University of Manchester Student’s Union

What a place this has been during the first two years of my degree at the Uni of Manchester. The union bar is a common place for an-​after lecture pint or for a massive piss-​up for any celebration you can think of.
Gigs-​wise, the venues available are second-​to-​none and I’ve seen the Pigeon Detectives and Tinie Tempah and the variety of acts available all throughout the year from sub-​standard pop stars to the well-​known celebrities, everyone has been here or will be here.
If you’re not a student, you are missing out!

I blame this Students’ Union, specifically the Solem Bar, for my poor degree result. Whether you’re waiting around for a gig or you’re a student with a bit of time on your hands, it’s a fun, grubby place to come and relax with a cheap pint! Sadly, these days, you’ll need a student card to get your mitts on the cheapest booze (and to get in if you don’t have a gig ticket for one of the Uni venues…) But even if you are the wrong side of 21, the prices are still pretty reasonable.
There’s food available in the Solem Bar if you get here early enough. Just head to the little serving hatch to the left of the bar and you’ll find sandwiches, cake and pizza galore! The women working there are really nice and you can buy pizza by the slice for just £1 or so. I practically lived on it when I was a student!
You can also buy food downstairs in Biko’s coffee bar during the day. But by night, it turns into the gig venue, Club Academy, instead! There are two other venues in here; Academy Two (Formally the MDH) and Academy Three (Formally the Hop & Grape). They all get ace bands on — just pick up a listing guide from near the main Students’ Union entrance.

The University of Manchester’s Student Union is very mediocre and disappointingly so given the size of the student population. I assume the fact that so many people live in Fallowfield, where there is ample nightlife, has rendered the Union pretty much defunct as a venue for student nights whereas the antithesis is often found to be the case at other campus universities.
The bar has been revamped and now resembles a burlesque-​themed brothel. I’ve only been there once. Biko’s café on the first floor is pretty good, get there early for a fried egg sandwich for a pound and there is a student market opposite which I used to run the occasional vintage stall at. It used to trade on a Tuesday but as this semester I have the first two days of the week free, I haven’t been on campus to see whether it’s still running. Despite being located in the dark and dingy Academy 2, the market is often worth a look in. There are very browse-​worthy vintage and clothing stalls along with bicycles and second-​hand books. Most things are priced very reasonably and you are able to barter which always makes shopping a little more rewarding.

I don’t want to give the Union a bad name but after going to one of the country’s best unions (Leeds) where all students embraced the place, this union doesn’t do anything for me. In fact you’ll hardly find me there unless to use the cash machine.
It’s cheap, got lots of cheap amenitites as it should as a union and the usual advice centres, cafes, union shop and a bar. But it doesn’t have anything that gives it the pull. It doesn’t even have a regular club night which I’m very shocked about. Just those really big overpriced end of term student parties that go on ridiculously way too long.
Nevertheless the Union is not an avoid at all costs place. It’s got its uses. Just not being utilised by me I’m afraid.

Oooh, Rob, harsh words. I like the Union. Yes, yes, it is ugly and messy, and it looks a bit like some kind of Soviet prison, or something, but I like it. Here’s why:
— the shop. Yes, it’s staffed by perpetually grumpy people, but the sandwiches are tasty and freshly made/​delivered every day from Piggin’ Out. And you can grab all your essential stationary here, whilst also getting a cut-​price Guardian and a Twix.
— the Advice Centre. Little known, up on the first floor, the Advice Centre is a place for people who need… advice. And short term loans too. A couple of times in my skint student days, I would take up the short-​term loans of £100. The lady in the AC office is always nice and doesn’t judge you for being a spendthrift.
— FREE CONDOMS from the women’s office, or the LGBT office, or the healthy sex office. Not sure which office it is, but you go in, say «can I have some condoms please» and come away with shedloads of the buggers. And they’re Durex too, all the colours (and textures, and flavours) of the (prophylactic) rainbow.
— FREE RAPE ALARMS from the women’s office. ‘Nuff said.
— the bar. OK, so I hate the re-​vamp, but it’s still a good place for cheap drinkies.
— the café upstairs. £2.50 for a massive jacket potato with 2 fillings. Ta very much.
Add into this the fact that the paper and radio station are based here, and that gigs happen here every day, and that the hand dryers in the loos are amazing, and you got yourself a 4 star Union.

