In this article:
Where can I get money, housing & immigration advice over the winter break?
Where can I get mental health & wellbeing support over the break?
What community activities can I get involved with over the break?
What support for revising and other academic skills can I get during the break?
I'm thinking about my career development during the break. What can I do?
For a for a full list of King's closure dates, please read when is the university closed?
Where can I get money, housing & immigration advice over the winter break?
While university offices are closed over the winter break, if you need help with housing, money or immigration advice, you may find the guidance in the following articles helpful:
International and immigration advice when university services are closed
Housing and homelessness advice when university services are closed
I need urgent help
If you're in the UK, you should always dial 999 in an emergency; this will connect you with all emergency services. If you believe you are experiencing a health or medical emergency, you can visit Accident & Emergency (A&E) department at a local hospital, whether you are registered with NHS services or not.
If you need help in an emergency on campus, please check our article Emergency & crisis support for students for details of help.
Urgent help for mental health
If you are worried for yourself or someone close to you, feeling despair with no-one to talk to, wanting to self harm or considering taking your own life, please take a look at our article I'm having suicidal thoughts, what should I do.
We also recommend contacting the Samaritans - they can be reached by calling 116 123 or by sending an email.
For non-emergency mental health support when our usual services are closed, take a look at our article Mental health support during evenings, weekends & vacation periods.
King's Counselling Online
King's Counselling Online (KCO) provides free and confidential, brief, solution-focused support for people who are experiencing low to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties. This is aimed at helping you quickly access counselling support and experience improved wellbeing.
The service will be available for you to use during the winter break and when King's core services are closed between 19 December and 2 January 2026.
To find out more about KCO and how to register, check out our article What is King's Counselling Online (KCO)?
Residence welfare support
If you are living in King's Residences, there is a dedicated Residence Welfare Lead on-call in every residence:
- Every night between 20.00-8:00
- Weekends and bank holidays between 08:00-20:00
The residence's reception desks will be staffed throughout the holidays with a reception team member or security guard present 24/7. They are there to support you throughout the break. The Residence Welfare Leads are there to support with a range of practical support, emotional help and guidance. You can find out how to contact the Residence Welfare Lead for your building online at King's Accommodation: Residence Welfare Leads.
You can text, call email or arrange a face-to-face meeting with the team. They are a friendly and non-judgemental presence in residences, and will be there for our students throughout the whole winter break.
King's Chaplaincy
The King's Chaplaincy is a hub of support for all students and staff at King's, of all faiths and none. Chaplains walk alongside people who are going through dark periods, struggle and grief.
They also work closely with other support and service colleagues across King's to ensure that everyone's wellbeing - physical, mental emotional, as well as spiritual - is looked after and nurtured during uncertain times. For more information, please read How can the Chaplaincy support me?
Chaplains will be on-call while King's is closed for you to reach out to them if you'd like to. On call details can be found in the Chaplaincy's weekly newsletter.
To learn more about taking place at King's Chaplaincy, please read Visit the King's Chaplaincy.
Online resources and wellbeing toolkits
Over the winter break, you may find it helpful to use some of our online resources to support your wellbeing.
Get 24/7 wellbeing support by accessing Spectrum.Life, our new digital wellbeing platform. On Spectrum.Life, you’ll find a huge range of wellbeing support, including online yoga classes, nutrition plans, recipe ideas, mindfulness and much more. Find out more by reading Health and wellbeing support from Spectrum.Life.
The Student Wellbeing team have also made a series of videos which you may find helpful to watch and reflect on how you can support your own wellbeing at university.
The Chaplaincy is a resource for all students and staff at King's, of all faiths and none. They are inclusive: whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever you believe, whomever you love - you are welcome.
To check out the full schedule of events the Chaplaincy are running, visit Chaplaincy: Special Services & Events.
If you'd like to receive the weekly newsletter, which will keep you up to date with current and future events and important notices, please email the Chaplaincy and ask to be added to the distribution list. You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time.
Winter Buddies
Are you staying in London over the Winter Break? Many King's students choose to stay in London while the university is closed and we would love to help bring you all together.
Our Winter Buddies Event is an opportunity to meet with fellow King's students for fun games, activities and a free festive meal. We have 150 places available for students who are staying in London over the winter break.
Where: Franklin-Wilkins Building Canteen, Waterloo Campus
When: Tuesday 16 December, 12.00 - 15.30
This event is free to attend, sign up using the King's Winter Buddies form.
King's Sport & Wellness
When will King's Sport & Wellness be open during the winter break?
All King's Sport & Wellness gyms will close for the winter break from 22.00 on Sunday 21 December 2025 and reopen Friday 2 January 2026 from 10.00 - 18.00. For more information, please visit King's Sport & Wellness: Gyms.
The current group exercise timetable will pause for the winter break on Sunday 14 December and return on Monday 12 January. Follow the King’s Sport & Wellness Instagram account to stay up to date.
The King’s Sport & Wellness Centre at Waterloo will close on Tuesday 23 December and reopen on Friday 2 January. In-house Physio sessions will also pause on Tuesday 23 December and restart for the new year on Friday 2 January.
The BeActive programme will also return on Monday 19 January. Make sure to follow the new BeActive Instagram account to stay up to date and to find out about our current giveaway.
Stay active with King's Move
Join King's Move, the app that rewards you for being active. Whether you're walking, running, cycling or swimming, you can earn points just for being active. You can then redeem your points for rewards such as a King's Food hot drink, a King's Sport & Wellness Gym Day Pass or a King's Move hoodie.
