The Student Room Group

Cheapest Oxford colleges (for total accommodation and food)?

I want to apply for a cheap college.
Wadham?
St Hilda's?
Original post by Jabbasalacious
I want to apply for a cheap college.
Wadham?
St Hilda's?


Wadham certainly comes highly here. St Hilda's probably doesn't.
St John's?
I was bored, and then I got bored of being bored so its totally incomplete. Feel free to add other colleges to the thread.

These are based on college accommodation which runs term time only. Compulsory hidden additional charges which a disappointing number of colleges try to sneak past the user have been added into the total. Food is for 3 meals in college, not including special meals like formals or guest nights (if those are more expensive than a normal dinner).

Brasenose: £3490 -£5220
Christ Church: £3535
Corpus Christi: £3650
Exeter: £3752
Lincoln: £3545
Magdalen: £3957
Merton: £3275
Oriel: £3018 - £4078
Pembroke: £3200-5800. Additional £165 charge for freshers.
St Hilda's - £3792 - £4182
St Hugh's - £3777
St John's: £3426
St Peters - unable to find (!).
Somerville: £3767
University - £3664
Wadham: £3840 but includes daily evening meal (compulsory).
Worcester - £4008 on average. Variable price but allocated randomly in first year. Tenancy is 50% longer in 3rd and 4th years and proportionately more expensive.

Food:
Brasenose - PAYG averages - Breakfast: £1.02, Lunch: £2.28, dinner: £2.93 = £6.23
Christ Church - Breakfast £1.75, Lunch: £4.95, Dinner: £2.38 (Dining Season Ticket only) = £9.07 with season ticket
Corpus Christi Breakfast = £1.82, Lunch = £2.86, Dinner = £4.28 = £8.96
Exeter Breakfast: £1.31, Lunch: £2.25, Dinner: £3.91 PLUS an unstated fixed catering charge*.
Lincoln - Breakfast: £1.15, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.85 = £9.30
Magdalen "Between £9 and £10 per day for 3 college meals is average". Additional termly charge of £202-£223, of which £150 is debit to use in hall and the rest is non-redeemable.
Merton - Breakfast: £1.82, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.00 = £9.12
Oriel - Breakfast: £2.10, lunch: £3.45, Informal dinner: £4.70 = £10.25
Pembroke - Dinner £5.64. Others not stated. This implies ~£8.40/day for 3 meals.
St Hilda's - unable to easily find.
St Hugh's - unable to easily find.
St Peter's - unable to easily find.
St John's Breakfast: £2.69, Lunch: £2.69, Dinner: £3.59 = £8.97
Somerville - "three meals in a day are unlikely to cost more than £13".
University - Food: Breakfast: £2.93, Lunch: £3.98, Dinner: £3.98 = £10.89
Wadham - Dinner £4.40 or included in accommodation charge, otherwise not stated.
Worcester - Breakfast: £2.73, Lunch: £3.57, Dinner: £3.55 = £9.85

*which used to be £840/year but is now probably not that
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by nexttime
Compulsory hidden additional charges which a disappointing number of colleges try to sneak past the user have been added into the total.

St John's: £3030
You only included the termly charge... they're good at this game :wink:
Original post by nexttime
I was bored, and then I got bored of being bored so its totally incomplete. Feel free to add other colleges to the thread.

These are based on college accommodation which runs term time only. Compulsory hidden additional charges which a disappointing number of colleges try to sneak past the user have been added into the total.

Brasenose: £3490 -£5220
Christ Church: £3535
Exeter: £3752
Lincoln: £3545
Magdalen: £3957
Merton: £3275
Pembroke: £3200-5800. Additional £165 charge for freshers.
St Hilda's - £3792 - £4182
St John's: £3426
Wadham: £3840 but includes daily evening meal (compulsory).

Food:
Christ Church - Breakfast £1.75, Lunch: £4.95, Dinner: £2.38 (Dining Season Ticket only) = £9.07 with season ticket
Lincoln - Breakfast: £1.15, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.85 = £9.30
Magdalen "Between £9 and £10 per day for 3 college meals is average". Additional termly charge of £202-£223, of which £150 is debit to use in hall and the rest is non-redeemable.
Merton - Breakfast: £1.82, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.00 = £9.12
Pembroke - Dinner £5.64. Others not stated. This implies ~£8.40/day for 3 meals.
St Hilda's - unable to [easily] find.
St John's Breakfast: £2.69, Lunch: £2.69, Dinner: £3.59 = £8.97
Wadham - Dinner £4.40 or included in accommodation charge, otherwise not stated.


You should add this to the TSR Wiki!

Also: Corpus Christi accommodation is £3,408 on average, not including any JCR levies. If you were to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in hall, it would come to £8.95 according to the website.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by the1akshay
You should add this to the TSR Wiki!

