Cambridge accommodation

fashiontwo · 2025-05-08T08:32:58+00:00

DS has offer from Cambridge. Fingers crossed he'll make the required grades and start in October... He went to the offer holder's day recently and had a great time - they showed him some of the accommodation at his college, and his understanding is that the choose and allocate their halls after results day in August...can anyone confirm this is correct?! Just wanted to check as a number of his mates with offers from other places (eg Bristol) have to provisionally choose their halls now. If anyone can let me know I'd really appreciate it! Thanks

Sfssx · 08/05/2025 09:51

Congrats to your DS. What will he be studying? And yes that's correct

VanCleefArpels · 08/05/2025 14:56

There won’t be any choice as such for first year. Some colleges do a merit based bidding system for subsequent years (mine did) so they rank each student in terms of a mix of academic success and participation in college life (JCR, sports etc) and go down the list in order and people can choose their room for the next year. Bottom of the list used to end up with first years so sub optimal!

Ridingthespringwave · 08/05/2025 14:59

There isn’t a choice of halls as there are in non-collegiate universities for first years in most colleges. They are usually housed on the main site as much as possible. The choice if there is one will be size or type of room, which usually comes down to price. For subsequent years there will be some arrangements for the various college housing options but you don’t need to worry about that now.

ZippyKoala · 08/05/2025 15:09

In most Cambridge colleges the accommodation for first years is all in the actual college, so not really 'halls' per say. Some have blocks of accommodation off their main site but usually these are for 2nd/3rd years (at least 12 years ago that was the case! I could be out of date). When I went (again, quite a while ago now) we just got to pick a first and second choice price band and then rooms were allocated - and yes this was Aug/Sept. Unlike most unis, we didn't start term until October! Get ready for the fact that pretty much everything will be different to his friends at other unis. Both the joy and the curse of Oxbridge. Best of luck to him!

ZippyKoala · 08/05/2025 15:11

VanCleefArpels · 08/05/2025 14:56

There won’t be any choice as such for first year. Some colleges do a merit based bidding system for subsequent years (mine did) so they rank each student in terms of a mix of academic success and participation in college life (JCR, sports etc) and go down the list in order and people can choose their room for the next year. Bottom of the list used to end up with first years so sub optimal!

Woah! Which college does that?! So glad Downing stuck to randomising the order we got to choose in! (Randomised in 2nd year, and then same order reversed in 3rd year... worked well unless you fell out with your friends in-between).

Ridingthespringwave · 08/05/2025 15:13

In my time Christ's did it on academic results. I'm thankful I wasn't there or I'd have spent my second and third year in a cupboard under the stairs.

murasaki · 08/05/2025 15:16

ZippyKoala · 08/05/2025 15:11

Woah! Which college does that?! So glad Downing stuck to randomising the order we got to choose in! (Randomised in 2nd year, and then same order reversed in 3rd year... worked well unless you fell out with your friends in-between).

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Mine did that too. Worked very well for me as despite being near the bottom in year 2, I got a huge room as it was the far end of College from the porter's lodge and it turned out a lot of people were lazy. And then got to pick 4th in year 3 so got my first choice with access to a flat roof through my window, on a floor of it's own. Happy days.

Original poster

fashiontwo · 08/05/2025 17:23

Wow, thanks everyone!

Yes, aware they are housed within the college...I've seen there are different price brackets for different rooms (and also the choice of whether you want the room for term time only or available in the holidays also) and just wondered when exactly they submit that information.

Makes perfect sense to do it after results are out and offers are confirmed - I wonder why other places make students commit so early, it must be a logistical headache with allocations?

OP posts:

SpanThatWorld · 08/05/2025 18:19

My son's college offered him a place in college or a place in the city. He did his final year in college.

LostMySocks · 08/05/2025 18:24

fashiontwo · 08/05/2025 17:23

Wow, thanks everyone!

Yes, aware they are housed within the college...I've seen there are different price brackets for different rooms (and also the choice of whether you want the room for term time only or available in the holidays also) and just wondered when exactly they submit that information.

Makes perfect sense to do it after results are out and offers are confirmed - I wonder why other places make students commit so early, it must be a logistical headache with allocations?

The number of first years in each college is significantly smaller than the number of first years in a non collegiate university.
This means actually not too complicated for the college staff to manage, especially as term doesn't start til October

3Muses · 09/05/2025 07:21

Mine has had to fill in a form about accommodation which asked the length of contract wanted and if they wanted to be considered for the super budget accommodation I think. The deadline was June but each college is different.

SeaofTranquility · 09/05/2025 11:11

fashiontwo · 08/05/2025 17:23

Wow, thanks everyone!

Yes, aware they are housed within the college...I've seen there are different price brackets for different rooms (and also the choice of whether you want the room for term time only or available in the holidays also) and just wondered when exactly they submit that information.

Makes perfect sense to do it after results are out and offers are confirmed - I wonder why other places make students commit so early, it must be a logistical headache with allocations?

If you can afford it, choose a room licence for the whole year so you don't have to move them in and out every term. It's a real pain. I'm sure each college does things a little differently but my YP was told which room they were assigned beginning of September I think. Second year is a random ballot system.

ramonaquimby · 09/05/2025 11:51

all colleges do things differently, so it really depends on this.
some of the colleges out of the city centre don't require their students to move out at all during term holidays.
DC still doesn't know their accommodation offer for their 3rd year, and I think 2nd year came through in July?

