If you are starting a one-year master’s degree at LSE, you might be wondering what it is like to stay in London over the summer. If you are booking accommodation in London or just wondering what your summer plans will look like, here is my experience.
Note that several master’s degrees involve two terms of teaching – Michaelmas Term and Lent Term – and a summer term during which students prepare for exams and dissertations. For many students, there is no further teaching after some revision sessions at the beginning of the Summer Term.
Many students stay…
If you want to stay in London, be reassured: many other students will stay as well! Students are happy to stay at LSE in order to enjoy the nice weather and to make use of LSE’s study spaces. For many, it will be the last year at university, and I have met many people who were wanting to make the most of it! However, in my experience it seems that in August most students decide to travel.
…while some go back to their countries!
It is also common to meet people who will not stay in London during the summer! Accommodation in London is expensive, and some students would rather write the dissertation at home. Also, some students come from far away and they do not have the chance to go back home during the teaching terms. Finally, other students find internships in other countries and decide to move out.
Final advice
If you are undecided about your plans and you want to wait and see before deciding to stay over the summer, I would suggest being flexible about accommodation. If you are going into private accommodation, you can ask your landlord whether it is possible to sublet your room during the summer or to pass your contract onto someone else once you leave. Another option would be to rent a place until June and decide only then whether to stay or not.
If you are not sure what to do, it is completely normal. I was not sure either whether I would have wanted to stay or not! In the end, I ended up finding an internship abroad and was able to easily move out as my renting contract allowed me to sublet my room.