Here’s some of the reasons we think we deserve this nomination, especially with a focus on our postgrads.
Queen Mary University of London has been nominated for Best Postgraduate University in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025 (the WUSCAs) – and we agree!
The WUSCAs are the only higher education awards in the UK where institutions are judged and reviewed solely by students themselves. In producing a shortlist, the WUSCAs Review Collection Team visited over 100 university campuses across the UK, gathering over 36,800 reviews from students. By including independent student reviews, institutes can receive invaluable insights on how they are delivering to students, what they are doing right, and what they can improve. Not only does it tell us what we’re doing right, but these reviews are also a great, unbiased resource for researching higher education options for prospective students.
In addition to Best Postgraduate University, Queen Mary also has been shortlisted for Best Students’ Union, and Best Student Life, how exciting! Here’s some of the reasons we think we deserve this nomination, especially with a focus on our postgrads.
Our campus
Located in the heart of East London, our Mile End campus is a vibrant place to study or conduct research all year long. With great places to focus and get work done, like our popular Ground Cafe and Union Cafe – but also the additional various postgraduate-exclusive spaces on campus (click here to discover these hidden gems on campus!)
Of course, our Mile End campus is home to a stunning section of the canal by the student village, which is the perfect spot to take a study break. However, we also have four additional campuses across London for various specialties. Our Whitechapel campus hosts the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and our Charterhouse Square and West Smithfield campuses are specialist headquarters for additional medicine and dentistry students. Additionally, our Lincoln's Inn Fields campus is exclusively for postgraduate law students, with the home to LLM teaching and postgraduate research! Having so many great campuses means that there’s always a fresh and exciting study place for you to discover and fall in love with.
Student groups
Here at QMSU, we have over 300 student groups; our clubs and societies are a great opportunity to meet new people, continue a hobby that you enjoy, or even try something new! Sometimes it can feel like these student groups are there for undergraduate students who are new to the university lifestyle. However, we’ve been advocating for students, regardless of their level of study, to know that clubs and societies are for them, too!
Did you know our Mexican Society is made up of 100% postgraduate students? More specifically, an incredibly 92.37% of the society members are postgraduate researchers! Last academic year, we held an end-of-year postgraduate barbecue in collaboration with the Mexican Society, who provided a range of salsas and tortillas made by the researchers themselves.
If crafting is your idea of a good time, our Knit and Knatter Society has 16 postgraduate society members! Student groups like Knit and Knatter are a great way to meet new friends, as well as take some time off your studies or research. We hosted a wonderful collaborative workshop with Knit and Knatter this year, which was another great opportunity to get involved with our postgraduate community and learn a new skill.
Events programme
As already discussed, over the past couple of years we have hosted some great collaborative events with our student groups, to really engage postgrads in all things QMSU! In addition to our events with the Mexican Society and Knit and Knatter Society, we have held events like the classic PGR mixers and research showcases (for liberation campaigns like LGBT+ History Month and Asian Heritage Month).
We even did frequent trips to libraries for PGRs and PGTs, for example Senate House Library, so that as a postgrad, you can progress on your to-do list but also get to know your fellow peers. But that’s not all! We have hosted festive film screenings, trips to gardens, attended theatre shows at The Globe, and even a PGR Palooza to celebrate completing our first year of the Postgraduate Consultation Group! We look forward to even more events and opportunities to socialise in the summer months.
Winners will be announced on Monday 21 May 2025 at the Whatuni Student Choice Awards, so wish us luck! For more examples of QMSU’s wins for the student experience, visit our SU Wins page here! And to see what else is going on for postgrads at QMSU, visit our Postgraduate Hub here!