Getting to City St George's: the campuses, the stations and the stress-free arrival

City St George's, University of London came into being on 1 August 2024, bringing together City — long known for business, law, journalism, engineering, health and the professions — with St George's, one of the country's foremost medical schools. A member of the federal University of London, it now teaches more than 27,000 students from over 170 countries, with the Lord Mayor of London serving as its rector. For new undergraduates, returning students, postgraduates and the families helping them settle in, the key practical point is that the university operates across three campuses in very different parts of London — so before you travel, it's worth being sure which one you actually need. This guide covers the part that trips people up: working out your campus, and the calmest way to reach its door.

01 / LOCATIONWhere exactly is City St George's?

The historic main campus is at Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, in Clerkenwell on the Islington–City fringe, where most of the legacy City schools — law, journalism, engineering, computing, health and social sciences — are based. The business school sits a little to the south-east, and the medical and health campus is across the river to the south-west, so the university spans three distinct neighbourhoods. The Clerkenwell campus is squarely in central London; the Tooting campus has a very different, more suburban character around a major teaching hospital.

It helps to know early that there is no student or visitor parking at the campuses, which sit in busy inner-London areas largely within the Congestion Charge and ULEZ zones. That single fact shapes most arrival decisions — which is why a pre-arranged drop-off so often makes sense, especially with luggage.

02 / CAMPUSESClerkenwell, Moorgate and Tooting

Here is the quick map of the three campuses, with the neighbourhood and nearest stations for each:

• Clerkenwell campus (main) — Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB, in Islington. Home to most schools, the City Law School and the Department of Journalism. Nearest stations Angel (Northern line), Barbican and Farringdon, with Old Street close by.
• Moorgate campus (Bayes Business School) — on Bunhill Row, EC1Y, a short distance south. Nearest stations Moorgate, Old Street and Liverpool Street.
• Tooting campus (the former St George's) — at Cranmer Terrace, Tooting, SW17 0RE, co-located with St George's Hospital, home to medicine and the health and medical sciences. Nearest station Tooting Broadway (Northern line).

If you've been given a building or school name, check which campus it sits on before you set off — a Clerkenwell arrival and a Tooting arrival are completely different journeys, on opposite sides of central London.

03 / STATIONSNearest stations and getting around

The campuses are all well connected, though to different parts of the network. For the Clerkenwell and Moorgate campuses:

• Angel (Northern line) and Barbican and Farringdon (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Elizabeth line and Thameslink) serve Clerkenwell — Farringdon's Elizabeth line links straight to Heathrow.
• Moorgate, Old Street and Liverpool Street serve the business school, putting the City and its rail terminals on the doorstep.

For the Tooting campus, Tooting Broadway (Northern line) is the nearest station, with national rail at Tooting and Earlsfield nearby. For getting around day to day, all three campuses are well served — but the catch is the universal one: brilliant for travelling light, considerably less so with a term's luggage and a couple of changes after a long journey, particularly if you mix up the campuses.

04 / AIRPORTSAirport transfer times to City St George's

For international students and visiting families, the airport run is the journey that matters most. Times vary by campus, so the board below is anchored on the Clerkenwell campus at Northampton Square as the central reference; the Tooting campus, in the south-west, is a noticeably different journey and tends to be closer to Gatwick and further from the eastern airports. Treat these as a planning guide for a pre-booked car rather than a promise.

From Heathrow

Heathrow is the airport most international students arrive through. For the Clerkenwell campus, the rail route is the Elizabeth line to Farringdon — quick and direct — then a short walk or hop to Northampton Square. A direct Heathrow airport transfer by car removes the changes entirely, which after a long-haul flight with full luggage is a genuine relief — and the driver meets you in arrivals after baggage reclaim, taking you straight to the right campus.

From the other airports

From Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, the rail options all involve a fast train into a London terminus followed by a Tube leg and a final walk with your bags — and if your campus is Tooting, an extra cross-city hop. For a first arrival in an unfamiliar city, one car, one driver and one fixed price to the exact campus is usually the gentler introduction.

Three campuses, one university. Knowing which one you're heading to is the part worth planning.

05 / MOVE-IN DAYArriving with luggage on move-in day

Move-in day is where the no-parking reality bites hardest. Whether you're heading to a hall near the Clerkenwell campus, to intercollegiate University of London accommodation, or to housing near the Tooting campus, you'll likely be juggling suitcases, bedding, a few boxes and possibly a nervous parent or two. A pre-booked private hire transfer handles this neatly: you choose a vehicle sized to your luggage — a saloon for a light packer, an MPV for the full first-year haul — and a local driver who knows the area drops you as close to your building as the loading restrictions allow.

06 / VISITSOpen days, offer-holder days and visiting

City St George's runs undergraduate and postgraduate open days through the year, plus applicant and offer-holder days for those deciding where to firm their choice — and these are held at the relevant campus, so the usual day-of pitfall is simply ending up at the wrong one. Confirm whether your event is at Clerkenwell, Moorgate or Tooting, and build in a buffer. A booked car means parents and applicants travelling together arrive at the same place at the same time, without splitting up across the Underground or puzzling over which station serves which campus.

The same logic applies to graduation, when families often travel in from out of town or abroad, frequently with older relatives for whom escalators and platform changes are tiring. A door-to-door transfer to the right campus keeps the day's logistics simple.

07 / NEARBYWhat's around the campuses

Each campus sits in a neighbourhood worth exploring once your bags are down. A few highlights:

• Clerkenwell & Angel — Exmouth Market, Sadler's Wells, and the bars, cafés and design studios that make the area one of London's liveliest.
• The Barbican & the City — the Barbican Centre's arts and the Square Mile a short walk from Clerkenwell and Moorgate.
• Tooting — the celebrated Tooting Market, a famous food scene and Tooting Bec Common, all around the southern campus.
• Islington & Upper Street — theatres, restaurants and shopping a short stroll north of Northampton Square.

08 / FAQFrequently asked questions