Homerton College, Cambridge

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	Homerton College
	Established:	1976
	University:	University of Cambridge
	Address:	Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8PH
	Telephone:	+44 (0)1223 507111
	Website:	http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk
	Student Union/JCR website:	http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/studentlife/union.html
	Admittance:	Undergraduates and postgraduates

Student Statistics

• Total Undergraduates in 2007-8 = 596 (260 men + 336 women)
• Total Undergraduates in 2006-7 = 572 (233 men + 339 women)
• Students admitted to their current course in Oct 07: 204 (95 men + 109 women)
• Students admitted to their current course in Oct 06: 201 (91 men + 110 women)

Source: The Reporter Special Issue: Student Numbers 07-08

Homerton Application Statistics See College applications and admissions statistics

Homerton Application Statistics per subject See Appplication Statistics

• Homerton has a relatively high proportion of state school students (68% of acceptances in 2007 and 70% in 2006 came from a state school background (source)). Of course, these statistics only make sense if we compare them to the percentage of state school applications - 74% in 2007 and 73% in 2006.

Location

Out of centre. Not as far as Girton but otherwise the furthest. Space and accomodation compensates for this in the majority of cases, though.

Accommodation

Very Good. No shared rooms and most rooms are en-suite. Communal laundry and kitchen facilities are offered throughout. You can be housed on site throughout your entire degree if you want that.

Food

Formal Hall costs £12. Normal Hall costs around £8 for two courses and salad dish/roll/bread product.

Hall is atmospheric and well staffed, very friendly and comfortable to eat in.

The Griffin (buttery and bar) is more expensive than some colleges - sandwiches are around £3.50. However, the food is a good quality and it is open some weekends and evenings, and has a good selection of food, soft drinks, snacks and confectionary. Additionally it is comfortable with nice couches and was recently refurbished so is a nice place to eat and study.

The hall food is fairly good quality and the portions are huge. Hall runs from 12-1:30 for lunch and 5:30-7:30 for dinner on Monday - Friday during Full Term. Additionally, there is brunch (a fried breakfast, both normal and vegetarian) on Saturday from 11-1, and Sunday Lunch from 11-1.

There are no catered meals for dinner on Saturday and Sunday, however, all college buildings have kitchens which have lockable cupboards, hobs, toasters, a fridge and a microwave, so it is easy to cook meals when you can't go/don't fancy going to hall.

Meals can be purchased through the college meal ticket (compulsory payment of £180 a term with rent) which means no cash required. Cash cannot be accepted in hall, but it is fine in the Griffin (buttery).

Social Spaces

There are both junior (undergraduate) and senior (postgrad) common rooms located in Queen's Wing - they have pool tables and comfy couches. However, they are not used very often despite being comfortable and friendly since not many people live in this block (and hence probably don't know they're allowed to use them).

The buttery/bar is open every day from 8:00am-11pm, and is really comfortable and friendly. It can be a little noisy at times (usually around lunch) but there is a good TV setup (with the controls negotiable with bar staff at quiet times; usually they show football and rugby games if they're important) and lots of space for relaxing.

In summer there is a huge amount of space outside to sit with friends. Good spots include the picnic tables (around the back of West House), the lawn outside Harrison House and the Orchard.

Unfortunately there are a lack of socialising spaces in West House, East House and South Court. However, most people sit in the corridor to socialise or all crowd into one room. This is really common despite the lack of space and often the Freshers' pizza vouchers are spent on many a long evening in the hallway.

Library and Computing

The library, though by no means deficient, is still quite new so you can put in an order pretty much any book you don't find, and would like in the library. It's open 24 hours and apparently is bigger than most other college libraries. The book selection is getting better gradually; it's well stocked for education students and is the only cambridge library you're likely to find modern classics such as 'Where's Wally?' or the Mr Men series. There are no fines issued either on overdue books and a self-scan system is operating for taking books out for those times when the Librarians are tucked up in bed reading. As for computing there are a number of Computers available (14 - including the book search ones) in the Library. And there is a dedicated Computer room open 24 hours located in the old building. The homerton tech bods can be found here: http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/itdept/index.html There is also a wireless network students can use on site that has average speeds but signal strength can be poor in some areas such as West House. (first year accommodation block) Every student has a port in the their room from which they can connect to the the internet through an ethernet cable as well as the wireless network.

Academic Performance

Homerton's ranking in the Tompkins Table (which ranks 29 colleges by Tripos results): 25th (2009), 25th (2008), 26th (2007), 25th (2006), 26th (2005), 24th (2004), 25th (2003).

Sports

Homerton was declared the 21st sportiest Cambridge College in Michealmas 2009 by The Tab. See The Tab article: The College Cup revealed

The most popular sports are football, rowing, rugby and Ultimate Frisbee, with Homerton performing well in all, especially the latter.

Atmosphere

The largest college with 1000+ students. Good cross-section of people. The people here are awesome too. Every college claims to be social etc. but frankly, some are more social than others and ours is one of the most social. People are just fun and outgoing at Homerton. To the person who asked about clubbing, you just get a taxi back to college. There's always Homerton people out, and a 7 seater taxi costs £7.

There is a big acting and drama scene here because there are so many drama students. And many opportunities to get involved on a College level or a Uni-wide level if this is your thing.

If sport is your thing, Homerton is one of the most active Colleges for this. This year Homerton became the second college to field four Men's football teams in the Cambridge leagues. So whatever your level, you'll always have a chance to play. There's a good rowing set-up here too.

Facilities

You get your bedding and towels washed for you, your room cleaned every week and a Launderette in the building.

• Dining hall with regular meals. [1]
• Buttery (for snacks)
• College Bar
• Library with about 46,000 books [2]
• Computer Room
• Stationary Shop with photocopying and binding facilities
• 2 Student Common rooms with TV and newspapers
• Auditorium [3]
• Music practice rooms
• Film Library and video facilities
• Football and hockey pitches
• 1 Squash Court
• Grass tennis courts
• Dance Studio
• 2 Laundries (coin-operated)

Student-eye view

Look up Homerton in the CUSU Alternative Propsectus

Links

• Homerton Undergraduate Prospectus Entry
• Homerton Graduate Prospectus Entry
• Homerton Graduate Union Alternative Prospectus Entry
• Homerton Wikipedia Entry
• Youtube clip - Homerton grounds
• Youtube clip - Homerton Great Hall
• Youtube clip - Rowing - W1 Bumps 06 and W1 Bumps 07 and M1 Lent Bumps 07
• Youtube clip - Homerton Bop Oct 08
• Youtube clip - Homerton Superhall Dec 08 and Part 2