It’s the start of the Spring term! Welcome back and a huge welcome to our new students starting in January. Keep reading to find out what’s on this week.

Monday 13 January: Grad schemes and karaoke

Unsure about how to find or apply for a grad scheme? Join this online session all about grad schemes which will explain what they are, tips to get one and alternative routes.

Enjoy some karaoke at the weekly Karaoke @ K Bar event. Come along and enjoy a lively atmosphere filled with music and camaraderie.

Tuesday 14 January: Careers events

On Tuesday there’s lots on to help you get career focused. Clarify your career goals with the help of a mentor (online session), go to a CV and cover letter workshop in Canterbury or Medway, or if working abroad sounds good to you, join this thinking of working abroad online session.

Wednesday 15 January: Medway Welcome Fair and introduction to university studies webinar

New and returning students are invited to join the Medway Welcome Fair on Wednesday to meet student groups, university teams and more! Explore a diverse array of student societies, discover local services, and learn about campus resources. After the Welcome Fair, stick around for Sing it Loud Karaoke at The Deep End.

Just starting at Kent? If you are new to higher education or returning to study after some time, join this introduction to university studies webinar to help you get on the right track.

Thursday 16 January: Short-term and exchange student webinar, fun activities and alcohol and drug support drop in

If you’re a new short-term or exchange student, this webinar from the Skills for Academic Success team is for you. Learn what to expect in terms of UK academic culture and conventions, as well as writing formats, references and more.

Enjoy some chill out time with the ResLife Ambassadors in DG-01 in the Templeman Library with boardgames, Nintendo Switch and puzzles to choose from.

Are you worried about your or a friend’s drug or alcohol use? On Thursday, there’s a With You Kent drop-in drug and alcohol service where you can have a confidential chat and get support.

At Medway you can join a Crafternoon at The Hub  where you can paint a plant pot or pebble. It’s an opportunity to chat, share advice and connect with others.

On Thursday evening the Pop n Soul choir is back and new members are welcome! It is open to students, staff and the local community and there are no auditions and no need to read music. Just come along and enjoy singing as a group.

Friday 17 January: Academic CV support and cinema night

Are you a PhD candidate who is an aspiring lecturer or researcher? Join this online session for PhD students about how to write an academic CV.

Come together with the ResLife Ambassadors for a sleepover themed cinema night at the Lupino, Canterbury campus. Enjoy free hot chocolate and snacks while you watch a sleepover classic. The film will be decided by a vote on the day out of Mean Girls, Clueless and Legally Blonde.

See all student events

The Medway Engagement Support team would like to remind you that we are here to provide you with support and guidance if you need any assistance during your studies. Please do get in touch with us or book a support meeting (online or in-person) if you require any support.

If you are experiencing any extenuating circumstances that are preventing you from fully engaging with your studies, please do get in touch. Our team will be able to offer you information, guidance, and support. For your reference,  see helpful information and guidance about the University’s extenuating circumstances procedures.  You can also contact your Academic Advisor and the Skills for Academic Success Team (SAS) if you require any additional support during your studies.

As part of our role, we monitor your attendance in accordance with the University’s Student Attendance and Engagement Policy.  If you are unable to attend a timetabled teaching event, please ensure that you report your absence via Presto.  You should also contact your teaching staff directly regarding your missed lectures/seminars to catch-up on any work missed.

We would also like to highlight the University’s Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) service that you may wish to access for additional support. The Medway SSW team are located on the First Floor of the Medway Building and are available Monday to Friday 9:00 – 17:00. You can contact the service via email or via telephone on 01634 888474.

We hope the above information is helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Music Performance Scholar Heather is a unique student, balancing her studies with performing and teaching folk music, as well as excelling in hockey and other sports. A perhaps unlikely pairing of passions, but she makes it work harmoniously! Hear from Stand-out Scholar Heather:

“I’m Heather Moss. I study Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Kent and have just started my second year. I am a sports fanatic, playing mainly hockey at Uni but also running, swimming, and going to the gym in my spare time. However, I am also a Folk Flute Musician. This has taken me all over the country, teaching workshops and tunes to many young people. A fun fact about myself is that I have been attending folk festivals since the year I was born!”

Tell us about the Folkshop group and your Folk-filled summer.

“I started Folkshop last year, about two months into Uni, not knowing what to expect from it. It started off with just a few people turning up but now has expanded into about 8 of us! The main difference between Folkshop and other music groups at the Uni is that I teach the music by ear rather than with sheet music which has been a new experience for the folk group members. We have just come back from playing our first professional gig at a Tenterden folk festival, which was an amazing experience! I hope to continue expanding Folkshop and have some new opportunities regarding folk music over the next couple of years.

