it tends to focus on national law only. Moreover, as this course gives a solid understanding of criminology, it is also a tool that law students can use in order to better integrate and understand the criminal law and the criminal justice system.pre-uni (2)

As part of the course, we also went to some field trips. For example, we visited the Criminal Court and the Police Museum. These experiences helped us better understand the main issues in sentencing and policing.

Furthermore, the city of London was a very inspiring environment as it provides students – especially law students- with the possibility to visit the legal area, including the Royal Courts of Justice all within a very short walking distance from the campus. Not to mention the beautiful Maughan Library that was just the perfect place to study and meet other students.

pre-uni (4)Living in London for three weeks also meant living in a multicultural and vibrant city and King’s social programme combined city tours and events with the possibility of meeting new people. This is how I got to know most of the friends I made especially my Instahunt group.

It was culturally and personally enriching to meet students from different backgrounds and share this experience with them. Like myself, most of my friends were living in the student dorms and this made our friendship even stronger. Every day we walked together from the dorm to the campus and we shared meals, field trips and class projects.

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By sharing those every day little things, I have learned a lot from my friends in terms of culture and diversity. In our friends group there are people that come from different countries, cultures, studies but we all shared something: our summer experience at King’s. Our connection was so special that I also met some of my friends after the programme came to an end and I still keep in touch with all of them!

I made the most of this summer both on a professional and personal level and I am really thankful for this experience.