It is no secret to anyone that studying at LSE is academically demanding. As a result, it is undeniably important for students to work in a supportive environment within which they are best able to realise their academic potential. Students at LSE are thus extremely lucky to have the benefit of accessing the wide range of academic facilities that the university provides.

To make the most of your short time studying here, it is essential for you—and your grades!—to make use of all the support that LSE offers. Here are my favourite three academic facilities at LSE:

The Library

As everyone can attest to, the LSE Library with its iconic staircase is an invaluable resource for any student at the university. The library is the perfect spot for serious study all year round. The library has plenty of study spaces—including cubicles, computers, sofas, booths, and rooms—with both silent and group study zones to allow you to work as it best suits your learning style.

Moreover, as a library, there are of course a variety of digital and physical materials that are available to consult and borrow to aid your studies in all of your courses. Don’t forget that there are also fantastic librarians specialising in a number of areas who will be happy to guide you in the right direction in case you don’t know where to start looking for what you need. By the end of your studies, you will definitely have become very familiar with the LSE library!

LSE LIFE

Found on the Ground Floor of the LSE Library, LSE LIFE is another unique facility at the university where you can study and receive help to aid your learning. LSE LIFE is made up of a team of specialist study advisers who offer many kinds of academic support that are available to all students. Mainly, they run a variety of useful workshops all year round that are tailored to improve your different skills, including reading, note-taking, critical thinking, research, writing, presenting, time management, and many more.

In addition to this, LSE LIFE provides all students the opportunity to book one-to-one sessions with study advisers to seek more personalised academic guidance. This is an invaluable resource for all students to help them feel confident about meeting the expectations that their different courses have of them. Make sure you are not missing out on this fantastic resource!

Office Hours

Academic office hours are times allocated by class teachers, lecturers, and course convenors for chatting to students, and these are bookable on the LSE Student Hub. Although going to an academic’s office hours may seem daunting at first, these meetings—either on Zoom or in person—are the best opportunity to go beyond lectures and classes, and have a deeper conversation to explore and exchange ideas about your understanding of the course content.

This is especially useful to do before a formative or summative assessment, in order to give you a chance to ask any further questions and make sure that you are thinking along the right lines from the beginning. As one-to-one meetings with the very academics leading your learning, office hours are truly one of the best ways to guarantee that you know exactly what your teachers expect from you and how to achieve it.