Centre for Student Life
Tour information 2023
Opening Times
'It gives me a space to get work done with background chatter that makes me feel connected to the world'
Centre for Student Life is open seven days a week:
Monday: 08:00 to 22:00
Tuesday: 08:00 to 22:00
Wednesday: 08:00 to 22:00
Thursday: 08:00 to 22:00
Friday: 08:00 to 22:00
Saturday: 08:00 to 20:00
Sunday: 10:00 to 20:00 08:00 to 18:00 on weekdays.
The Student Connect desk on the ground floor is open between:
You can contact Student Connect outside of these hours through the Student Connect portal.
About
The Centre for Student Life is open to you as a space to study, to connect with our Student Life services and much more.
If you haven't been able to visit the Centre for Student Life yet, here's a quick flythrough video of the building and what our students think:
Cardiff University - Centre for Student Life tour
The Centre for Student Life has become a hub for study space, and lectures but it is also home to the university's Student Life support teams:
Our Student Connect team located on the ground floor is your first point of contact if you need any support while you are studying at Cardiff University, and is the main point of contact for you to access the Student Life teams.
It’s an easy way for you to get in touch so we can help you make the most of your time here, they are also accessible via phone and through the Student Connect portal.
Find out how to get in touch for support here.
'Heading over to the Centre for Student Life for a coffee and a working session provides me with a home away from home, and a way to feel part of the student community.'
Geena, PhD Student
StudentLife
Your Student Life teams:
Student Advice and Money provide practical advice and guidance for students on funding, money skills, emergency funds, bursaries and scholarships. They also provide immigration advice and assistance with visa extensions, as well as guidance on regulations and daily life in the UK for our International students.
Student Futures located on the first floor, this team offers careers advice, CV and LinkedIn advice and workshops, opportunities to volunteer, study and work abroad. They offer work experience opportunities, academic and employability skills development, and access to student and graduate recruitment opportunities, events and business start-up support.
Student Health and Wellbeing givepractical advice and support for good health and wellbeing. They offer a number of self-help support resources, peer support, a multitude of workshops, courses and groups. One-to oneappointments with professionals trained in a range of approaches, plus trans, and non-binary support.
Academic Study Skills and Mentoring Team provide support and guidance on the transition into university life and provide a variety of academic study skills classes such as presentation skills, essay writing and how to reference, these workshops are held throughout the year with tutors. The team also offer first year undergraduates the chance to have a mentor helping with their transition into university life.
Student Disability Service offers advice and guidance to disabled students, specialist support services and facilitating accessibility requirements including adjustments during exams.
Top Tip: The Student Life teams run a lot of free drop-ins, workshops and events throughout the year. Keep a look out for these in Student News, on your Student App notifications or on the student intranet.
'The building is a one stop hub for so many different services that relate to important aspects of student life.'
Uzair, Student
Ground floor
The ground floor is an open and spacious area, it has comfy social seating which look out onto views of Main building:
you’ll also find our Student Connect desk and Student Connect advisors available to help with any student life questions when you’re studying with us
if you look up you’ll notice three large digital screens that display upcoming events, workshops and important information on what is happening around the university and in the Centre for Student Life
we have a Changing Places Toilet available on the ground floor available for any student or member of the public to use a Costa coffee (plus a Greggs just outside the doors)
there is an option to use the lifts or the stairs to access the rest of the building.
First floor
On this floor you’ll find lots of open plan social study spaces and meeting rooms for group work:
the first floor is your main contact point with Student Futures, whose team of careers advisers offer tailored online and one-to-one advice to help all our students plan for their next step. It also offers advice to our international students on gaining employment in the UK and at home, opportunities to study or work abroad and guidance on starting a business
you can use any of the meeting rooms for group work. If the screens outside the room indicate the room is available and it’s unlocked you are free to use the space
you’ll find another entrance/exit point along the corridor here which leads directly to the entrance of the Students' Union.
Second floor
On this floor you’ll find lots of open plan social study spaces and meeting rooms for group work:
it also has access to the largest lecture theatre in the university, the Sir Stanley Thomas OBE Lecture Theatre which seats 550 people
if you need any IT help, the IT Clinic is temporarily in room 2.24 of the Centre for Student Life from 09:00 - 19:00. This includes guidance for registering your devices to connect to the network, account issues and general support. Please note that whilst we aim to be open our staff availability 17:00-19:00 is not guaranteed. If you have any urgent issues during this time please phone the IT Service Desk.
Third floor
On this floor you’ll find lots of open plan social study spaces with great views:
the third floor is also a space where students and staff are able to access the balcony (the largest balcony in Wales)
it has another access point to the Sir Stanley Thomas OBE Lecture Theatre
plus it has Baby Shoots, a vegetarian and vegan café located at the top of the stairs on the third floor. In Baby Shoots, you will find a range of made in-house daily vegetarian and vegan sandwiches and paninis, a selection of locally made cakes, artisan coffees (iced and hot) and smoothies. It is open 10:00 to 17:00 every weekday during term-time.
Top Tip: If Baby Shoots is not open you can head across the road to Green Shoots a larger vegetarian and vegan café.
Fourth floor
The fourth floor is home to the Student Waiting Lounge, if you have an appointment you can check in via the Student App and wait in the comfy seats to be collected for your appointment. The waiting lounge is usually staffed by a Student Connect advisor who will be on hand to answer any questions.
Tucked away near the Student Waiting Lounge you will also find two quiet rooms for students of all faiths (or none). They can be used for:
prayer and worship a quiet space for meditation or just to take 5 minutes to yourself.
Top Tip: there is also an aux point in the quiet rooms that link up to speakers in the corner of the room if you want to listen to some relaxing music or a mindfulness session.
'It is great knowing that you can book and attend any support service in the same building rather than having to go somewhere else.'
Ioana, Student
The Faith and Contemplative space is located at the far end of this floor through a set of double doors. It is a dedicated area for the student workshops and activities run by the student life teams and Chaplaincy.
A member of our Chaplaincy team is available here every day during termtime, offering pastoral and spiritual support to all students:
Monday, 14:30 to 16:00
Tuesday, 15:30 to 17:00
Wednesday, 16:00 to 17:30
Thursday, 13:30 to 15:00
Friday, 14:00 to 15:30
Plus, during term-time you can come along to our coffee lounges run by our wellbeing champions:
Postgraduate students coffee lounge - Monday, 10:00 to 11:30
LGBTQ+ students coffee loungeTuesday, 14:00 to 15:30
Undergraduate students coffee lounge - Wednesday, 14:00 to 15:30
International students coffee lounge - Friday (second and last Friday of the month), 11:00 to 12:30.
Got a question? Email: studentcommunications@cardiff.ac.uk
