Annie McNamee

On March 25, 1925, at London’s Selfridges department store in central London, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird made the first public demo of his latest creation: a way to broadcast visual information from a camera to a screen. A full century later, Baird’s discovery has led to perhaps the most vital, creative and popular mode of artistic expression in the entire world. But it’s only in the past 25 years that television has really fulfilled its artistic potential.  The result has been the so-called ‘Golden Age of Television’, a boom kickstarted roughly around the turn of the century with the rise of shows like The Sopranos and later Breaking Bad, and continuing with awards-winners from Succession to Shōgun to Slow Horses. So while our list of the 100 greatest TV shows may pay tribute to the unmissable programs of yesteryear, you’ll find that the majority hail from our own century – meaning there’s no excuse not to watch every single one. Paring the list down to only 100 was a painful process, so we decided to omit sketch shows, talk shows, news and non-fiction in order to focus on scripted drama and classic comedy. Time to go goggle-eyed. Recommended: 🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far)🍎 The best shows to watch on Apple TV+ right now📺 The best Netflix original series to binge🎮 The best ‘90s TV shows

This bustling coastal city is absolutely steeped in history, maritime heritage, and of course, there's loads to see. It’s roots date back as far as the Stone Age, and its first ever museum (the Tudor House) remains a top attraction, with gorgeous gardens and guided tours on offer.  There’s plenty of modern-day action too, with a treasured football team, The Saints, and their fans bringing life to the city on match day. Southampton is also only a 20-minute drive away from the New Forest, or a ferry-ride away from the Isle of Wight, there's plenty going on that makes this city worth a visit. Check out our list of top picks for all the best things to do in Southampton.  RECOMMENDED:  🚆The best day trips from London⛰️ The best things to in the New Forest🏖️ The best seaside towns in the UK💕 The best things to do in the UK Annie McNamee is a writer at Time Out UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

This is about the time when the January blues start to hit pretty hard. It’s dark at 4pm, you’ve got no money left after Christmas and winter feels like it’s dragging on forever. But we’re here to tell you that things are looking up, because 2025 is going to be a corker of a year for the UK.  It turns out that 2025 is going to be a bit of a big one, with a number of landmark occasions being celebrated across Britain. There’s Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Southampton, as well as the art-packed Folkestone Triennial, a celebration of 200 years of the British railway in York and Bradford’s 2025 City of Culture festivities. Then, there are up-and-coming foodie towns in Cornwall, music scenes that are popping off in Cardiff and Belfast, and the reopening of grand cultural insitutions like the Tate Liverpool.  If there’s ever been a good time to book a trip, it’s now (it might even help keep some SAD at bay). There is so much fantastic stuff happening across the country this year, so read our list curated by local experts of the best places to visit in the UK in 2025, and get stuck in.  RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The 25 best new things to do in the UK in 2025📍The 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK 🏨 The UK’s 13 best new hotels opening in 2025👨‍👩‍👧 6 amazing places to stay with Kids in the UK

If people make Glasgow, music is what fuels it. The city's music scene was thriving long before the rest of it had caught up, with places like the Barrowlands and the Old Fruit Market offering locals good, cheap live music when general attitudes of Glasgow were, let's just say, less than favourable.  But those days are behind us, and Scotland's biggest city is now known across the UK for its vibrant cultural heritage, nightlife, and, of course, its music scene. Whether you're looking for an arena of people to scream along your favourite songs with, or a small makeshift stage at the back of a bar to find your new favourite band, Glasgow's got you sorted. Fair warning though: crowds here are famously rowdy. They're a lot of fun, but don't be surprised if you end up beer-soaked. Oh, and brush up on our local chants. You don't want to be the only person not shouting along with 'here we, here we, here we f'ing go!'. 

