What to bring to LSE halls: the actual list

LSE's residences are spread across central and south London, from High Holborn, about eleven minutes' walk from campus, to Robeson House beside Burgess Park, a bus ride away. Most are LSE's own; a few are run with partners such as Unite Students, Sanctuary Students and urbanest; and LSE students also live in the University of London's intercollegiate halls, most of them in Bloomsbury. Start by finding out two things about yours: whether it is catered, and whether your room has its own bathroom.

Some things hold everywhere. Every room has Wi-Fi, and your rent covers the bills and insurance. In LSE-managed halls it also includes one wash and one dry a week, loaded onto your laundry account. And no hall provides sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, towels, cutlery or cookware, so those go on everyone's list.

Bedding is where halls differ most. Bankside, Butler's Wharf, Carr-Saunders, High Holborn, Passfield and Rosebery provide a duvet and pillows. Lilian Knowles, Robeson, Sidney Webb, urbanest Westminster Bridge and the intercollegiate halls don't, and Sidney Webb says so plainly: bring your own duvet, pillows, bed linen and towels. Bed sizes vary too, some bigger and some smaller than average, so look up your bed in LSE's table before you buy fitted sheets.

Where a hall provides the duvet and pillows, they are fire-retardant, and the handbook asks you not to bring bedding or soft furnishings that aren't. If you are bringing a throw or cushions from home, check the label.

The bedroom list is short: sheets and covers that fit your bed, a pillow if your hall doesn't supply one, hangers, a laundry basket. Decorating takes a little care. Posters go on the notice board only; Blu-Tack is fine on your door or wardrobe, but sticky hooks and anything on the walls, ceiling or windows are not, and flags count as a fire hazard. Bring pins for the board and leave the hooks at home.

In a catered hall the kitchen is a small one. LSE's catered halls include six dinners and one brunch a week in term time, the intercollegiate halls evening meals and breakfast, brunch at weekends, and each has a snack point or pantry for everything in between. One mug, one set of cutlery and a plate cover the snacks. In a self-catered flat you bring the lot: pans for boiling and frying, an oven tray, a sharp knife with a board, and enough crockery for one.

For the bathroom: towels, toiletries for a week or two, and toilet roll if you are en-suite, because only the first roll is there when you arrive. Sharing a bathroom down the corridor? A shower caddy and a pair of flip-flops are worth the space.

Laundry is through the Washstation app in LSE-managed halls, with your weekly wash and dry already paid for; Sidney Webb and Robeson have their own laundry apps. The handbook asks you to bring your own detergent. For tech, pack your laptop, chargers and headphones, and remember that a TV, or watching live TV or BBC iPlayer on any device, needs a TV licence, which isn't in your fees.

London is drier than its reputation: about 616 mm of rain a year at the Met Office's Heathrow station. But October and November, the first weeks of term, are its wettest months, so a light waterproof is worth more than an umbrella on a windy bridge. Heating in halls is central and runs for a few hours in the morning and evening in the colder months, and personal heaters aren't allowed, so bring warm layers for the evenings.

Your hall page gives the walk to campus. From the Bloomsbury halls, Passfield and the intercollegiate residences, it is around 20 to 25 minutes; from Bankside, Carr-Saunders, Rosebery and urbanest, nearer 25 to 30; from Butler's Wharf, Lilian Knowles, Nutford and Sidney Webb, three quarters of an hour or more, and the bus or Tube is quicker. Comfortable shoes are not optional.

Leave the car. LSE actively discourages driving, parking isn't generally available, and most halls sit inside the Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone. A bike is different: most halls have secure storage, though never in your room, and LSE suggests a good D-lock and insurance. E-bikes and e-scooters can't be stored or charged in halls, with one exception: the bike store at Robeson House.

Keep your documents in one folder. International students need a passport, access to their eVisa, the CAS, their offer and the licence agreement for their room. If you study from the UK, bring photo ID and your student finance information. In the first weeks, staff test students' electrical items for safety (except at Lilian Knowles, Sidney Webb and Robeson), so bring adapters that meet UK standards, or buy electricals once you arrive, as LSE suggests.

Register with a GP early. St Philips Medical Centre, in Pethick-Lawrence House on Clement's Inn, provides NHS treatment to LSE students. And one house rule worth knowing before your family books a visit: no overnight guests in the first two weeks after move-in, then up to three nights in a row, signed in at reception.