SOAS University of London

By ALASTAIR MCCALL, DAILY MAIL UNIVERSITY GUIDE EDITOR Published: 13:06, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 13:06, 12 August 2026 Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Uniquely in British higher education, Soas views the world through the prism of Africa, Asia and the Middle East; places at the centre of many of the world's most intractable problems. Even before the events of 2026, applications to Soas were at record levels and that seems unlikely to change. The university attracts an ethnically diverse intake with strong recruitment from overseas; international students make up around 30% of undergraduates. Seven new management degrees offered from September 2026 demonstrate the breadth, uniqueness and quirkiness of Soas's academic provision, combining the study of management with languages rarely taught elsewhere - Arabic, Chinese, Korean or Japanese - and arts subjects - film studies, creative art and music. Situated in Bloomsbury, in the heart of London, Soas is close to all the facilities of the University of London. Campus amenities have been heavily upgraded in the past two years. A new study skills learning lounge has opened, offering drop-ins with study skills lecturers, bookable study skills workshops, pods for private study, rooms for group study and screens for practising presentations. And the university continues to upgrade formal and informal study spaces across campus, including the Sir Denys Lasdun-designed library, adding a new commons area to support informal collaborative work. The brutalist-style landmark - one of just five higher education National Research Libraries in the UK and a global resource - contains more than 1.5m books or items in 400 languages, all of them focused on Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Your browser does not support iframes. More than one in four Soas students receive some form of financial assistance from the university. For most, this comes in the form of a Soas Bursary, which is worth £1,500 per year (up to £4,500 over the course of a degree, not covering years abroad). More than 1,150 have been awarded in the current academic year to students from England only. Those from homes with annual income of under £25,000 are eligible, but priority is given to those with the lowest incomes, alongside those whose homes are also in postcodes among the 20% that send fewest into higher education, first-generation students whose parents or guardians did not go to university, and care leavers. A further £150,000 was paid out last year to 191 students in severe financial need through one of four hardship funds - the Access to Learning Fund, Additional Study Support Fund, International Hardship Fund and Childcare Fund. These cannot be used to help pay tuition fees. About 1,200 students live in a mix of catered and self-catered university accommodation. The cheapest self-catered rooms are singles with shared bathrooms in Wood Green Hall, costing £7,400 in 2026-27 for a 40-week tenancy, while the most expensive studio accommodation costs £21,318 for a 51-week let on a premium studio in Stay Club Camden. Catered accommodation starts at £8,701 for 40 weeks in a small shared single room (women only) in International Hall, rising to £17,223 for 40 weeks in Garden Halls. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Admissions, teaching and student support Soas seeks to make its courses open to the widest possible audience. It delivers outreach activities in areas of high deprivation and low higher education participation, running summer schools, long-term attainment raising programmes and subject masterclasses. It operates a contextual offers scheme that reduces the standard entry offer by one A-level grade (or equivalent), and sometimes two if multiple eligibility criteria are met. These include having received free school meals; postcode information on university participation and deprivation; whether a student is a carer, parent, estranged or a care leaver; and whether the applicant has served in or comes from an Armed Forces family. A Student Success Programme supports attainment and helps with the transition to university through one-to-one coaching, peer guidance and workshops, and projects such as Bridging the Gap and the Ebony Initiative to address the degree gap for black and other ethnic minority students - who make up more than 80% of the student intake. Support officers in the university's student advice and wellbeing centre are the first point of contact for those having wellbeing or mental health issues. Available face-to-face, by phone or via email, they can support students and direct them to more specialist services. Mentoring is offered for long-term non-therapeutic support alongside counselling. The Spectrum.Life student assistance programme provides 24/7 cover to supplement on-campus services. The university takes safety on its campus seriously and is one of a minority to require all students to undertake Enough is Enough consent workshops, which are also designed to equip those studying at Soas with effective bystander intervention strategies.