Best Student Accommodation near Royal College of Music - London, London

Students' intellectual and practical abilities are developed through Royal College of Music degrees, helping them to grow into well-rounded professionals with excellent levels of musicianship. RCM also has a number of junior and piano accompaniment fellowships available, which provide outstanding musicians the opportunity to hone their craft and earn vital experience.

The Royal College of Music's nine faculties are very supportive environments. The faculties regularly collaborate with each other in ensemble contexts and in special projects. These nine faculties are Brass, Composition, Conducting, Historical Performance, Keyboard, Percussion, Strings, Vocal, and Woodwind. 

The college has four types of courses: undergraduate courses, taught postgraduate courses, research degrees, and exchanges. 

The college invests in its facilities on a regular basis to ensure that RCM students have the finest possible opportunities. Its magnificent performing spaces are complemented by top-notch academic and technological facilities, including a historic library and professional-grade studios. The RCM has recently invested £40 million to develop more state-of-the-art facilities within its campus.

Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall: This is one of the busiest venues in London, and has played host to many great names. The Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall is the major practice and concert facility for RCM orchestras and big ensembles, with two Steinway grand pianos, a new custom-built organ by Flentrop Orgelbouw, and a seating capacity of 400.

Performance Hall: Ensemble concerts and orchestral rehearsals are held in this new 150-seat Performance Hall. It has a retractable stage, a Fazioli grand piano, extensive technological infrastructure, and changing acoustics, allowing it to accommodate a wide range of events.

Britten Theatre: One of London's most popular opera houses is the Britten Theatre. Performers and audiences alike admire its sensitive acoustics and compact auditorium. The theatre is regularly used as the focal point of the popular RCM Opera Studio, but it also offers a range of instrumental performances, including a chamber music series and concerts by the RCM Big Band, thanks to its strong technical equipment. It features an orchestra pit with space for 80 musicians, a Steinway grand piano, four dressing rooms, 400 seats, and its own bar and foyer.

Recital Hall: This 100-seat Recital Hall serves as an alternative to the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall for performances. It has two Steinway grand pianos, a harpsichord, a projector, and a dropdown screen for smaller events and less formal occasions.

Performance Studio: This is a new, intimate studio for solo and chamber performance. It seats 60 people.

Parry Rooms: The Parry Rooms, which boast unrivalled views of the Royal Albert Hall, are named after Sir Hubert Parry, the former Director of the RCM. The three tiny areas, ensconced under the Blomfield Building's beautiful eaves, have outstanding acoustics, a grand piano, a harpsichord, and an organ. Chamber music and solo concerts, lectures, and masterclasses are all held in the Parry rooms. 

Teaching & Practice Facilities: The RCM has dedicated opera rehearsal facilities, sound-proofed Amadeus Music Pods, and organ rooms, in addition to practice rooms and space for one-on-one and group training. There are over 160 pianos, including 60 grand pianos and 20 early keyboards, as well as a Blüthner Practice Suite with 10 Blüthner pianos, instrument storage with particular harp and double basses capabilities, and in-house instrument workshops. 

Technical Facilities: Wi-Fi, up-to-date student computers, access to standard and specialist software (including Microsoft Office 365, Sibelius, and Audacity), mobile printing, and a computerized self-service system for reserving practice rooms are all provided by the college’s ICT Service to facilitate and enhance life at the RCM. 

Many of the college’s concerts are filmed or recorded, and students may view past performances, recorded lessons, and faculty activities on RCM Stream, our online internal video viewer, which is a useful tool for analyzing and learning from their performances. Furthermore, ten of the performance venues include high-definition one-touch video recording equipment, allowing students to create professional-quality videos on their own.

RCM Studios is a commercial-grade facility, equipped with professional audio, video and composition technologies, supporting the RCM’s recording needs and enabling live broadcast of performances around the world.

Library and Museum: The RCM Library's lending collection includes over 400,000 scores, books, and recordings, as well as access to over 400 music periodicals. Oxford Music Online, Naxos Music Library, JSTOR, Met Online, and the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall are among the many online resources available through the library. The RCM also houses an internationally known collection of original manuscripts, early printed editions, and archives, including examples by Mozart and Elgar. Through the college’s relationship with nkoda and Henle digital sheet music, RCM’s musicians have access to thousands of scores online.

The RCM Museum houses almost 15,000 instruments, portraits, photographs, and engravings, some of which are the first known specimens of their kind, dating from the late 15th century to the current day. These items provide a coherent and comprehensive resource for the documentation, research, and representation of the history of musical performance and instrument-making in London, particularly between the 18th and 20th centuries, and provide fascinating insight into the past, present, and future of music. Items from the collection have appeared in scholarly and popular media, on television and radio, and as loans to major international exhibits in Europe and beyond. The Museum's collection has been greatly enhanced and revitalized in a suite of purpose-built spaces that include accessible permanent display and temporary exhibition galleries, a “hands-on” discovery area, a climate-controlled performance space, and a dedicated research facility, thanks to a £3.6 million National Lottery Heritage Funded project.

The Wolfson Centre in Music & Material Culture (WCMM), opened in September 2021, gives RCM professors, students, and external researchers direct access to elements of the RCM's collections for study, as well as brings object-based learning to small courses and groups. A conservation workshop, climate-controlled on-site storage for our collections, and a dedicated area for consultation, documentation, and digitization are all features of the new centre.

RCM has its own halls of residence in West London. A large rental market and other commercial options for student living are also available. 

Prince Consort Village: This London student residence offers high-quality accommodation for just over 400 students. The building opened in 2016 and it’s situated on Goldhawk Road, and it comprises studio apartments, en-suite rooms, and standard rooms. 

The in-house team and residence manager are dedicated to the pastoral care and well-being of residents at Prince Consort Village, which is manned 24 hours a day. Regular events are planned, and the Reception crew is available to assist students on a daily basis to make their lives as simple and comfortable as possible. 

The Prince Consort Village is completely equipped and created specifically for RCM students, with acoustically treated bedrooms that allow you to practise at home. The amenities provided by this residence hall also include a film room, open space mic, 23 dedicated practice rooms available 24/7, laundry, high-speed Wi-Fi, gym, reception, indoor and outdoor communal spaces, and bike storage.

Queen Alexandra's House: Female RCM students can apply for housing in Queen Alexandra's House, which is just a short walk from the RCM. QAH is great for students who are new to London and want to get a feel for the city while staying in a comfortable setting. They provide fully catered, controlled housing for female students enrolled in the Estate of the 1851 Commission (which includes RCM students), serving as a bridge between education and complete independence. 

Imperial College London is just a minute away from Royal College of Music - London, Regent’s University London is 18-minutes away, and London South Bank University is 22-minutes away.