Royal Holloway Gym: Membership & Opening Times

The Royal Holloway gym sits inside the Sports Centre on the Egham campus, so for most students it is a short walk from halls. Here is what the Sports Centre actually has, the membership options and roughly what they cost, the fitness classes and sports clubs on offer, and the nearest off-campus gym if you want an alternative.

At a glance

• On-campus gym: a fitness suite with around 60 stations inside the Royal Holloway Sports Centre, plus a four-court sports hall, classes and outdoor pitches.
• Opening times: in term, Monday to Friday 7am to 10pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 9.30am to 10pm. Out of term it closes earlier - full hours below.
• Membership: tiered student memberships, from a full-access Gold membership at around £185 per year down to pay-as-you-go Bronze sessions. Always check the official Royal Holloway Sport pages for current prices.
• Off-campus alternative: there is no PureGym in Egham itself, but PureGym Staines is about 2 miles away, open 24 hours with no contract.

The gym: the campus fitness suite

The main gym is a fitness suite of around 60 stations inside the Royal Holloway Sports Centre. It has the usual mix of cardio machines, resistance machines and a free-weights area, with changing rooms and a treatment room on site. Staff run inductions for new members and personal training is available if you want a programme rather than working it out yourself.

The Sports Centre is on the north side of campus near the outdoor pitches. If you are new and cannot find it, the campus map in RHUL Mobile has the Sports Centre pinned and will route you there on foot from your hall.

Royal Holloway gym opening times

The Sports Centre runs longer hours in term time than out of it. The published times are:

• Term time: Monday to Friday 7am to 10pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 9.30am to 10pm.
• Out of term: Monday to Friday 7am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 4pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.

The Christmas and Easter closure periods cut those hours further, and the building shuts entirely on a handful of bank holidays. The fitness suite normally stops admitting people shortly before the building closes, so a 9.55pm arrival in term time is not a session. Classes and court bookings run to their own timetable inside those hours rather than filling all of them - book through the Royal Holloway Sport app rather than turning up. If the hours have moved since this page was updated, the app and the Sports Centre reception carry the live version.

Membership options and cost

Royal Holloway Sport runs tiered student memberships. The rough shape of it, at the time of writing, is:

• Gold: unlimited access to the gym and all fitness classes at any time. Around £185 per year for students.
• Silver: unlimited gym and classes, but off-peak only (typically before mid-afternoon), with a small top-up if you want to train later in the day. Around £110 per year.
• Bronze: pay-as-you-go. A small enrolment fee, then around £5 per session. Good if you only train occasionally.
• be.active: a recreational sport and fitness package with court time (squash and tennis) rather than full gym access. Around £30 per year, cheaper if bought alongside a Gold membership.

Prices and tier names change each academic year, so treat these as a guide and check the official Royal Holloway Sport membership pages for the current cost before you pay. You can view the live memberships and sign up through the Royal Holloway Sport app.

Fitness classes

The Sports Centre runs a full timetable of exercise classes - usually more than 30 a week during term time, with a lighter timetable out of term. Expect the standard spread: spin, HIIT, yoga, Pilates, body-conditioning and similar. Classes are included with a Gold membership; on other tiers you may pay per class. Slots fill up, so book ahead in the Royal Holloway Sport app rather than turning up on spec.

Sports halls, courts and pitches

Beyond the gym, the Sports Centre and grounds cover most sports on campus:

• Sports hall: a multi-use four-court hall for badminton, basketball, netball, five-a-side and indoor training.
• Outdoor pitches: floodlit all-weather surfaces including a 3G pitch and an astro pitch, plus grass football pitches and a cricket pitch.
• Tennis and squash: several outdoor tennis courts and squash courts, bookable through the Sports Centre.
• Netball: outdoor netball courts alongside the pitches.

All of it is on campus, so you are not travelling off-site to train. The pitches sit next to the Sports Centre on the campus map.

Sports clubs and BUCS

If you want to compete rather than just train, the Students' Union runs the sports clubs. There are around 35 to 40 clubs and roughly 80 competitive teams, with well over a thousand students taking part. Teams compete in BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) and LUSL (London Universities Sport Leagues), covering everything from football, rugby and netball to less mainstream clubs. Club membership is separate from your Sports Centre gym membership, and most clubs also welcome beginners for the social and recreational side.

Gyms near Royal Holloway

For anyone in halls, the Sports Centre is the nearest gym by a distance - nothing off campus is closer than a walk across the grounds. If you want an alternative, these are the realistic options by travel time:

• The campus Sports Centre: 3 to 15 minutes on foot from any hall, priced for students, and the only option that needs no bus.
• Egham town: a handful of small independent and boutique studios a walk or short bus ride down Egham Hill. Good if you want classes or coaching rather than a machine floor.
• Staines, about 2 miles: the nearest full-size commercial gyms, including PureGym Staines at the Two Rivers Shopping Centre, plus larger health-club and council leisure facilities. Reachable by bus or a short train hop from Egham station.

Worth knowing before you commit to an off-campus membership: the travel is the cost. A 20-minute each-way trip to Staines is the difference between training five times a week and training twice. Most students who start the year with an off-campus membership end up back at the Sports Centre by the Spring term.

There is no swimming pool on the Royal Holloway campus, which is the one facility people regularly expect to find and do not. The nearest public pools are in Egham and Staines.

PureGym Egham and off-campus alternatives

People search for a "PureGym Egham", but there is no PureGym in Egham itself. The nearest one is PureGym Staines, at the Two Rivers Shopping Centre, roughly 2 miles from campus. It is open 24 hours with no fixed contract, which is why it comes up for students who want late-night sessions or a break from the campus gym. Monthly cost is typically in the low-to-mid twenties of pounds, but check PureGym's site for the current Staines price.

For most students the on-campus Sports Centre gym is the sensible choice - it is a short walk from halls, the membership is priced for students, and the classes and clubs are all in the same place. PureGym Staines mainly makes sense if you live off campus towards Staines, want 24-hour access, or prefer a rolling monthly membership over an annual one.

Egham station is a short trip from campus if you are heading to Staines by train. The Diamond Bus RHU between Founder's Building and Egham Station is tracked live in RHUL Mobile's bus times feature, so you can time it rather than guessing.

Finding the Sports Centre on campus

The Sports Centre is on the north side of campus, past Founder's Building and near the outdoor pitches. If it is your first week and the campus is still a maze, open the campus map in RHUL Mobile: the Sports Centre is pinned, the map works offline, and it routes you there on real walking paths from wherever your hall is.