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TSR Wiki > University > Student Life > Accommodation > Oxford College Facilities

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When choosing a college you may have some very specific questions about facilities.

Contents 1 Brasenose 1.1 The Bar 1.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 1.3 What are the rooms like? 2 Exeter 2.1 The Bar 2.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 2.3 What are the rooms like? 3 Jesus 3.1 The Bar 3.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 3.3 What are the rooms like? 4 Hertford 4.1 Junior Common Room (JCR) 5 Lincoln 5.1 The Bar 5.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 5.3 What are the rooms like? 6 Magdalen 6.1 The Bar 6.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 6.3 What are the rooms like? 7 Pembroke 7.1 The Bar 7.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 7.3 What are the rooms like? 8 University 8.1 The Bar 8.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 8.3 What are the rooms like? 9 St Edmund Hall 9.1 The Bar 9.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 9.3 What are the rooms like? 10 St Hilda’s 10.1 The Bar 10.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 10.3 What are the rooms like? 11 Trinity 11.1 The Bar 11.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 11.3 What are the rooms like? 12 Wadham 12.1 The Bar 12.2 Junior Common Room (JCR) 12.3 What are the rooms like?

Brasenose

The Bar

Brasenose Bar is situated underground, its pay by cash, and is 1.40 for a pint of carlsberg up to about 1.80 for a premium pint or Guinness if you want to drink a meal. Spirits are also suitably cheap and there is often a deal on such as £1 per bottle of ***. Wine is present, but is around £6 per bottle. The standard of cuisine is high. All the usual chocolate bars, dairy milks, crunchies and a variety of crisps are served. There is a quiz machine, table football, dartboard and jukebox. The bar is currently undergoing a huge refurbishment due for completion in Trinity 08.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

Pretty standard, though larger and better furnished than most, with the usual pub quiz machine, pool table, 2 TVs with sky. drinks, chocolate and cigarette machines etc

What are the rooms like?

On the whole very nice, varies a lot in size and ammenities, but you choose what band to go in and very much pay for what you get. Prices go from 500-1200 per term and up to 1500 for a tenancy. BNC pretty much guarentee everyone a room for the duration of their course (they say they can only guarentee 75% of 2nd years, but they haven't been unable to accomodate for years). 1st years live in college, 2nd years live in frewin (just off cornmarket st, next to the oxford union) and 3rd/4th years choose.

Exeter

The Bar

The Exeter bar runs on a Bod card system (meaning that you may not notice how much you're paying!) but is comparatively cheap. Small and cosy, bar games include pinball, games machines, pool, darts, cosy

Junior Common Room (JCR)

Exeter JCR serves tea and coffee, but also has a vending machine. Newspapers are available, as are recycling bins to put them in once you're done! There is also a vending machine and TV with sky.

What are the rooms like?

vary quite a bit on size, ones with en-suite smaller, rents roughly £120-140 a week, all first years on site, for second/third stapledon house in iffley but lucky to get into. most finalists get back in (but not all)

Varies a bit - First years will either be sharing a set (2 bedrooms, study/living area + bathroom) or in single rooms which are mostly a decent size. Rents reflect size/standard of room: I'm paying £800/term, plus catering charge of £180/term. Second years live out - some in Stapes on the Iffley Road but the majority rent privately. I think there are about 30 spaces in college for finalists - allocated by ballot. The rest live out.

Jesus

The Bar

The Jesus college bar is, like many, underground to minimise disturbance to other college members. However unlike most colleges the bar is under the library - just to make sure nobody works too hard on a Friday night! Drinks are cheap compared to the pub, but not excessively so by college standards: 50p for a can, £1.70 for a shot of e.g. Malibu or Archers or £2 with a splash of mixer (NB if you want to drink Diet Coke you have to pay by the can, and it therefore costs you a bit more!) or around £2 for a pint. Music is provided by the juke box or by student DJs. The bar is plenty big enough to accommodate the normal weekday clientèle and the Sunday night pub-quiz, but gets very friendly when the entire college descends on a Friday night for the weekly bop. It's smaller than the Lincoln bar, but much larger than for instance Mansfield or Teddy Hall. Bar games such as Giant Jenga are available, as well as Table Football and a quiz machine with games such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Cludo.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The Jesus JCR is large and new, having being refurbished less than 10 years ago. It's large enough to fit everybody who ever comes to the JCR meetings in - easily over 150 people in. There is a large wall-mounted TV with sky television, as well as a projector that is used to show DVDs and sports matches. Papers are provided daily, including French, German, Spanish and Italian papers. "The hatch" is the JCR kitchen, run by the legendary Val, selling (very cheap!) fresh toast, squash, milk, cake and chocolate. There are also two vending machines selling cans and chocolate; and hot drinks for the weekend when the hatch is not open. The JCR also has a pool table, which is free, and very comfy chairs! There is a conservatory attached for those who want somewhere a bit quieter to sit and chat.

What are the rooms like?

