From The Student Room Wiki

TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Oxford > Mansfield College, Oxford

---

	Visit our discussion forum.
	Mansfield College
	Established:	1886
	University:	University of Oxford
	Address:	Mansfield Rd Oxford, OX1 3TF, UK
	Telephone:	+44 1865 270999
	Website:	www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk
	Student Union/JCR website:	JCR website
	Admittance:	Men and women

Oxford's youngest and smallest college has a lot to be proud of considering its youth. An attractive location, impressive architecture and a fierce intellectual pedigree combine to make Mansfield a force at the forefront of moving Oxford into the 21st century

Contents 1 Location 2 Accommodation 3 Social Spaces 4 Library and Computing 5 Welfare 6 Atmosphere 7 Facilities 8 Student-eye view

Location

Accommodation

The added bonus of Mansfield is that it has amongst the cheapest accommodation fees in the whole uni (deffo in the bottom 3 i think). The college provides everyone with a room on the main site in their 1st year. Everyone is also entitled to a college room either in the main site, in a college owned block in Cowley or in a college owned house in their 3rd year (or 4th year if you're doing a 4 year course) and there is a ballot to decide who gets to live where. We have to live out in the 2nd year and most people end up renting houses with friendship groups and paying at least £4000 in rent plus bills. The prices of college accommodation were pretty cheap in my 1st year, but I think their increasing the prices above the general inflation rate next year as the college is relatively poor.

Social Spaces

Library and Computing

Welfare

Atmosphere

Seeing as the college is so small the social dynamic seems to vary quite a bit from year to year. I feel like I know most of my year, but regularly go out with the same group of people (which is fine by me) and a lot of my year appear to be the same, but in the year below people seem to socialise in larger, more random (spontaneous) groups. Though on the whole everyone knows each other and there are usually a group of people in the bar who will then go on somewhere, so you should be able to find a group of people to go out with when you want to. And, yeah there's definitely a lot more going on than work, and the atmosphere is fairly relaxed.

Facilities

The college doesn't have any of it's own sports facilities, except for sharing a boathouse with St Hildas and a playing field rented off Merton.

Mansfield is not particularly renowned for its musical tradition but there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved in music. We have our own choir, which is non-auditioning and fairly laid-back, or there are lots of other choirs, some more impressive, at other colleges and university based choirs that sings all different styles of music. We don't have an orchestra/band but there are uni based orchestras generally aimed for those of grade 8+ standard, as well as more relaxed ones in other colleges that you can join. There is also a huge range of uni-wide bands, groups and ensembles. We have a beautiful grand piano in the chapel which you can practise on.

Student-eye view

To be honest its rarely that hot as a first choice for people, but it should be, it is by far the most beautiful of the non-medieval colleges, and of course significantly less oversubscribed than the medieval colleges. It is very pretty, has old looking buildings, and it seems much more spacious than a lot of other colleges considering its size (though we don't have great gardens like Trinity or anything - its the non enclosed large circular quad that does it). Not a good place for sport, but not bad either.

Principal: Dr Diana Walford

JCR President: Alex Morris

Undergraduates: 200

MCR President: Valentina Pugliano

Graduates: 73