Major changes at Ramsay Hall: private study spaces and community testing centre

Ramsay Hall has now been converted into additional study spaces and a Covid-19 test facility after the accommodation block was not opened to freshers in September.

Source: UCL Imagestore

For students studying in the midst of a pandemic, and those struggling to decide whether it was worth moving to London to study during the time of online learning, UCL study spaces have been an important resource.  

As a result, study spaces have been incredibly popular amongst students and UCL has made additional spaces available to deal with the high demand. In Ramsay Hall, 103 bedrooms across three floors have now been converted into study spaces with a desk, a chair and a desk lamp.  While UCL had previously created an additional 208 workspaces in Bidborough House and Torrington Place, the new rooms in Ramsay Hall are significant as they are not limited to silent study.

This makes Ramsay Hall ideal for students that want to listen to lectures out loud, participate in seminars, and work in a more relaxed environment. Pi Media spoke to first year students about the changes; some said they felt it was a great place to study without any distraction, but while having the freedom to make a little noise, put on some music and participate in online meetings.

Other students disagreed, however, and said that being in an environment in which everyone is focused was one of their main motivations for using study spaces, which made them more productive than they would be studying alone in their rooms.

It seems that the news of these new study spaces has not reached many students’ ears. Ramsay Hall was one of the least booked study spaces during core hours last week, with only 33 per cent of spaces reserved, alongside the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOSICH) library (33 per cent) and the School of Pharmacy library (50 per cent).

Desk spaces in other more prominent buildings can be hard to come by, as both the Main Library and the Student Centre were 99 per cent reserved during core hours last week. The rising popularity of the Ramsay Hall facilities has demonstrated UCL student’s appetite for more study spaces, as bookings have gone from 12 per cent to up to 52 per cent in a month.

In another radical change, an isolated section of Ramsay Hall was also converted in November into a Covid-19 testing centre in an effort to engage more with the local community and provide support to those affected by the pandemic. Unlike the new LFT tests which UCL has begun to offer, this testing scheme can be accessed by anyone who is showing symptoms.

Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of Brain Sciences and Pro-Vice-Provost (London) said that “working with our local partners is key to UCL’s relationship with London”. This programme forms part of UCL’s commitment to support and engage with the community of the Camden Borough, alongside the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity and the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

Students can book study spaces here.