History has it that Pollokshaws Road was once home to a merry band of Flemish weavers – known as the ‘Queer Folk’ – who were brought over to work in the city during the 19th century by local landowners. These days it’s still a thriving creative hub, threading down Glasgow’s Southside and linking up the districts of Govanhill, Strathbungo and Shawlands. Rows of sandstone tenements loom over traffic separated by wide pavements, behind which stand ornate townhouses designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. There’s a juicy chunk of Pollokshaws Road where bars, cafés and boutiques jostle for space; pick it up from Allison Street and wander down past Queen’s Park. Since it’s a largely residential area, there’s a distinct feel of community – something that’s enhanced by the indie businesses that have popped up over the past few years. In particular it’s a brunch haven, with queues leaking out of living-room-sized cafés come rain or shine. You can also expect to find organic fruit and veg at Stalks & Stems, a fresh produce emporium with a florist next door, and (almost) a different coffee shop for every day of the week. It’s not all hipster territory, though. Punters tired of mustachioed baristas and bar staff will be cheered by the decent selection of old man pubs complete with smoked-glass windows. Recommended: Full guide to the best things to do in Glasgow

How easily could you be persuaded to shave off an eyebrow, or take a shot for every stair you climbed? Perhaps you’d feel more compelled if you were half a bottle of ‘Chicken Wine’ deep, 18, and surrounded by new friends that you were trying to impress? If you attended university in the UK you might have an uncomfortable feeling of deja-vu, perhaps being whisked back to the time you were ‘hazed’ as a first year student. If you didn’t, you’ve likely heard the rumours about former prime ministers getting it on with pigs, or rugby teams shoving carrots in places vegetables should never go. Hazing, or ‘initiation’ as it more commonly goes by this side of the Atlantic, is a practice which usually consists of ritualistically embarrassing rookie members of a given group in order for them to prove themselves. It’s also nothing new. There’s evidence of rowdy schoolboys dating as far back as 420 BCE when Plato recounted ‘practical jokes played by unruly young men’ which left both spectators and haze-ees injured. Somehow, this bizarre custom has survived the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Jesus Christ, several international plagues and found a home for itself in the modern age on university campuses. But for the past decade or so, hazing’s millenia-long reign has been threatened by a generation who supposedly care more about their physical and mental health than they do about banter and ritual humiliation. Today, hazing has met its match: Generation Z. So what do these

In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality. And that, in our eyes, is what makes a neighbourhood truly cool. From formerly overlooked sub

You might never want to leave Edinburgh, and we get it. The Scottish capital is loved the world over for its culture, restaurants and Fringe Festival (to name a few). But if you limit your time in Scotland to just Edinburgh, trust us, you’re missing out.  Scotland is full of gems, but the best part is a whole lot of them can be reached by train or car in just one day – with enough time left to get back in time for dinner. From hilly hikes to wide-open beaches and from pretty towns to full-blown city breaks, these day trips from Edinburgh are not to be missed. Here are our favourites.  RECOMMENDED:🌤️ The best things to do in Edinburgh 🎨 The best art galleries in Edinburgh🏰 The best attractions in Edinburgh🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Edinburgh This guide was updated by Edinburgh-based Arusa Quereshi, and Time Out editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

What words come to mind when we mention the Olympics? Prestige? Excellence? Medals? Or is it: ‘Grom’?  The Olympic games have been around for nearly three millennia. As the entire planet tunes in to watch as the top sports people compete for those coveted gold medals, there’s some stuff you’ll probably want to get your head around to make the most of your viewing experience: jargon for you normies to weave into your vocab that will have you sounding like proper Olympic pros in no time.  RECOMMENDED:How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics in the UK for freeHere’s the full schedule and timings for the Summer Games We’ve done some digging and unearthed some 100 percent real words and phrases that will almost certainly be used by professional Olympians and commentators across the next few weeks. What’s more, there’s something inherently funny about words which sound out of place to the average Joe. There’s nothing worth giggling about hearing the word ‘jaeger’ at a bar (especially as it’s usually followed by a friend trying to convince you to neck a shot of sweet battery acid and gone-off liquorice), but watching it earnestly come out of the mouth of a world-class gymnast? Now that’s entertainment. So what are you waiting for? Brush up on your sporty lingo and drop these into convo next time you’re watching the Games to impress your mates. Skateboarding  ‘Goofy stance’: Refers to when a skateboarder has their left foot on the back of the board. Also used in surfing and snowboarding