“My folk-infused summer was a hectic, crazy but amazing opportunity! The summer started when I stewarded at Ely Folk Festival, helping at the box office and also playing in many different sessions throughout the weekend. Then Sidmouth Folk Festival followed this, which is a weeklong festival! I was a core tutor running youth music workshops, which happened daily and concluded in the participants performing all the tunes that we had taught them in a performance at the manor pavilion.

Then next stop was Folk East, where I helped steward on the youth tent which included helping in all the youth music workshops and other activities. I then attended Halsway Manor Advanced Youth Summer School for a week where I learnt so many different skills from new tunes to how to set up my own PA system and creating our own tunes. This week was led by some amazing and very talented musicians in the folk industry. I then attended Towersey Folk festival where I led a youth music workshop every day which involved teaching the participants tunes and arrangements and ended in a performance to the public.

My summer concluded with me running a two-day folk music residential alongside Finn Collinson. We taught youth participants, who had never played folk music before. Teaching them the basics of folk music and all the different styles of folk tunes.”

 What advice would you give to other students?

“My advice to other students is to go for any opportunity you have. I never imagined when I started at the University of Kent to set up and run my own folk group, but here I am running this amazing group. It has given me some great opportunities and I have made some wonderful friends. So even if it might seem scary, give it a go!”

What are your plans for the next year?

“Next year I will hope to have another crazy, folk-infused summer, attending all the same festivals as last year. I am also hoping to go abroad and attend an Ethno world music camp. This is where participants from many different countries meet and teach different tunes that originate from their own country (i.e., folk music). Then of course I will come back to Uni next year and hopefully finish my degree and live my crazy sport/music Uni life!

I will also continue to run Folkshop for another year. I am looking into maybe running my own folk music festival along with some other friends from around the area of Kent as unfortunately Tenterden folk festival is not happening again. I will also hopefully find someone to continue the tradition of folk music at Kent even once I’m gone!”

Do you know an inspirational student or student group? Let us know.

Learn more about the Kent Stars campaign.

From 1 January 2025, the Medway Building opening times will be 08:00 to 18:00 hours, Monday to Sunday.  

Outside of these times, the Medway Building will be card access only from 18:00 to 22:00 hours. After 22:00 until 08:00 is out of hours, and the Medway Building should be empty. 

The Medway Campus, shared with Greenwich and Christ Church, will still have 24/7 security patrols and CCTV on site. However, the Walking Taxi Service will not be available at Medway during out of hours times. 

You can still contact security on the same number but out of hours you will need to go to the Gate House on the Medway campus (on Central Avenue).  

If students, including KMTV students, need access to the Medway Building out of hours, this should be directly associated with your studies and agreed with your academic supervisor. Once you have staff approval, you will need to email security@kent.ac.uk in advance and activate the SafeZone app when in the Medway Building.

Welcome to Kent! We’ve compiled some information for you around where you can buy food once you arrive, including supermarkets and places to eat out.

Canterbury

Supermarkets

On campus we have two small Co-op supermarkets run by Kent Students’ Union – one in the plaza on central campus and one in Park Wood. January opening times:

Plaza Co-op

• Friday 3 January: 07:00-20:00
• Saturday 4 January: 07:00-20:00
• Sunday 5 January: 12:00-18:00
• Monday 6- Saturday 11 January: 7:00-22:00

Park Wood Co-op

• Thursday 2 January – Saturday 4 January: 09:00-17:00
• Sunday 5 – Friday 10 January: 08:00-20:00.
• Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 January: 09:00-Midnight

From Monday 13 January, both Co-op shops will be open as normal for the start of term.

For larger supermarkets, you might want to catch the bus into town to Sainsbury’s, Asda and Lidl.

See this Canterbury google maps showing supermarkets, international food stores and other useful shops.

Places to eat on or near campus

Check out the catering outlets winter break timetable to see where and when you can purchase food on our Canterbury campus.

Kent Students’ Union also have the Library Café and Woody’s which sells food and drinks. See their winter break opening times.

Once term begins on 13 January, all our outlets will be open during their usual opening times. See catering webpage to learn more.

In Canterbury city centre, there are loads of places to eat. Look out for student discounts at some cafes and restaurants.

Medway

Supermarkets

Next to Pier Quays accommodation there is a small Tesco Express supermarket which is open 24/7. Across the road, less than 5 minutes walk away, there is also a large Asda supermarket.

See this Medway google maps showing supermarkets, international food stores and other useful shops.