Also: Corpus Christi accommodation is £3,408 on average, not including any JCR levies. If you were to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in hall, it would come to £8.95 according to the website.


Great, but in a different format and especially without a link I'm still gonna have to do this myself :p:

I'll add some more tomorrow. Probably.
Original post by nexttime
I was bored, and then I got bored of being bored so its totally incomplete. Feel free to add other colleges to the thread.

These are based on college accommodation which runs term time only. Compulsory hidden additional charges which a disappointing number of colleges try to sneak past the user have been added into the total.

Brasenose: £3490 -£5220
Christ Church: £3535
Exeter: £3752
Lincoln: £3545
Magdalen: £3957
Merton: £3275
Pembroke: £3200-5800. Additional £165 charge for freshers.
St Hilda's - £3792 - £4182
St John's: £3426
Wadham: £3840 but includes daily evening meal (compulsory).

Food:
Christ Church - Breakfast £1.75, Lunch: £4.95, Dinner: £2.38 (Dining Season Ticket only) = £9.07 with season ticket
Lincoln - Breakfast: £1.15, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.85 = £9.30
Magdalen "Between £9 and £10 per day for 3 college meals is average". Additional termly charge of £202-£223, of which £150 is debit to use in hall and the rest is non-redeemable.
Merton - Breakfast: £1.82, Lunch: £3.30, Dinner: £4.00 = £9.12
Pembroke - Dinner £5.64. Others not stated. This implies ~£8.40/day for 3 meals.
St Hilda's - unable to [easily] find.
St John's Breakfast: £2.69, Lunch: £2.69, Dinner: £3.59 = £8.97
Wadham - Dinner £4.40 or included in accommodation charge, otherwise not stated.


Univ is:

Accommodation: £3664.20 (to be exact :P)
Food: Breakfast: £2.93 , Lunch: £3.98, Dinner = £3.98 = £10.89 (although I've had cheaper meals depending on choices)
Original post by nexttime
I was bored, and then I got bored of being bored so its totally incomplete. Feel free to add other colleges to the thread.

Food:

In 2013/14, 52,689 student meals were served by members of the catering team. The kitchen staff produced no fewer than 8,813 breakfasts (with an average spend per meal of just £1.02), 21,792 lunches or brunches (average spend £2.28) and 15,804 dinners (average spend £2.93). The kitchens also served up 6,280 “formals halls”, which is a very popular yet optional three course dinner (at a set price of £4.85) held three times a week, with a normal informal sitting held beforehand.There is no kitchen fixed charge.

Accommodation:

The key comparator is the per day rate:
Non-tenancy (ie term time)
A £27.22 £1,700.97
B £23.64 £1,479.01
C £22.20 £1,389.73
D £20.77 £1,301.07
E £19.33 £1,211.79
F £17.90 £1,123.13

Tenancy
G/A* £25.85 £2,427.38
H/B* £22.45 £2,111.18I/
C* £21.09 £1,984.70
J/D* £19.73 £1,858.22
K/E* £18.52 £1,730.81
L/F* £17.00£1,604.33

Room rents are decided by College each year, and normally rise in line with an Oxford-based measure of inflation. There is a fixed heating charge of £40 per term for term time only rooms and £70 for tenancies and is on top of the termly rents cited above.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by BrasenoseAdm
The kitchen staff produced no fewer than 8,813 breakfasts (with an average spend per meal of just £1.02), 21,792 lunches or brunches (average spend £2.28) and 15,804 dinners (average spend £2.93).
I very much like these stats. It seems to me that the ideal figure for comparing accommodation costs would be average student spend on accommodation over a year.
Original post by Lucilou101
Univ is:

Accommodation: £3664.20 (to be exact :P)
Food: Breakfast: £2.93 , Lunch: £3.98, Dinner = £3.98 = £10.89 (although I've had cheaper meals depending on choices)


Thanks.

Though if people don't mind copying the link also that would be more useful!

edit: See now I like the univ site - it states the cost, and then that there's a facilities charge but that this is included in the price above. Finally some honesty!

edit2: also the range of prices for meals also strikes me as more honest, given that I suspect those not citing the range (who are PAYG) are citing the equivalent of Univ's lowest figure.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by the1akshay
You should add this to the TSR Wiki!

Also: Corpus Christi accommodation is £3,408 on average, .


That is not what their website states https://www.ccc.ox.ac.uk/Accommodation-2/
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by fluteflute
I very much like these stats. It seems to me that the ideal figure for comparing accommodation costs would be average student spend on accommodation over a year.


Thanks for the feedback. We will ask our Domestic Bursar (the member of staff who looks after accommodation, catering and related areas) to generate a report for future use. The median spend and the range would be useful information to guide budgets.
Original post by BrasenoseAdm
The median spend and the range would be useful information to guide budgets.


Yes indeed! Thanks for taking that onboard.

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