Allow me to add some comments for our North American friends who aren't used to seeing this sort of thing.....

This is an older-style Wylex panel, a very popular make which has been used here for many years. These "Standard Range" panels will accept three different types of protective devices, all of which can be seen here: Rewireable carriers (most of them), cartridge fuses (left hand half, rightmost position), or circuit breakers (you can find them yourself! [Linked Image] ).

Here's one of the cartridge-fuse carriers opened up:
[Linked Image]

Go here and look at the "Wylex Standard Range" links for more.

Ash,
There seem to be a lot of 30A fuses in that panel. As this is student accommodation, would I be right in guessing that each fuse feeds a separate bedsitter unit? (Possibly with individual coin meters in each?)

The MCB circuits seem to have multiple wires on them, so perhaps these are feeding rings in shared areas such as a kitchen and communal lounge. I would guess that the lone 5A fuse is lighting in shared hallways etc.

Why the spare 5A carrier laying on top? Has something been changed recently?

The phone number on that blue sticker is very familiar to me, and it's a little blurry on my monitor, but it looks like it says "EDF Energy" on it, so that sticker can't be very old.

The obvious question: Who lost the two screw-on covers? [Linked Image]