About Us
The Cheese Grater Magazine is the multi-award-winning student publication of Students’ Union UCL. We combine rigorous investigative journalism with dry wit and satire to produce a publication that is both loved and loathed.
According to legend, The Cheese Grater was conceived in the depths of Ifor Evans in February 2004 when former UCL student René Lavanchy became increasingly discomforted with the production values of fellow Union publication Pi Media. Lavanchy felt that Pi was sucking up to the administration at a time when regulations prevented serious criticism of the Union itself.
Today, we print three times a year and publish online on a rolling basis. We’re on Rare FM every Friday, and every other Monday we send out a digital newsletter summarising all the latest campus news, satire, and student discourse. We are proud to be UCL’s biggest publication by print circulation and readership.
The Society
The Cheese Grater Magazine Society is a broad church of creative and inquisitive individuals. Together, we publish The Cheese Grater, our sister zine Women’s Wrongs, and operate a Fringe-worthy sketch comedy group, the UCL Graters.
The easiest way to get involved is to turn up to our meetings. All you need is a membership, which you can buy here for just £7 – some pubs charge more for a pint! We’re a friendly bunch. Each branch of Society meets once a week.
The Society is affiliated with Students’ Union UCL, our publisher and de facto corporate overlords. We routinely piss them off anyway.
Awards
The Cheese Grater is proud to have won the most awards of any UCL publication. Our journalists are some of the best in London and we continue to be recognised locally, regionally, and nationally. Here’s some of what we’ve won in the past.
| Award | Year | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian Student Media Awards | 2006 | Best Small Budget Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won |
| 2007 | Best Magazine | The Cheese Grater | Nominated | |
| Students' Union UCL Arts Awards | 2006 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won |
| 2007 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2008 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2009 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2010 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Nominated | |
| 2011 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2012 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2014 | Diversity and Inclusion | The Cheese Grater Magazine Society | Won | |
| 2016 | Most Improved Society | The Cheese Grater Magazine Society | Won | |
| 2018 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2023 | Best Publication | Women's Wrongs | Won | |
| 2023 | Best Media Piece | Neil Majithia and Elettra Plati for Chun Buckets Everywhere: How initiation ceremonies ruin the freshers experience | Won | |
| 2024 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2024 | Best Media Piece | Mads Brown for TERF out Transphobia: The IOE and “Academic Freedom” | Won | |
| Student Publication Association (London Regional Awards) | 2022 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won |
| 2025 | Best Publication | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2025 | Best Digital | The Cheese Grater | Won | |
| 2025 | Best Design (Print) | The Cheese Grater | Highly commended | |
| 2025 | Best Journalist | Malvika Murkumbi | Won | |
| 2025 | Best Article | Andrea Bidnic for A ‘culture of overwork and abuse’: Years after the first complaints, the mistreatment of PGTAs continues | Highly commended | |
| Student Publication Association (National Awards) | 2023 | Best Media Piece | Neil Majithia and Elettra Plati for Chun Buckets Everywhere: How initiation ceremonies ruin the freshers experience | Won |
| 2023 | Best Creative Piece | Mathilde Turner for Naked Yoga: A Belligerent Ode to the Pussy | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Billy Dowling-Reid Award for Outstanding Commitment | Nandini Agarwal | Nominated | |
| 2024 | Best Newcomer | Women's Wrongs | Highly commended | |
| 2024 | Best Creative Piece | Ben Scanlan for Keir Starmer… A Day in the Life | Highly commended | |
| 2025 | Best Specialist Publication | Women's Wrongs | Won | |
| 2025 | Best Website | The Cheese Grater | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Reporter | Nick Miao | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Reporter | Robert Delaney | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Reporter | Lucy Reade | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Newcomer | Go Kitajima | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Investigation | Malvika Murkumbi for UCL support tool did more harm than good, report finds | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best News Story | Andrea Bidnic for No jobs for graduates if Union bans oil and gas sponsorships, engineers warn | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Comment Piece | Andrea Bidnic for What is it with the Provost and ‘Disagreeing Well’? | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Comment Piece | Andrea Bidnic for Jewish Society, wake up! | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Creative Piece | Jasmine Yiu for Dear phantom flatmate | Nominated |