All undergraduates are able to live in College accommodation throughout their time in Oxford if they wish to do so. Jesus guarantees accommodation for all three years but this is not all in the college proper. Accommodation on the main college site is provided for first years and in the two annexes for second, third and fourth years. The Jesus rooms vary immensely from Staircase III which is small but full of character, to the tiny bedrooms and massive shared sitting rooms of 2nd quad, to the large modern, but possibly rather sterile Staircase XIX. The smallest rooms are probably about 4.5 x 4.5m - a normal bedroom - while the largest are double that size. The 2nd quad "sets" are en-suite with a pair sharing a sitting room/study and a bathroom. All of the first year are accommodated in college or on Ship Street, which while technically an annex is literally next-door to the college. All in-college rooms have an internal phone (i.e. you can make in-Uni calls for free, or purchase call cards to phone home) and Ethernet ports.

The costs for 2006-07 (excluding food) are as follows: Study Bedroom in College or adjacent on Ship Street - £12.82 per night Three or four bedroom flat at our two annexe sites - £69.58 per person per week (plus bills). Thelwall House (one-bedroom flats for students who are married or with established partners) - £623.99 per calendar month (plus bills).

Hertford

Junior Common Room (JCR)

Hertford's is in two rooms.

• On the right: one pay-for pool table, large TV with full Sky services, vending machine for sweets, vending machine for drinks, coffee tables and chairs.
• On the left: one pay-for football table, four computers (with oddly low chairs), Time Crisis 1, Virtua Tennis and another video game machine offering quiz games.

Lincoln

The Bar

Lincoln's underground bar is one of the nicest I've seen, being considerably larger than the size of the college would usually allow for. Priced quite reasonably: pints about £2, vodka+coke is £1.79, half-pint of coke 35p.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The Lincoln JCR has a big TV with Freeview and DVD player and sofas. A pool table and football table are available for 20p per game. Full set of newspapers delivered daily. Also a vending machine.

What are the rooms like?

College accommodation is guaranteed for three years (currently for 4 for scientists on 4-year courses, but this looks set to change)

First years live either in the main college, where the rooms are small, but pretty, with en-suite or else across the street, in Lincoln house/staircase 15. These rooms aren't en-suite, but have sinks in them, and there's about 1 shower and toilet for every 4 people. These rooms aren't the most aesthetically pleasing but they are large, which makes up for it! Second years mostly live in the Mitre rooms, which are slightly further down turl street, and aren't anything special, but mostly quite decent; Some of these are en-suite, and they all have a sink in them.

Third and fourth years (as well as occasionally second years) mainly live in the college houses slightly out of the town centre, often in North Oxford by the science area. These all have proper kitchens, varying in size (as the number of occupants in the house varies from 2 to 8) and en-suite bedrooms. A few undergraduates live in the mainly grad accommodation blocks, which are recently built and have kitchens and seem really nice.

The grad EPA Centre is absolutely stunning and all the "flats" (think mostly 3ppl all with separate en-suite bedrooms) have their own little terraces/balconies!!! It is understood that 4th year scientists will be accommodated here too

All rooms have Ethernet and most have internal phones as well. First year rooms are allocated randomly, while in subsequent years, there's a room ballot, and everyone chooses their room in the order they're drawn. Everyone pays the same rent, regardless of what room they're in, but for some reason the cost varies between the years. How this works is being debated by the jcr at the moment. This year rents were £104 a week for first years, with about £45/term for utilities.

Magdalen

The Bar

Unlike many college bars the Magdalen bar sells food at lunch and dinner such as panini sandwiches. At present the bar is quite old-fashioned and cosy, although the furniture is a bit tacky! However it is soon to be refurbished. Not the cheapest bar, but generally a nice atmosphere.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The Magdalen JCR is made of two joined rooms. The first room contains a free pool table and a small terrestrial-only TV. The second room has a much larger TV with sky television. The JCR dining room can also be privately booked.

What are the rooms like?

Magdalen provides accommodation either in the college or literally right outside for every year of the course. First year rooms are invariably out of college, but the Waynflete hall of residence is over the bridge (3 mins' walk) and the houses are literally across the road. The rooms here are not particularly big, but not small either. Second and third years get rooms inside college which have a reputation for being huge, rooms are assigned by random ballot with third years having first choice and the order being reversed after the second year, so if you come first in the second year you'll be last in the third year (but will still get to choose before all the second years). The largest of these rooms have floor to ceiling windows and apparently you could play football in them! Accommodation costs approximately £17/day (quite expensive by Oxford standards) and is the same price regardless of your room.

Pembroke

The Bar

Nice, friendly, on the small size, but the college is small in comparison to many. Reasonably priced drinks, and a dart board.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The main Pembroke common room has a free pool table, and in the adjoining room there is TV, table football, vending machines (which sell items for less than shop retail prices) and some video games. The 1960s accommodation block (The Mac) has its own common room with ping pong, a TV, DVD player and a Playstation.

What are the rooms like?

