College Life

Applicants always struggle to pick one of the colleges of Oxford. Our best advice would be to look through our OUISoc College Guide, college websites and attend college open days to really gauge whether or not you'd envisage yourself in a particular college.

When it comes to accommodation, you should look at how many years the college will provide accommodation for. Some colleges offer onsite accommodation for all three years, but at some colleges you might have to live further from the city centre or rent privately one year. You might also want to consider the kitchen facilities, especially if you’re looking to make your own food. An increasing number of colleges also offer Halal food (see table below). Oxford also has plenty of Halal restaurants and butchers within walking distance. Room sizes tend to be bigger than at other universities and the cost of rooms varies between colleges. Location is also quite important; whether it's proximity to the city centre or to the prayer room, check this out if it's important to you! The ISoc has representatives in numerous colleges so if you have questions about life at a particular college these are the people to ask (see table above).

Remember, if you don’t have a particular preference for a college you can always make an open application and you will be randomly assigned to one for interviews. Also, during the interview process you might be sent to different colleges as well as your first choice. This means many people end up at a college they didn’t originally apply to, but still end up enjoying their time there and become quite attached to their college.

Note

Whilst we’ve tried our best to ensure this information is up to date, it is always best to check with the college directly to make sure the facts are correct if they are important to you. Also, even if en-suite accommodation is not generally available, requests can be made on medical grounds and many colleges also accept requests on faith grounds (even if not explicitly mentioned in the table – again, best to email/talk to colleges directly to make sure!).