You remember the days. Assuring your friend that she definitely looks like her older cousin’s co-worker, especially with a ponytail in. Hovering awkwardly around the corner from the off-license as your one 18-year-old pal does God’s work for the rest of you. The pit in your tummy as you recite a fake birthday to the bouncer of a sticky-floored nightclub – remembering your star sign, memorising your imaginary postcode – and the elated relief when he lets you in with a raised eyebrow and a reluctant nod. Finding increasingly inventive ways to get around age-restrictions was half the fun of being 17, but today’s teens seem to be going off going out altogether. ‘You definitely see fake IDs less than you used to,’ says one bouncer at a popular student nightclub in Bristol. When he started working at the venue a decade ago, he’d encounter a load of fakes on any given night – but not so much anymore. ‘The worst one I ever saw had the back on upside down,’ he says. ‘The ones we do see are getting a lot better and it can be harder to catch them. But they’re definitely rarer now.’ Something has certainly shifted. A few weeks ago, as I walked through the Triangle, Bristol’s premier hotspot for stumbling freshers and lovers of three for two Jägerbombs, I noticed that the local Sainsbury’s was busier than all of the clubs combined. Two years ago, dancefloors would’ve been filling up at 11pm on a Monday. This wasn’t a fluke: since that night, two of the clubs in question have closed their

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list. RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The best things to do in the UK🏝 The most beautiful places in the world🏠 The best Airbnbs in the UK Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content

Ever wanted to know what life as student is really like in 2023? We asked 20-year-old student-turned-amateur-anthropologist Annie to tell us her observations about the people, parties and juiciest secrets of the UK’s unis. Here’s her verdict. Universities. National institutions. Places of learning and research, incubators of intellect. Unfortunately, also the land of the ‘student’. Student is a varied species which feeds mainly on pasta and rice. British students can often be found at the nearest Wetherspoons, getting drunk on vanilla flavoured vodka because the regular one is 30p more expensive. They tend to be slightly nocturnal and the males are known for going to extraordinary lengths to attract mates that they will subsequently ‘leave on read’.   Subtypes of ‘student’ vary based on location and each British uni comes with its own set of defining characteristics. So, buckle up: this is an entirely imaginary but 100 percent accurate investigation into the private lives of students in the wild, in their most natural habitat – on what they like to call, ‘a night out’.  Newcastle Image: Genie Espinosa We start in Newcastle and encounter Georgia moments after arriving at Market Shaker, an underground bar. She promptly begins chatting about the time she almost jumped into the Tyne ‘just for laughs’, which seems common for the ‘Geordie’ student species. Other notable characteristics appear to include: studying Geography, being obsessed with the North/South divide, Nike Air Max

You’ve been here before. Almost.  With a clientele which would be perfect for a Love Island spin-off featuring exclusively people with ‘entrepreneur’ in their bios and a healthy amount of exposed pipework, The Counter is what those in the know would probably call ‘trendy’. Its dim lights, small plate selection, and strategically chipped brick feature wall put it on the verge of parodically hip, but a glance at its menu and a quick chat with any member of its team reveal it to be much more down to Earth than some of its equally Instagrammable peers. If you close your eyes you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair The sense of deja-vu you feel may not be coming solely from its open-plan bar though. Chef Kemal Demirasal’s first UK venture, opened up two years ago in Notting Hill to much success. Originally from Turkey, he’s taken much of the charm of the original joint (as well as its most popular recipes and excellent cocktails) and transported it to Kingly Street – and combined it with a series of fresh ideas and a lot of seafood. Fresh is definitely the operative word. The cocktails are infused with real fruit. The tomatoes have been imported from Turkey. There’s sort-of-caviar sprinkled on avocado-topped fish. If you close your eyes and just bite, you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair. A series of enthusiastic staff members recommended a variety of dishes to us. Some, like the tomato salad or prawns, were familiar classi