At some universities the union is the hub of all student activity. Sometimes they even have cafes which do nice food and organise events and club nights that students actually attend. The fact that this is not true of Manchester’s union could partly be due to the overabundance of drinking, eating and partying establishments elsewhere in the city.
I’m with Rob about the annoyingness of the mixture of political petitions, flyers for 5^th Ave and manifestos for the election which are thrust into your hand, or face, if you’re anywhere near the union. I’m sure other unions I have visited (Sheffield, for example) just concentrate on providing services for students and organising cheap nights out. The unisex toilet debate (as discussed in the national media
) epitomises the idiocy of the people behind the Manchester Union. No-​one thought to ask the ‘normal’ student population what they thought about the ‘toilets with urinals’ and ‘toilets without urinals’ in the Union. Oh, and we’re not even allowed to talk about disabled toilets as we can’t say ‘disabled’. There was a headline about this topic which called the idea ‘political correctness gone mad’ but we’re apparently not allowed to say ‘mad’ either according to the Women’s Officer. Grrr.
The bar is okay, but the main times I’ve visited have been to grab a drink to take up to a gig in the Academy 2 or 3 upstairs, and now I have to pay the ‘real person’ prices, so I can no longer get a pint for £1.50 unless I drag along one of my eternal student friends. Despite the two complete re-​fits the bar has had in the past few years it still doesn’t seem a popular place to eat or drink in the daytime or the evening.
The best bits about the union (Rebecca has described them well but just to recap: free condoms, advice centre and cheap café) are all tucked away upstairs and are not easily accessible for, or well-​advertised to, students. Oh, and you can sometimes get free mugs or recipe books with the Guardian and you get 50p off NME in the shop.

If there’s one thing I do not like about Manchester University, it would be the bloody great balls-​up that is the Union. I wouldn’t imagine it would be too hard to have a good Union, yet it manages to be a hive of activity only for the most politically active of students, and a place to studiously avoid for everyone else.
Walking past on any normal day is about as sensible an idea as coating yourself in honey and punching a beehive. Within seconds the swarms of students handing out flyers and protest forms will accost you, hassle you and generally strip you of any remaining sense of privacy you may have had. Walking past during election time is just plain stupid.
Most of the focus seems to go on approaching random hot topic issues, protesting said issues for absolutely no purpose, and then dominating any debate with the same issues. I have nothing against people using university as a platform for gathering support and uniting against common problems, but when this begins to become an all-​dominating presence that overshadows everything else, I get annoyed.
There are some good aspects, which is why I don’t give it a one star rating. The actual content of the Union is quite good; there is a nice hairdressers, the bar is pretty nice now, there’s an array of useful little offices within. It’s just a shame that this is hidden beneath an almost impenetrable layer of protest, flyering and general aloofness.

The University of Manchester’s Student Union bar is pretty big. There are several rooms up stairs for play rehearsals and gigs. I saw a great gig there once. Yeah, music is great isn’t it? The drinks are cheap and the pool tables are adequate. Yes, only adequate. Don’t ask. Those who are not students will need to purchase some fake IDs. For a laugh it’s fun to put daft names on fake IDs; I put Dave Smith, which is so funny because that isn’t my name. Crazy times.

Ah, manchester students’ union. many a happy hour were spent in this place. They have a bunch of bars, each of which serves food (though not all night). This is also the building that hosts the Academy 2, 3 & Club Academy venues.
Other than for gigs, you probably wouldn’t want to come here if you aren’t a student and you can’t anyway. In the evening, you can only get in with a concert ticket or a student card.