Colleges and Accommodation

Hey,

Since getting offered a place for biomedical science I have briefly looked into the accommodation. I wanted to know what’s the difference between the colleges and their accommodation. Also what colleges are near where I would be learning.

Reply 1

University of York

Official Rep

Hi there,

Congratulations on your offer to study biomedical sciences at York! I'll try my best to answer your questions...

The Biology department (where you'll likely spend a lot of your time studying your course) is on Campus West. There are five undergraduate colleges on Campus West:
- Vanbrugh
- Derwent
- James
- Alcuin
- Halifax

The nearest college to the Biology department is Vanbrugh, but don't worry if you don't want to live there / don't get allocated that college. I'm a Biology graduate, and I lived in Derwent in my first year. I was able to walk to all my lectures, labs etc. very easily (if I remember rightly, it took me less than 10 minutes to get from my accommodation to the Biology department).

There are also five undergraduate colleges on Campus East:
- Anne Lister
- Constantine
- David Kato
- Goodricke
- Langwith

Campus East is a short bus ride from Campus West, a 5-10 minute bike ride, or a 20-30 minute walk (depending on which bit of Campus East you're leaving from, and which bit of Campus West you want to get to). I had friends on my course who lived on Campus East in first-year who enjoyed the slightly longer commute, as they felt it gave more separation from their home and their course.

I know you asked about differences between colleges, but let's start with their similarities! Every college offers the same thing in terms of:
- A dedicated team of staff and students for support
- College sport, college music, and other college events
- A smaller community within the University that you can belong in
- Somewhere to live!

Now for the differences. Each college offers slightly different accommodation types, in terms of price, location, catered or self-catered, shared bathroom or en-suite. In picking your college, probably the best place to start is to think about what you want from your accommodation, as that might dictate the colleges you can pick from!

I hope this helps! - Hannah :smile:

Have you joined our offer holder Instagram group, @uoy_offerholders2023 ? This is a great place to get advice from current students and recent graduates!