Enjoy an evening of modern classical music composed by Black artists whose work did not get the spotlight that it deserved in its time at this Southbank Centre concert. The night will involve three different pieces from three different composers, performed by up and coming American violinist Randall Goosby, who made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony orchestra at just nine, and award-winning Chinese pianist Zhu Wang. 

Most of us have only ever seen orcas on Blue Planet or in questionably small tanks in captivity, and although they’re cool to observe from afar, we probably wouldn’t like to come across one in the wild. Soon, however, Brits may not have the choice, as warming seas are encouraging orcas native to the Iberian peninsula to venture up into British waters. With a nickname like ‘killer whales’, these huge fish are not exactly known for their friendliness and warmth. Confusingly, they are actually members of the dolphin family, meaning that they’re very smart and tend to travel in groups. Although orcas generally keep to themselves, they have been known to occasionally attack boats, which is exactly what happened to one unlucky pair of sailors off the coast of Spain last week. Although the sailors were saved by the coastguard, their lucky-miss is a good reminder for anyone off on a boat in the near future to be aware of where they’re travelling; particularly as the sea-faring mammals have now made their way to Cornwall. Last month, Iberian orcas were spotted near the Cornish Coast for the first time ever. This is the latest in a pattern of climate change-induced marine migration which is introducing new, diverse life into our waters. Sharks and rays are among the other animals that we might have to get used to in years to come – you can read more about that here. Killer whales have been native to the North Sea near Shetland and Orkney for a long time, but they’ve never made it this

Before his shows at London’s Wireless Festival earlier this month, it had been more than six years and a worldwide pandemic since Drake’s UK fans last saw him live. But now the wait is finally over. The rapper has made a mega return to our shores with his $ome $pecial $hows 4 UK Tour, and after three nights in Birmingham, he’s now bringing the show to Manchester. The tour is inspired by the collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which Drake created alongside fellow Canadian musician PARTYNEXTDOOR, who is coming along for the ride and will feature each night of the tour.  Drake is set to play three huge nights at the Co-op Live in Manchester this weekend, and, based on his Birmingham shows, you can expect to hear hit after hit. Here’s everything you need to know about upcoming Drake’s Manchester gigs.  When is Drake playing Co-op live? The ‘Hotline Bling’ rapper is playing three dates at the Co-op Live on July 25, 26, and 28.  What time do doors open? General admission doors will open at 7pm, but members of the Co-op backstage club will be able to enter an hour earlier at 6pm. VIP ticket holders who are entitled to premium entry will be allowed in at 6.30pm through the Premium doors. What time will Drake come on stage? The support will likely begin at 8.15pm, with Drake finally taking to the stage at around 9.15pm. That’s based on timings from his Birmingham dates, so they could be slightly different. It’s worth arriving in plenty of time to make sure you don’t accidentally

Biffy Clyro are having a great summer. After returning to the stage with a secret show in Glasgow, the band went straight from the Pyramid Stage at Glasto headlining their hometown festival TRNSMT. As if that wasn’t enough, the Scottish rockstars have just announced a massive UK tour for early next year. Now 30 years and nine albums into their career, the band knows a thing or two about putting on a show. Next year, they’ll take their extensive discography to arenas across the United Kingdom ahead of the release of a brand new album, Futique. Expect high energy, singalong anthems, and of course, big guitar riffs. Here’s everything you need to know about Biffy Clyro’s 2026 The Futique UK Tour. When is Biffy Clyro going on tour in the UK? All of the band's UK and Ireland dates are set for January 2026, beginning on January 9 and ending with a huge hometown show in Glasgow on January 21. What tour dates have been confirmed so far? A total of eight UK dates have been confirmed, as well as one night in the Republic of Ireland. That’s a total of nine chances to catch the Futique tour before it’s over. Here’s a complete list of Biffy Clyro’s 2026 tour dates so far: January 9: Belfast, SSE Arena January 10: Dublin, 3Arena January 12: Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena January 14: London, The O2 January 16: Birmingham, Utilita Arena January 17: Manchester, Co-op January 18: Cardiff, Utilita Arena January 20: Aberdeen, P&J Live January 21: Glasgow, OVO Hydro When do tickets go on sale? Gen