King's move is completely free to join.
Get free online workouts and wellness advice from Les Mills+
Les Mills+ offers on-demand workout and wellness content from one of the world's leading fitness providers.
From low impact meditation and yoga to HIIT and dance, there's something for all abilities.
You can access Les Mills+ by enrolling onto the Les Mills+ KEATS page.
Enjoying London
Over the winter break, there is always lots to do in London. Get involved with everything a large, bustling capital city has to offer.
- For a full guide to what’s on in London over Christmas, check out Visit London: Christmas in London.
- For some recommendations on free activities check out Londonist: Christmas In London: A Guide To Festive Events, Food and Drink.
- For a comprehensive list of all sorts of free things to do in London anytime, check out: Visit London: 101 free things to do in London.
- If you fancy the dramatic, London’s theatre scene is one of the best and most famous the world over; the West End has more shows than you could manage to squeeze into your break – check out what’s on at London Theatre Direct. You can use TodayTix to get discounted tickets to top London shows.
Academic Skills
King's Academic Skills for Learning online resources are available for all students 24/7 through the winter break and include some newly revamped resources on writing, reading, criticality and communication; log on to KEATS to explore how to enhance your academic skills, including managing your studies and revision and exam skills.
Our one-to-one academic skills appointments service will be closed for the break from Friday 12 December 2025, reopening on Monday 6 January 2026, so plan ahead to make the most of personalised support that’s available.
In contrast, a small number of our academic skills and maths and stats workshops will be available during the week of 15-19 December. We have sessions on Developing Your Academic Writing, R Programming, Style and Grammar, Revision and Exam Strategies and a session called “Demystifying Dissertations”, which could help you to start planning for what’s coming next year! The list of workshops available can be found on KEATS with links to booking on Skills Forge.
Can I still visit the Libraries?
There will be spaces open in libraries between Sunday 21 - Wednesday 31 December 2025. All libraries will be fully closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 January 2026.
Most of the libraries will be 24/7 in the second semester, re-opening at 09.00 on Friday 2 January.
To find out the opening hours for Libraries & Collections for the break, visit LibAnswers: What are the library opening hours?
The library enquiry service will be closed from 16.00 on Tuesday 23 December, re-opening at 09.00 on Friday 2 January. If you need library help over this period please visit the Library Guides, KLaSS (on KEATS) or LibAnswers FAQs.
Check out Libby, for free access to leisure-reading e-books and audiobooks on the go.
Can I still access IT support?
If you need IT support while studying over the winter break, King's IT specialists are available 24/7, 365 days a year and will help you get your IT-related queries sorted. For more information, please read our article I need IT support, what should I do?
Exams: Take Time Out
We know January can be a tricky time, especially with exams and assessments. That’s why we want to help you boost your wellbeing with Take Time Out from KCLSU.
The Take Time Out campaign will run from Monday 12 – Friday 16 January 2026 and aims to encourage you to schedule some time away from your studies to boost your wellbeing, take a break and connect with the King’s community. Find out more about Take Time Out at KCLSU Wellbeing Hub.
How can I develop my digital skills over the winter break?
If you're keen to work on your digital skills during your break, the Essential Digital Skills programme will still be available to you during this time.
The programme offers a range of skills to help support your academic, career and personal development.
- The programme is an online and self-paced course that takes up to 30 hours to complete
- You'll be awarded the digital certificate when you pass the quizzes
The Essential Digital Skills programme is available to you all year around. To find out more about the programme, check out our article with more details: How can I develop my digital skills?
Online Careers & Employability resources
Careers & Employability's online resources are available 24/7 throughout the break, and you can continue to book appointments until 19 December at the Strand Student Hub or online.
The break is a great time to review our Careers Essentials guides for undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral researchers, which outline the key things you may wish to consider engaging with, whether you’re still discovering ideas, focusing your career search or ready to action your plan.
You can also make use of:
- King's CareerConnect to search for opportunities, book appointments and events. You can also enhance your skills through online pathways or use our new AI-driven career inspiration tool to be prompted on roles or industries which best align with your interests. Find out more in What's King's CareerConnect & how can I use it?
- Exclusive digital tools can support you with CV review, interview simulation, psychometric testing, assessment centres, virtual work simulations and much more.
- King's Skills for the future self-assessment tool and learning pathways can help you evaluate and develop your existing skill set and reflect on the last semester.
- King’s Careers blog provides case studies, news and articles to help you plan your career journey.
The Career Discovery Feed on King's CareerConnect is your gateway to hundreds of articles written by employers, experts and our team. These articles cover career-related topics such as finding meaningful work experience, salary negotiation, technical interviews, volunteering and more.
If you are staying in London, there are also a number of part-time opportunities that are open to students over the winter break. Please check the Jobs and Opportunities section of King's CareerConnect for more information.
If you need to sort out an agreement for a work opportunity, check out I need an agreement for me to undertake an internship, placement or work opportunity.
Please submit any Host Agreement requests by Wednesday 3 December to ensure our team has time to review these and action as necessary. We cannot guarantee that documents submitted after this date will be returned.
Volunteering at King's
King’s Volunteering is your one-stop shop for discovering opportunities and building connections with people and organisations that are driving positive change in our local, national and international communities.
If you’d like to grow your experiences and support others while you do it, check out King’s Volunteering and the opportunities on offer in our article How can I volunteer and support my community?