As Birkbeck primarily offers part-time courses, often in the evenings, student life is less centralised than in other universities.
[3][4] Under the Royal Charter granted to the College in 1926, the Students' Union appoints two Governors to the Governing Body of the university each year, from among its sabbatical officers.
For this reason, the annual literary magazine published by the Birkbeck MA Creative Writing programme is called Mechanics' Institute Review.
In 2003, Birkbeck again reached the final, facing another team of mature students from Cranfield University.
In the past two decades, Birkbeck has consistently done well in University Challenge, ranked among the best since the TV series was revived with Jeremy Paxman.
[9] Birkbeck's School of Law actively competes in national and international mooting competitions of simulated court proceedings.