Download the Accommodation Handbook

College accommodation is available for the duration of your time in Cambridge as an undergraduate. A room either in College itself or in one of our hostels nearby will normally be available for your first three years. We undertake to find rooms for all fourth years who request them but we cannot guarantee where they will be. Those studying abroad in the third year are guaranteed rooms on their return to Cambridge for their final year.

The College main gate closes at 7.30pm, but late keys are issued to all students. The College buildings, including all bedrooms, are strictly non-smoking.

About the Rooms

All rooms are single. Most are study bedrooms, but some are ‘sets’ with separate bedrooms. A very few are en-suite. Many are spacious, and all have central heating or storage heaters. They are all adequately furnished with at least a bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, desk with chair and reading lamp, and an easy chair or sofa. Pillows, duvets and mattress protectors are supplied, but not bed linen or towels.

There will be basic cooking facilities available nearby in ‘gyp rooms’, which typically contain a sink, a fridge, a combination microwave, a kettle and a toaster. Larger ones might also have a hob. However, these rooms are mainly intended for the preparation of light snacks and most people tend to eat their main meal of the day in Hall. This contributes greatly to the sense of community within College.

First Year Accommodation

First-year students are allocated rooms in New Court, Stable Yard, Kwee Court, Beldam Hostel, Bene’t Street Hostels and Botolph Court.

This means that all of the first-year students live very near to one another and in an excellent location within the city – right at its centre. The proximity of the rooms to each other also helps in the making of wide friendships, as you will be mixing with people studying subjects other than your own.

Freshers’ rooms are allocated by the College; students are notified of their room and rent around the beginning of September. A ballot is held during the Lent Term each year in which current students choose their rooms for the following year.

Guests

Students are welcome to accommodate overnight guests in their own rooms for up to three consecutive nights in any one week. Camp beds for this purpose can be borrowed via the JCR (students’ union). The College Rules contain further information about the rules that must be observed when guests are staying overnight.

Licence Types

Two types of licence arrangement are available:

• 30-week licenses cover term time only; students can request extra nights’ residence during the vacation, but this is subject to permission granted by their Tutor. A flat-rate fee per week is charged and they will be expected to pack up all their belongings and to move rooms, usually to our Trumpington Street hostel (about a ten-minute walk from the main site). Termly licence accommodation is in Old House (New Court, Stable Yard and Kwee Court) and the Beldam Building.
• 39-week licenses cover the period from the beginning of the Michaelmas Term to the end of the Easter Term. Students opting for these can remain in residence in their own rooms for the whole of the Christmas and Easter Vacations, and if they choose to go away for all or part of those times they can leave all their possessions in their rooms. These licences are compulsory for rooms in Benet Street, and optional in Botolph Court, Old Court, Newnham House and Trumpington Street hostels. They are not available in New Court, Kwee Court or Stable Yard.

Vacation Arrangements

All students will receive a termly email detailing the instructions for submitting their leaving and return dates, and for applying for vacation residence if required.