FIE London uses the entire area as our campus. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of London’s most attractive and desirable locations, provides a beautiful and historic living and learning environment for students. Within walking distance are some of the world’s greatest cultural institutions such as Royal Albert Hall and the Natural History Museum. The hustle and bustle of High Street Kensington combined with laid back independent shops and restaurants make up the friendly local neighborhood. South Kensington is well connected to the rest of the city in Zone 1, with Gloucester Road and South Kensington London Underground (Tube) stations serving the majority of our campus locations.
Foundation House & Metrogate House
FIE’s academic and administrative hub is Foundation House, a five-story Edwardian mansion housing modern classrooms, staff offices, and a student lounge. Our Administration, Academic & Experiential Education, Communications & IT, Facilities, and Student & Residence Life teams are located in Foundation House. All of the classrooms in Foundation House offer advanced IT infrastructure including high-speed fibre internet and Clevertouch screens. Metrogate House serves our students with laundry facilities, mail pickup for all FIE residences, a 24 hour Study Area with PCs, additional offices and classrooms and our dedicated Facilities Support Team.
From time to time, we also utilize our local neighborhood partners for additional teaching space, such as the Royal Geographical Society, which are located within walking distance of Foundation House.
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Student Housing
Our student residences are mostly situated in Kensington, within walking distance to Foundation House. Generally, students will live in converted townhouses with shared rooms, modern kitchens, renovated bathrooms, and study spaces. From time to time, students will live outside of Kensington in areas such as Kings Cross; a vibrant and student-friendly location and an easy Tube journey to Foundation House. You can find out more about our student accommodation on the London Housing page.
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Our Neighbours
The Royal Family
FIE students can enjoy the world of Kensington at their doorstep with easy access to hundreds of museums, shops, and historical centers. Thanks to Kensington Palace (less than a mile from Foundation House and half a mile from Metrogate House), the childhood home of Queen Victoria and current home to the Prince and Princess of Wales, students live and learn in a 'Royal Borough'. One of the largest Royal Parks, Hyde Park sits on 350 acres and offers many recreational opportunities for biking and running and lies just to the east of Kensington Palace.
Albertopolis
The area that FIE calls home has been an educational and cultural destination since Victorian times and is sometimes known as 'Albertopolis', a nickname given after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, purchased the land for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and it developed into the location of many colleges and museums. Within just a few city blocks, institutions such as the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music, Royal Institute of Navigation, and Imperial College London opened their doors, making Kensington a premier place to study.
Imperial College London is one of the world's top universities and often hosts Orientation sessions and the FIE Welcome Reception for our semester students during their arrivals week. FIE students have access to the Imperial College Union, which boasts more than 300 clubs, organizations, and projects for students to get involved in during their time in London.
Along Exhibition Road are the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum which are free to visit and open to the public. FIE students can pop in during their break from classes or after their internship and grab a cup of coffee at the V&A cafe! Our faculty often make use of the museums' incredible collections during co-curricular activities to enhance classroom learning.
Royal Albert Hall is on the northern border of Albertopolis and hosts about 400 events a year including the BBC Proms as well as classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with a live orchestra, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances. Students often have access to discounted tickets for events! The Albert Memorial sits just across from Royal Albert Hall and is an iconic part of Hyde Park.
Other Locations
Students have the opportunity to combine their world-class surroundings with academics. Each FIE course is required to have an experiential component and students may find much of their time is spent out and about in the city of London. Our FIE faculty love to use the city as a classroom and frequently utilize historic and cultural centers within Kensington and in other areas such as Brick Lane, the South Bank, and Westminister.
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