IMHO, if students want to get connected, they should be getting involved in their local tech community (i.e. the non-academic one). There are loads of regular, tech-focused events here in London, such as our own Hacker News London meetup[1] and MiniBar[2]. If you're interested in jobs, Silicon Milkroundabout[3] and AppsJunction[4]. If you're just interested in socialising over a few beers, there's Silicon Drinkabout every Friday evening.

Those are just a few of the regular events - there's loads of others. Startup Digest[6] is a good way of finding out about them.

1: www.meetup.com/HNLondon

2: www.meetup.com/minibar

3: www.siliconmilkroundabout.com/

4: www.meetup.com/AppsJunction-Where-Startups-Meet-Developers

5: silicondrinkabout.com

6: www.startupdigest.com/digests/london