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Living at home

There are lots of benefits of living at home and commuting to university when you need to.

Read Victoria's blog on commuting to university

Watch the videos below and read about some of the options and support offered by our academic schools.

Hear from Naveen about driving to campus from home

If you live further than 1.5 miles away and wish to drive to campus you can apply for a free parking permit to park on campus. You'll be able to do this closer to the start of term. 

See Tom's trip to campus by train

Egham is on the Reading to Waterloo train line, managed by South Western Railway. Trains run regularly throughout the day, with additional services during busy times. See National Rail for up-to-date timetables. 

A railcard from National Rail can save you a 1/3 on rail fares. The campus is a 20-minute walk from the station or, for £1 a journey (contactless available) you can catch the university shuttle bus from Egham station to the main campus.

A number of local buses stop directly outside our campus from towns such as Slough, Staines and Windsor, and connect us to Heathrow Airport.

On-campus facilities

Need to stay over? We are often able to offer discounted rooms in our accommodation if you occasionally need to stay on campus overnight. 

Between lectures and teaching times you can spend time in our 24/7 library or other study spaces around campus. There are plenty of places to relax, take a break or simply meet with friends across our 135-acre campus. Our cafes are open throughout the day, with some open early morning and into the evening.

Planning your time

Our academic departments publish their timetables online and any changes are made 48 hours beforehand to help you plan your travel accordingly. They also offer a range of other support to help you get the most out of your studies and the time you spend on campus. 

 

Read more about support from our academic departments for commuting students

This information is from 2023 entry and we'll update soon for 2024:

  • We'll try to streamline timetables for commuting students who have especially long commutes. 
  • We offer recorded lecture materials if you miss anything or any lectures.
  • Our external speakers, for instance those from the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA) host online events to make it simple for you to join.

This information is from 2023 entry and we'll update soon for 2024:

  • We have several areas nominated as our 'Commuter Space'. These are small rooms which can be used for study or attending online learning sessions, and a number of breakout spaces to allow students to work or meet with peers.
  • The School of Performing and Digital Arts has two student common rooms for students to use between classes. Facilities include a kitchen, vending machine, chargers and games.
  • The Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance has rehearsal rooms bookable outside of class time to develop your work at your convenience.
  • The Music Department has practice rooms with pianos available to students 6am-midnight, and electronic studios / production suites available to students 8am-10pm. Some of our ensembles have evening rehearsals but we aim to run rehearsals at times when public transport is still running for commuting students.
  • The Department of Media Arts has edit suites, computer rooms and a social space in the Williams Building which are available to students at all times. Equipment can be booked in advance and borrowed from the kit store 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that commuting students can work around their schedules.
  • The Foundation Year Department, based in the Founder's Building, is adjacent the Founder's Reading Room, which is ideal for private study and is always open. Across Founders Square, commuting students can easily access the Emily Wilding Davison building, where they will have use of the library, laptops to loan, and space to meet with friends for group and private study.
  • We organise a range of social events in the Autumn, Spring, and Summer Terms to help you make friends and build your network. For instance, in June, we will hold a School-wide BBQ to celebrate the end of exams. This event takes place in the afternoon to make sure our commuting students can easily join in.
  • We manage a WhatsApp group where commuting students can arrange to travel together and organise socials in and around London.
  • We try to streamline timetables for commuting students who have especially long commutes.
  • We have recorded lecture materials (pre-recorded, or available following the lecture), which are especially helpful if you have lectures and seminars spread out across several days.
  • We have on-campus and online Consultation and Feedback Hours so that our commuters can meet with lecturers from the comfort of home.
  • We hold Student-Staff Action Meetings online so that commuting student representatives can easily attend.
  • We actively engage with commuters through initiatives like the Commuter Survey and Focus Groups project to better understand and address our commuting students' needs.

This information is from 2023 entry and we'll update soon for 2024:

  • Consistent practice across the departments in the School of Life Sciences and the Environment is the offering of all individual staff/student meetings (start/end of term, dissertation supervision etc) as online rather than face to face if you prefer it and it's more convenient. This means that you don't need to attend non-timetabled but compulsory activities in person. 

This information is from 2023 entry and we'll update soon for 2024:

  • Consistent practice across the departments in the School of Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences is the offering of all individual staff/student meetings (start/end of term, dissertation supervision etc) as online rather than face to face if you prefer it and it's more convenient. This means that you don't need to attend non-timetabled but compulsory activities in person.