Fans of Poundland will know all too well that it’s hardly even Poundland anymore. Gone are the days when you knew exactly how much everything costs – you’ve got to check the labels to make sure you’re not being charged a fiver. Despite that, there is still one thing it appears you can get for just a quid: the shop itself. That’s not a joke. Last month the entirety of Poundland was sold by its owners Pepco to a US investment company called Gordon Brothers (which used to own Laura Ashley) for a ‘nominal fee’ of a single pound. Following the sale a huge restructuring was announced, with 68 stores set to close. A further 70 Poundlands could shut as a result of the brand seeking rent reductions and lease expirations, and in total more than 1,000 jobs could be at risk. Poundland currently employs over 16,000 people across 792 branches in the UK and Ireland.  The sale of Poundland didn’t come as a huge shock, as the company has been struggling from low profits for the past year. The low cost is not quite the deal that it appears at face value – it could cost the new owners up to £100 million to get the brand back on its feet. Pepco maintains that this does not mean that it’s the end of Poundland, stating that it ‘remains a key player in UK discount retail, with millions of customers annually and a well-loved brand and proposition’, and adding that this is simply a move to ‘[simplify] the group and [focus] on our successful Pepco business.’ Poundland managing director Barry Williams

It’s the best time of the week: we’ve once again (almost) reached the weekend. As ever, it’s set to be a busy one in London with loads of exciting things going on that you’re going to want to get involved in. Whether you’re going to a Euros final watch party to cheer the Lionesses on (or root for their Spanish rivals) or showing support at Trans Pride this Sunday, you’ll probably be using public transport to get around.  Unfortunately, in a city this big, there’s always going to be some delays or disruptions on the railways and the underground. That includes planned closures, which are easy to work around when you know what’s coming. Here’s all the planned train and tube disruptions this weekend (July 25-27). RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in London this weekend. DLR  Across the city, the most significant disruption scheduled for this weekend is on the DLR. On Friday July 25, the entire line will be shut, meaning you’ll have to find other ways into the east. Buses and the Jubilee line will help you get where you need to go. On Saturday and Sunday (July 26 and 27), the line is only part-suspended. It will be closed between Canary Wharf and Stratford, and between Canary Wharf and Bank. It will also be entirely closed from Canning Town to both Bank and Tower Gateway, meaning you’ll essentially have to get to Canning Town or Canary Wharf in order to use the majority of the services. Don’t fear though: replacement buses will be provided. Overground Mildmay line The Mildmay wil

Long haul flights can get pretty dull. Once you’ve gotten over the excitement of being in a metal tube which is somehow soaring tens of thousnads of feet in the air, you’re left with a slightly uncomfortable seat and hours to kill. In-flight entertainment is pretty much a necessity, and one airline is considering evolving the way we keep ourselves busy in their planes. British Airways (BA) is set to trial a new system which would allow passengers to stream all of the content you can usually get on the backseat screens to your own phone, tablet, or laptop. They’re calling it Bring Your Own Device, aka BYOD, and some travellers will be very glad to hear that the screens, which are notoriously temperamental, could be on their way out. Although BA has been clear that this service will be offered in addition to backseat screens, rather than as a replacement for them, some air travel providers have already started to phase out the tech on short-haul flights. Etihad, Qantas, and American Airlines are among the industry leaders scrapping screens on smaller aircrafts, and some are concerned that this could be BA taking a step toward determining them obsolete. Some will undoubtedly celebrate this as a recognition of our changing travel habits, and a step forward, but others have expressed that they aren’t quite ready to lose inbuilt entertainment yet. Whilst it is true that most of us load up our phones or iPads with TV shows, films, and podcasts before we travel, there are still some