Pembroke rents have a reputation as being the highest in the University, but in fact the in-college rooms are separated into 5 bands with each being priced differently, so those with limited finances can choose to be in a non-en suite room and save money. All first years are accommodated in college. Most second-years then choose to live-out although there are some spaces in college. During finals students are accommodated in the GAB annex, near the river, which is college owned.

University

The Bar

The University bar is also underground, and comparatively cheap with students paying ~1.50 for a pint, less for a spirit and mixer and with some cocktails priced at £2. Pool table and dart table available.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The main draw of the University JCR is JCR tea, every weekday at 4pm there are 3p cups of tea and 9p sandwiches, encouraging the student body to descend! There is also a large TV, newspapers and computers with internet.

What are the rooms like?

First year expect a slightly small to pretty large room, but only one. Often in our 60s building, but they're warm and quite large, for the most part. Except international students who get an *awesome* 2-room suite in Helen's Court, which are gorgeous. Second year there's a choice, top of the ballot is a 3 room + en suite suite, mid-ballot expect a rather large single room or relatively small two-room suite, near the bottom expect a reasonably large single room. Third years either live out or live in our north Oxford annex. Rooms are reasonable. Rooms cost £13.49 per day, or around £800 per term (8 weeks plus a few days before term for collections and to get settled).

St Edmund Hall

The Bar

The Teddy Hall bar differs to many in that it appears to be styled on a real pub. Comparatively tiny it has a cosy, homely feel and is a nice place to hang out rather than some of the other more sterile bars.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

Pretty good. Apart from the huge TV and projector screen for popular programs (mostly sports matches) there are comfy chairs, drinks machines, 30p pool, free tea and coffee, and the legendary Lucille, who brings meaning to students' lives with her smile and 4p slices of toast all day. 15p for crumpets as well.

What are the rooms like?

(1st Year, on college) Rooms are very nice, although there are a couple which are on the small side because they happen to be on the side of the building. Students there get discounted rent. The rent is stupidly high by Oxford standards, about £17-18 a day, coming to just over £1000 by a term. My first term's battels (including food) cost £1464, which I believe is the highest in the uni. 2nd year- most people live out in private accommodation, as I'm planning on doing (I think, if nothing else, its really important to learn about dealing with arsy landlords and the rest of it). The college does have accommodation for you if you want it though, mainly in the Isis hotel on Iffley Road, which a couple of people take up, as well as the visiting students. 3rd/4th year- Although you could opt out and go for private accommodation, most return to college-owned accommodation. This is either on-site in college or in the Norham Gardens annexes (and possibly somewhere else, but I don't know where that'll be). No idea what any of these are like.

St Hilda’s

The Bar

St Hilda’s bar is combined with their JCR meaning that while large it is not very "bar-like". Comparatively cheap, it also sells things like chocolate. Owing to it's shared function as the JCR there are comfy sofas and a pool table, as well as a juke box.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

Hilda’s has two JCRs - one of which is joint with the college bar. The first is a more chilled out place with newspapers, armchairs and a TV with VCR, while the second bar-adjoined JCR has a jukebox, vending machines and a pool table.

What are the rooms like?

Room size can vary quite a bit, depending on which building you're in, and sometimes even within one building. Rents are somewhere in the £800 range. You usually only live in college rooms during your first and third year, but there is provision for those who wish to live in throughout their degree, including a number of college-owned and maintained houses, located on Iffley Road. There are also plans to build additional accommodation on site, replacing the current tennis/netball courts.

Trinity

The Bar

Underground, underneath Hall in the Durham Quad. Seems fairly expensive to me, but then I find everything in Oxford excessively expensive.

Junior Common Room (JCR)

The JCR has a pool table and a big telly, and a couple of games machines, such as pinball. There's also a table football table in the beer cellar. There are two MCRS (middle common rooms for graduates), one on main site which is like a nice living room (telly, settees, that kind of thing) and one up at Rawly which has three rooms: a conservatory, a sitting room, and a room in the middle with a computer and some more seats in.

What are the rooms like?

Main site rooms are all £113/week plus food plus some kind of electricity charge. off-site rooms are individually priced but usually less than that. First and second year undergraduates live in main college AIUI, third years and fourth years move up to the Staverton Road annexe. Around 20 first year postgrads live in college, with the rest of the first years and all the second and third years up in the Rawlinson Road annexe (apart from a few in Stav, and the Junior Deans in college)

Wadham

The Bar

Like a train carriage - cheaper than the KA (not difficult!) but more expensive than Balliol

Junior Common Room (JCR)

As an additional attraction the Wadham cafe is Fair Trade. There is also a pin ball machine, Sky TV and projector, DVD and video player and the major daily newspapers.

What are the rooms like?

Most of the rooms on the Front and (and some on the Back) Quad are shared, with really large living rooms; the dedicated rooms for students with disabilities are nice and well adapted; the modern rooms on the Bar Quad vary in size, but are all big enough and every room - EVERY room - is unique.

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