Living in College

A key part of the Cambridge experience is living in one of the Colleges alongside your fellow students, for it is this above all which creates the sense of an academic community. At Selwyn we are able to guarantee accommodation on the main College site to all students for the three or four years of their undergraduate course.

One of the advantages that we have is that all our accommodation is on a single site – the maximum distance between any of our student rooms and the Dining Hall is 250m. The result is a more cohesive and integrated community than in many Colleges. Most of our accommodation is arranged in traditional ‘courts’ which consist of a landscaped central space, enclosed by buildings on three or four sides. At Selwyn we have three such courts: the oldest dates from the 1880s, while the newest, Ann’s Court, was completed in 2009. Around the border of the College site we also have a number of large Victorian houses which have been divided up into students’ rooms. Everyone has their own room, which is typically a bed sit with its own wash basin. Showers are either shared between two rooms or located along the corridors. All of the rooms in Ann’s Court, and a few in older parts of the College, have en suite facilities. Everyone has access to a kitchenette for the preparation of drinks and snacks.

First-year students are simply allocated a room, but in subsequent years students choose where they live according to a balloting system. We have a range of different types of rooms, the rents for which reflect their size, facilities and location. All rooms are provided with a high-speed internet connection. A nice feature of living in College accommodation is that you only pay rent for the time that you are in residence. Room rents include all service charges and maintenance is carried out by our own staff. As a result term-time costs are strikingly low when compared to market rates or even what you would pay at other universities. As the accommodation is provided by the College, you do not have to worry about finding somewhere to stay, but can spend your time on more important things. Three meals a day are served in the College Hall on a cafeteria basis. Eating together in Hall is an important part of establishing a feeling of community within the College, and with their busy academic and social lives to organise, many of our students find eating in the Hall both convenient and economical. Twice per week we have ‘formal hall’, which is a three-course dinner served at the table. These are one of the very few occasions when you need to dress up and wear your College academic gown. Formal halls are always very popular with our students; often they are used as occasions to celebrate a birthday, or to invite friends from other Colleges.