It’s a modern day horror story. It’s 30C. You’re in work clothes, running to get the train home, literally dripping in sweat. If you don’t make this one it’s an hour’s wait. You make it but, of course, it’s rush hour, so the allocated two carriages are jam packed. You and hundreds of other disgruntled passengers pack together like sardines, all thinking the same thing: ‘this must be the busiest train in the country’. Of course, only one journey can actually be the busiest, and thanks to the Department for Transport (DfT), we know exactly when and where it is. The DfT has revealed the 10 busiest trains in England, and the top two are both along the same route. So where should you avoid at all costs? The 7.15am and 7.30am Thameslink services from Bedford to London, which generally have almost twice as many passengers as there are seats available crammed into them. On the 7.30am, there are 84 percent more people than seats, and on the slightly earlier 7.15am, that figure sits at 79 percent. The Bedford-London route pops up again in fifth place for the 7.03am journey, which has 63 percent fewer seats than travellers. On the surface, it seems to be a pretty dire situation, but Thameslink says the numbers don’t tell the full story. A representative from the company explained; ‘This survey doesn't reflect the fact that Thameslink trains, unlike other UK carriages, were specified by the DfT to be built as people-movers with fewer seats and lots of standing space. ‘This low density of

When it comes to holidays, convenience is key. The easier it is to get to your destination, the earlier you can start to relax, so it’s always handy to have a local airport ready and waiting to whisk you away. For southeast England-dwellers who are used to traversing crowded London terminals for their adventures, air travel is about to get much easier. Manston Airport, which sits in easternmost Kent near Margate, is set for a comeback within the next few years. Originally built in 1916 as an RAF base, Manston also operated as a commercial terminal until shutting down after more than a century in 2014. Since then, it’s lived a few lives: it has been an overflow car park for the nearby ferry port, played host to events for aviation enthusiasts, and even been a set for the 2022 film Empire of Light. After an exciting few years, however, it’s time for Manston to return to its roots. The company overseeing Manston’s refurb, RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP), has said that it will initially focus on making the airport fit for cargo planes, with the potential to expand into the consumer market if all goes well. It’s going to cost an eye-watering £500 million to get things back up and running, and in line with modern safety standards. A certain number of passenger planes would need to be based there to turn a profit, so nothing is certain right now. With that said, it was reported that RSP has been in talks with budget airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet about the possibility of short-

There are a lot of things that go into making a university great. The research output, the academic rigour, the depth of its history – it all counts. However, what’s probably most important to any incoming freshers is the quality of teaching, and according to a student vote, the best university in the country for teaching is not what you might expect. Although Cambridge, Oxford, and LSE tend to top well-respected charts like the QS World Ranking and the Complete University Guide, prestige is only half of the story. Sometimes, lesser known institutions actually offer students better experiences, which is where the National Student Survey (NSS) comes in.  The NSS is an annual survey conducted by the Office for Students across the UK which asks final-year university students about their studies, including how satisfied they were with each element of their time. This year, over 357,000 students responded, so it’s a pretty significant achievement to come out of it on top.  This year, Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln was named the best in the country for teaching, with over 90 percent of its students reporting that they were satisfied with their education. With just over 2,000 students, it’s pretty much the definition of small but mighty. In fact, it’s proud to fly the flag for all the nation’s most underrated institutes of higher education. A spokesperson for the university explained to the BBC that previously ‘people didn't want to go to a small university because they th

