If you know, you know: Here are 10 things that only KCL students will understand

Studying at King’s College London comes with its fair share of iconic moments and we’re not just talking about the view from the top floor of the Strand building.

Whether you’re dodging cyclists on the Strand or desperately hunting for a seat in the Maughan to get some work done, some experiences are universal to every KCL student.

So, here are 10 painfully relatable, uniquely King’s moments that prove you’re doing uni right (or at least surviving it).

1. The Round Reading Room walk of shame

You’ve woken up motivated, ready to lock in and conquer your to-do list. Naturally, that means heading to the Maughan Library’s legendary Round Reading Room — the academic equivalent of entering the Colosseum.

You push open the grand doors, and suddenly, all eyes are on you. You pace the circle with quiet optimism, scanning for an empty desk… but every single one is “taken” by a strategically placed coat, bag, or a lone laptop left by someone “just popping to Pret.”

And so, defeated and exposed, you make the long, awkward lap around the dome before exiting under the gaze of smug seat-holders. May your search through the Maughan maze continue. 

2. Lost in the labyrinth: King’s edition

Just when you think you’ve graduated from fresher status, King’s humbles you with a seminar in the mythical Norfolk or Chesham buildings.

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You set off with confidence, but after one wrong turn and three misleading signs, you realise you’ve been walking for 20 minutes and somehow ended up outside a completely different faculty.

Is this still London? Has anyone actually seen the inside of the Chesham building? We may never know.

3. The Anatomy Lecture Theatre: Beauty is pain

There’s something magical about having lectures in the historic Anatomy Lecture Theatre — until your body makes contact with those wooden benches for a two-hour lecture.

Let’s be honest: Comfort was clearly never part of the design. And no, unfortunately the so-called cushion doesn’t count.

After an hour, your back cracks in protest, your legs have gone numb, and you start questioning your life choices. Historic charm? Absolutely. Ergonomics? Tragically lacking.

4. Lecture theatre Tetris: The lap desk struggle

If you’ve ever had a lecture in the Strand’s Arthur & Paula Lucas Theatre, you know the pain. The room’s packed, the air’s heavy, and there’s not a window or desk in sight.

You’re left balancing your laptop, water bottle, iPad, phone, and sanity on your lap like a circus act, all while trying to take notes and avoid elbowing your neighbour. Spoiler alert: You will fail at one of those things. 

5. The Wi-Fi let down of the century

You’ve made it onto campus, found a prime library seat (miraculously), and are ready to actually be productive. Then — nothing. Eduroam refuses to connect and the Cloud is down.

Your phone has less signal than a tin can. How does King’s still manage to fumble Wi-Fi in one of the most connected cities in the world? It’s wild for a £9,250-a-year hotspot.

6. The Strand to Waterloo sprint

If you’ve ever rushed between back-to-back classes at Strand and Waterloo, you deserve some serious recognition.

The King’s hour is a real test — you barely get through the revolving doors before realising you have just 4.5 minutes to get to a different campus. Sprinting past Somerset House with your backpack bouncing and coffee in hand?

At that moment, you’re not a student anymore – you’re an unpaid Olympic athlete. At least the view over London makes up for it maybe…

7. The Strand cyclist gauntlet

You’ve wrapped up for a long day — headphones in, eyes locked on freedom — when out of nowhere, a rogue cyclist whips past, running a red light with zero regard for traffic laws, pedestrians, or basic human decency.

On the pavement? Absolutely. On the road? Also yes. Between two moving buses? Somehow, still yes. And if no one’s riding them? You’ll probably find them abandoned in awkward piles, blocking pavements and making it nearly impossible to walk around.

8. The Temple Hill that defies physics

You thought the hardest part of your 9am was getting out of bed. Wrong. After surviving a peak-hour Tube journey (and someone’s armpit in your face), you climb out of Temple station only to be hit with a hill that’s definitely steeper than it was yesterday.

It’s not Everest, but it feels like it when you’re running late and carrying the weight of both your bag and your existential dread.

9. The great Greggs queue catastrophe

You’ve been daydreaming about that sausage roll since 10:35am. It’s now 12:55, the seminar’s finally over, and you power-walk to the Strand Gregg, only to find the queue stretching halfway across the street.

You consider risking it, but a glance at your next lecture time says otherwise. And so, empty-handed and heartbroken, you retreat — another pastryless victim of the lunchtime rush.

10. The infamous lift crawl in the King’s Building

You’re only trying to get to a 10am lecture on the sixth floor. It should be easy, right? The lift, however, has other plans.

It arrives 10 minutes late, conveniently stops at every single floor and packs you in like sardines with nowhere to look but awkwardly at the ground and the time on your phone as the clock ticks closer to five past the hour, yet you remain stationary.

By the time you arrive, sweaty and breathless, the lecture’s already started and every head turns as you scuttle in, pretending to not have just spent 12 minutes in vertical purgatory.