What Kind of News and Topics Does The Beaver Cover?

The Beaver (thebeaverlse.co.uk) is the London School of Economics Students' Union's award-winning student newspaper, and it covers a mix of campus news, student union developments, commentary, and analysis on issues affecting students both at LSE and beyond. If you want to know whether a story about LSE student life, SU politics, or UK policy changes affecting international students would appear there, the answer is generally yes.

Campus and Student Union News

The paper's core beat is what happens at LSE and within its students' union. A clear example from its homepage is the headline about the AU President and the LSESU Men's Rugby Team being suspended following an incident involving "discriminatory language." This shows the kind of story The Beaver treats as front-page news: student union governance, athletics union (AU) matters, disciplinary actions, and controversies involving student groups.

If you follow LSE student politics, club and society disputes, or SU elections and decisions, this is the section most likely to carry them.

Commentary and Analysis

The Beaver describes itself as providing "news, commentary, and analysis," so it is not limited to straight reporting. Opinion and analytical pieces sit alongside reported stories. This means you can expect interpretive writing on campus debates as well as reported coverage of events.

UK and International Issues Affecting Students

The paper also covers broader policy questions when they affect its readership. A prominent homepage example is the piece titled "'A Slap in the Face': Changes to the Graduate Visa and a Narrower Path Forward for International Students," written by Alba Azzarello and illustrated by Serena Fadil. That article reports that, following changes to UK visa and settlement rules, international students in the UK would no longer be eligible for a two-year Graduate Visa, and would instead be limited to an 18-month Graduate Visa starting on the 1st of January.

This illustrates the paper's scope: national immigration and visa policy is treated as student news when it directly shapes international students' options.

What You'll Find on the Homepage

The homepage is organized around a Headlines section, which surfaces current stories, plus advertisement slots. Headlines rotate over time — the visa story is marked as posted "6 months ago" — so the front page reflects the most recent mix of campus and policy coverage rather than a fixed set of topics.

Quick Summary

In short, The Beaver is a student newspaper whose coverage runs from LSE-specific news and student union affairs through to national policy stories that matter to its student audience.