Many a messy night out in Southampton has ended in Jesters. Between its signature ‘Jesticle’ drink (which has its own Urban Dictionary entry), and the legendary four-corners challenge which allegedly saw students try to, well, perform a different illicit activity in each corner of the dancefloor, in its in its 35 year-long life Jesters became a verified Soton icon. In fact, the club’s infamy is such that it reaches far beyond the southern city – it regularly features in articles about the ‘worst clubs in the country’. Despite its rep, or perhaps specifically because of it, the club is beloved by locals and visitors. A fundraiser set up to try and save Jesters from impending bankruptcy described it as ‘more than a club’, concluding ‘it is a part of Southampton’s DNA’.  Southampton student Ben, who holds a ‘Jesters Gold Card’ which he earned by staying in the club for more than eight consecutive hours ‘mainly because it was funny’, affirmed its legendary status, telling Time Out: ‘Southampton will be that much dimmer without the Jesters dance floor... it will will live on in our hearts’.  All that glory, however, has finally burned out. After attempting to raise £200,000 following a repossession notice, Jesters went up for sale a few days ago. However, it remains open for business, at least for now, and says it’s likely to stay that way for the coming term. Plus there’s even more good news: it could be yours for only £1.7 million.  You may think nearly £2 million for a less tha

Warm weather always reminds you just how nice it is to be by the beach. There’s nothing quite like strolling along the seaside, ice cream in hand, listening to the waves crashing in, but it can be pretty hard to find somewhere beachside to sit when the sun’s out. For residents of Portsmouth, however, that problem is in the process of being solved. Southsea, a gorgeous pebbly beach on the Portsmouth coast – which we firmly believe is one of the city’s greatest assets – is set to double in size by next year. Don’t worry, this isn’t secretly the result of climate change or a sign that the ‘end is nigh’, it’s actually being done intentionally by the local authority. Although this will undoubtedly mean more people can enjoy the beach, it’s only a small part of the ‘Southsea Coastal Scheme’, a wider project whose primary goal is to reduce flooding risk for more than 10,500 homes and businesses based near the shore. All in, this will cost a whopping £180 million.  A spokesperson for the scheme said that extending a two mile stretch of the beach will involve adding over 1 million tonnes of shingle to the coastline, a material which is ‘great at absorbing wave energy which in turn helps reduce erosion and protects homes and businesses from coastal flooding’. The shingle which is to be used has been dredged from nearby British shores including on the Isle of Wight and the Scilly Isles, so it’s all being done in a very environmentally friendly fashion. The specific part that is seeing t

On imagine souvent le cinéma comme un lieu sombre et silencieux. Une fois les lumières éteintes, il ne reste plus que vous, votre pop-corn et le film. Mais si on vous disait qu’il existe une toute autre façon de vivre une séance ? On vous présente : le cinéma en plein air. Bon, rien de nouveau sous les étoiles : les cinémas en plein air existent depuis des décennies. Mais sous nos latitudes capricieuses, ils gardent un petit goût d’exception chaque fois qu’ils refleurissent à la belle saison. Paris en regorge, et cette année, l’un d’entre eux a tapé dans l’œil de nos rédacteurs globe-trotteurs : Gare aux Docs, qui fait son entrée remarquée dans le classement Time Out des plus beaux cinémas en plein air du monde. Gare aux Docs, seul représentant parisien dans le classement mondial Gare aux Docs, septième ordonnance ! Du 23 août au 8 septembre, la REcyclerie sera secouée par le passage à l’âge de raison de son festival de ciné documentaire en plein air organisé avec l’INA et son compère Ciné Palestine. Sur les rails de la Petite Ceinture, l’événement, accessible à l’œil, propose une prog toujours aussi engagée, slalomant encore cette année dans les marges des luttes environnementales. Et cet été, contexte politique peut-être, le traitement en neuf prises donne sacrément envie de camper devant l’entrée de la REcyclerie pour assister à toutes les projections. On a par exemple très envie de voir Queerying Nature d’Aline Magrez, autour de la notion de genre animalier ; de monter d