Original poster

fashiontwo · 09/05/2025 12:57

@3Muses - thanks. DS is pretty sure that his college deals with the accommodation after results day, but admin isn't his strong point so thought I would check here 😂

@SeaofTranquility - interesting, thanks. We are in London so not quite so arduous to move in and out for the holidays as it might be for those who come from much further away, but I can imagine it's quite a pain wherever one is coming from!

OP posts:

tortoise18 · 09/05/2025 15:30

Not all colleges have the option of 52-week leases, most are in the 27-30 range, but significantly cheaper (significantly as in several thousand pounds per year). Many have storage facilities though so you don't need the full termly move out, check with the individual college.

Umbilicat · 09/05/2025 15:37

OP, every college will be different, so don't worry, they'll be in touch in good time. And re moving things in and out - yes, you have to do that but some provide storage spaces in the college (mine did, anyway), so again it's hard to generalise.

@VanCleefArpels that is brutal and actually makes me quite angry, Oxbridge students are under such stress as it is that to then make their room allocation depend on academic and other successes is really out of order. Back in my day scholars went to the top of the room ballot but everyone else was randomly allocated and if you came bottom in second year, you were top next year. I'd tell people to avoid applying to a college that did that, though I know ultimately you don't always get the luxury of college choice.

GuineapigOlympics · 09/05/2025 15:47

ZippyKoala · 08/05/2025 15:11

Woah! Which college does that?! So glad Downing stuck to randomising the order we got to choose in! (Randomised in 2nd year, and then same order reversed in 3rd year... worked well unless you fell out with your friends in-between).

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We had the same at Magdalene, and in the first year you just turned up on the day and were allocated a room - I seemingly struck gold with a modern two-room apartment plus balcony, but actually I was hankering after an ancient garret up twisty stairs (got that in the second year when I was bottom of the ballot, because nobody else wanted it).

VanCleefArpels · 09/05/2025 16:25

Umbilicat · 09/05/2025 15:37

OP, every college will be different, so don't worry, they'll be in touch in good time. And re moving things in and out - yes, you have to do that but some provide storage spaces in the college (mine did, anyway), so again it's hard to generalise.

@VanCleefArpels that is brutal and actually makes me quite angry, Oxbridge students are under such stress as it is that to then make their room allocation depend on academic and other successes is really out of order. Back in my day scholars went to the top of the room ballot but everyone else was randomly allocated and if you came bottom in second year, you were top next year. I'd tell people to avoid applying to a college that did that, though I know ultimately you don't always get the luxury of college choice.

Alternatively it encourages participation in College life! We didn’t see it as “brutal” - it was what it was and there weren’t many rooms people wanted to actively avoid. But this was back in the dark ages where you had to walk across a quad to get a shower from some staircases!!

Umbilicat · 09/05/2025 17:36

VanCleefArpels · 09/05/2025 16:25

Alternatively it encourages participation in College life! We didn’t see it as “brutal” - it was what it was and there weren’t many rooms people wanted to actively avoid. But this was back in the dark ages where you had to walk across a quad to get a shower from some staircases!!

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I misread and thought this was your dc's experience, didn't realise it was back in the day when I must also have been at C - fortunately not at your college. I still think it's ridiculous, some people don't want to participate in college life and shouldn't be penalised for it. Make it random.

darex123 · 06/09/2025 15:08

GuineapigOlympics · 09/05/2025 15:47

We had the same at Magdalene, and in the first year you just turned up on the day and were allocated a room - I seemingly struck gold with a modern two-room apartment plus balcony, but actually I was hankering after an ancient garret up twisty stairs (got that in the second year when I was bottom of the ballot, because nobody else wanted it).

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Hi Guineapig - my DD is going to Magdalene this year and I think would love an "ancient garret up twisty stairs"! (She doesn't care about ensuite/double bed etc.)

I am trying to navigate the current accommodation system starrez in which first years get to choose their room - starting 9.30 Tuesday.

I would love to get some insider advice on which rooms are nice ones - its pretty hard to tell from the photos as someone who has never been to Magdalene.

For sociability reasons I think she would prefer the village.

GuineapigOlympics · 06/09/2025 23:27

darex123 · 06/09/2025 15:08

Hi Guineapig - my DD is going to Magdalene this year and I think would love an "ancient garret up twisty stairs"! (She doesn't care about ensuite/double bed etc.)

I am trying to navigate the current accommodation system starrez in which first years get to choose their room - starting 9.30 Tuesday.

I would love to get some insider advice on which rooms are nice ones - its pretty hard to tell from the photos as someone who has never been to Magdalene.

For sociability reasons I think she would prefer the village.

Show quote history

Oh I wish I could help but it's all changed so much, there are whole buildings we didn't have like the Chesterton Road one, and I would imagine that there has been a lot of renovation, maybe adding en suites to some rooms (I know she doesn't care about that though) , so the ones that were the nicest then might have been eclipsed now. Is the village the bit with Lutyens building and Buckingham, opposite the main college? We didn't call it that. If it is, yes, I found this to be pretty sociable. I found the people in Lutyens were the ones who bonded most with their neighbours but it may well have changed.. I found Buckingham a bit out ofthe way being at the back and also being in groups of four, you had fewer neighbours to bond with, but others loved it because it had much better facilities. Third year I was on the other side above Benson Hall, that was a lovely room.

Maybe someone else on this thread has been there more recently!