Places to eat on or near campus

There is a Subway and Domino’s very close to Pier Quays accommodation. There is also a range of restaurants and cafes at the Dockside Outlet Centre which is a 10-minute walk down the road.

Once term begins on 13 January, you can also check out some places to eat at the Medway campus including The Deep End which is part of the Hub, the Archibald Hay Mess in the Drill Hall Library and the Venue Cafe in Pilkington.

Over the summer we let you know that we were making some changes to our Academic Management Structure and we can now confirm what the 10 academic Schools at Kent will be called from January 2025: 

What does this mean for me? 

Most of the changes will be behind the scenes so you may not see anything obvious as staff work hard to minimise disruption to your studies.  

You may start to hear staff using these new school names however Divisional email addresses will still work until the end of this academic year. If you’re unsure who to contact, ask Nexus to be linked up with the right service or team. 

I am on a course being phased out. Where do I go for support? 

If you are on a course being phased out, please be reassured that we will continue to support you while you’re at Kent. Heads of School and support staff from your assigned school, as well as central teams, are on hand to support you.

If you’re unsure who to contact, ask Nexus to be linked up with the right service or team.

Courses being phased out will be aligned to one of the new schools (see table below).  

If you have any questions or feedback in the meantime about the new Academic Management Structure, please email kent2030student@kent.ac.uk

In November 2024 the Government announced that for the academic year 2025/26 tuition fees for home students are set to increase by 3.1% to £9,535 for undergraduate degrees in England. We’ve put together a short summary of what this will mean for Kent students.  

Subject to final ratification in parliament, this tuition fee rise will apply for all undergraduate home students studying at the University of Kent for the 2025-26 academic year – both new and returning students. 

If you have a student loan, the fee rise will not result in any new upfront cost for students, and how you repay your student loan remains the same. The loan repayments you make each month when you have a job in the future are based on how much you earn rather than how much you have to repay. 

The Government also announced an increase in maintenance loan support to help students manage the cost of going to university. We have several cost-of-living measures at Kent alongside this to help you make the most of your time with us. 

FAQs 

What does this mean for international and postgraduate students? 

Tuition fees for international and taught postgraduate students are decided through a different process and are unaffected by this Government announcement. You can view the 2025-26 tuition fees for international and postgraduate students on the Kent website.  

When will fees rise and does it impact current students? 

Tuition fees may rise annually, but for UK undergraduates are capped by the Government. See Kent’s Tuition Fee Increase Policy for more information. Both the tuition fee and maintenance loans for UK undergraduate students will rise in the 2025-26 academic year.   

What will the 2025-26 tuition fees be? 

Tuition fees will rise in line with inflation for the first time since 2017, this means current fees will increase from £9,250 a year to £9,535 (full-time). 

How much is the maintenance support increasing by? 

Maintenance loans have increased each year however the increases haven’t kept up with inflation. The Government announced that maintenance loans will also increase in line with inflation from September 2025. This means the students who rely on maintenance loans will have more money in their pockets from the next academic year. If you are currently facing financial hardship, please see cost of living support at Kent. 

Does this change my student loan repayments? 

If you apply for a tuition fee loan, this money is paid directly to the university to cover the cost of your course. If you apply for a maintenance loan, it is paid directly to your bank account to help with the costs of going to university. 

You will not need to repay tuition fee or maintenance loans until you have completed your degree or have left the university. Even though the amount you borrow will be different, the student loan repayment process remains the same.  

Cost of Living Support at Kent 

If you are struggling with the rising cost of living, here’s some of the support available at Kent: 

• Emergency funding – we have funds and emergency short term loans for students facing financial hardship. 

• Finance support contacts – here are some useful contacts to help you with your finance questions and offer advice. 

• Supplemental food support – KSU’s Campus Pantry at Canterbury is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 12:00-16:00. There are no questions asked the first time you use the service. 

• Rutherford Meal Deal – head over to Rutherford (Canterbury) for the £3.50 Meal Deal. Open for lunch and dinner, you can choose between 2 hot meals (one plant-based) with 2 sides. 

• £3 sub and drink meal deal and other offers at The Deep End (Medway). 

• Pick up free sanitary products from KSU’s Mandela Student Centre and the laundry facilities on the Canterbury campus, and from the Deep End at Medway. 

• Campus lounges have microwaves and hot taps so you can reheat leftovers or make yourself a hot drink. See warm spaces map. 

• Borrow a laptop for up to 12 hours for use in the Templeman Library and across our Canterbury campus. In Medway you can use LapSafe in Drill Hall Library (same day or 7-day loans available). 

See all the above support and more on our cost-of-living webpages.