Published 3 Oct 2018

Study Soundly: The 5 Best Study Hubs in London

by Claudia Reiners

London, whilst hosting many a beautiful spot of quiet study escapes, is all too often crowded with traffic, noise, and people.

You have either grown tired of your public library or found that that the study space in your house really isn’t cutting it anymore. But where do you go to study now? The local park is crowded and cold, and you rather wouldn’t pay 100 bucks an hour to ‘gain truly efficiently study in a state of the art, work and study office’.

Luckily for you, we have compiled the 5 best places to escape to in the city of London!

0mins

Walk from Central London

£0

A year for membership

0mins

Drive from Central London

The British Library offers an not only access to a vast collection of study material but also to a range of services offered by the library. Whilst it is quite expensive compared to the cheap or free study spaces on the list, a membership to the British Library is very worth it. The following are the services offered upon purchasing members pass.

Free entry for you and up to 1 guest to all British Library exhibitions
Access for you and up to 1 guest to a daytimes member room, overlooking the King’s library, an optimum place for studying hard in comfort
Access to the ‘Knowledge Centre Bar, which offers food and drinks every fortnight, a place for you and up to 3 of your friends to relax in
4 free event tickets a year, and priority booking for selected events
20 percent of purchases in cafes, restaurants, and shops owned by the Library 6
A free book from the Library’s bestselling Crime Classics range
Extended readers pass, which gives you access to all the Library’s material

0 minute

Drive from Central London

0 minute

Walk from Central London

Looking for a beautifully structured and decorated, free to enter study hub? Then the National Art Library is for you. There are free study rooms provided that anyone can enter as long as you follow the guidlines below.

Guidelines of the NAL study rooms:

No food and drink is permitted
All bags and carry items must be left in the cloakroom. Transparent carry bags are available in the cloakroom
All collection items (e.g. books, manuscripts, archives, prints, etc.) are to not be taken outside of the study rooms
Noise should be kept to a minimum, as to not disrupt fellow students

There are many beautiful coffee shops in London, so all it really takes to sit down and get productive with your studying, is to enter your favorite coffee shop. Whilst the food and drink itself is important when it comes to which cafe you will frequent, you should choose a place that isn’t very busy, so you have space for your possessions, and has decently sized tables or benches to work on. There have been many benefits associated with working in a cafe shop. Here are some of the following

It enhances creativity
A study was done on how noise affects concentration found that whilst high levels of noise hurt your focus, a reasonable amount of ambient noise increases creativity and abstract thinking.
Mental Effort is contagious
The fact is, that there will be other people hard at work in your chosen cafe. A recent study found out that mental effort is in fact contagious. So when you see other students working on their various assignments, you will be encouraged to work on your tasks equally as hard.
Coffee, of course
Unlike the library, when you are in the middle of a several hour cram sesh and start feeling the need for some caffeination, you won’t have to either do without or leave and come back to get your hit. Instead, you can have a waiter or waitress bring it to you. Perfect.

Waterstones is currently the UKs largest bookstore, with a total of 6 floors offering a complete range of literature to choose from. The 6th floor, however, is the most attractive for study, as it contains a cafe for you to really relax and get productive in. Here are the floors and what they contain.

Ground Floor
Best sellers, new releases, Click and Collect
First Floor
Fiction, First Editions and Literary Criticism
Second Floor
Children’s literature and Art
Third Floor
Biography, Humour, Film & TV, Drama, Transport, Spirituality, Health and Self-Help
Fourth Floor
History & Politics, Military History, Languages, Academic, Social Sciences, Religion, Business and Russian Bookshop
Fifth Floor
5th View Bar & Restaurant

Walk from

0 minutes

Central London

Drive from

0 minutes

Central London

Reading room

Wellcome collection houses a reading room, a space that contains over 1000 books and 100 objects to look at and ponder. It is set out beautifully and cozily, with coaches, sofas, armchairs, and desks. Open during all opening hours of the day, it is perfect for one to come in and complete some efficient study, and maybe do a touch of relaxing.

Cafe and Restaurant

Depending on if you are looking for a quick bite to eat and drink, or a full meal to full yourself up, Wellcome has both a cafe and restaurant to suit your needs. The cafe offers various drinks and snacks to keep you going, and the restaurant has a range of meals, from breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner for any time of the day you are feeling seriously peckish.

Library

Welcomes library contains over 2 million items to fuel your study needs. The library is completely free to use, all you have to do is sign in as a day visitor.