Lady Margaret Hall Crest

Lady Margaret Hall

LMH is one of the larger and (of course) best colleges. Founded in 1878, it was the first women’s college and also the first to go mixed. This inclusive spirit is still very much a defining feature of LMH. The college is incredibly proud of these roots, as well as the welcoming atmosphere that makes LMH so loved.

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Food

Hall is open for all meals Monday-Friday, Saturday brunch and Sunday dinner. The biggest culinary event of the week is formal hall on Friday: a delicious, three-course meal complete with candelabras and good company. The rest of the week eating in hall is a good way to relax and catch up with friends. A main meal cost around £2.50. There are always two vegetarian options and college are good at catering for dietary requirements.

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Accommodation

As an LMH undergrad you can live in college for three years. Everyone has a kitchen near them and, even if not in first year, a large portion of the rooms have en-suite bathrooms. 1st years are allocated rooms together but all other year-groups are able to ballot for rooms with their friends.

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Extracurricular

LMH has a huge range of clubs including choir, Zumba, Pilates and Juggling. There is also an array of subject societies like the Daisy Circle for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

Welfare

The welfare reps for the JCR help organise welfare in college, with help from the Peer Supporters, LGBTQ reps and Equality Committee. This includes Welfare Tea once a week, an open door policy, Post-Bop Brunches; and providing free condoms, dental dams, lube and pregnancy tests.

Entertainment

LMH is known for making the most of its spare time an, being a larger college, LMH is able to hold many diverse social events. These include Gender Equality Week, World at LMH, Oxmas and bops. JCR Bops are held three times a term, and these cheesy fancy dress parties are held in the student-run bar, who kindly concoct themed punches for the occasion. Themes range from children’s TV to tube-stations. The LMH Ball may only take place once every three years, but it is the most keenly anticipated event of all – a recent one was circus themed, and featured fire-eaters, dodgems, a lizard in a jumper, fire-works, unlimited food and drink, and great music all night long.

If Professor Sprout were head of House for something cooler than Hufflepuff, it would be LMH. LMH prefers wildflower gardens to stuffy grass lawns, portraits of brilliant women line the walls, Porters and faculty are amazingly friendly, the formal food is awesome, you can take out its canoes on the River Cherwell. In a place like Oxford, LMH is an absolute haven for its warmth and openness: every Oxford student I bring to visit is always stunned by the feeling of community. Historically, and especially under Principal Rusbridger, LMH is also the voice for equality among colleges (and not as a buzzword): its Foundation Year program means that the student body come from a brilliant range of race and class backgrounds — you’ll notice many other colleges are shocking homogenous — interfaith events in Hall around holidays are common, most Wednesdays the Principal brings in a lineup of big names doing good things in the world. For graduates, the MCR is modern and airy, has a big kitchen, and opens out into the garden. In case you like school, the library is much more extensive than that of most colleges, and the librarians will purchase and order any book you need within days.
Julia Peck, MPhil in Linguistics 2017-19
If the only thing you have heard about LMH until now is how far it is from the center (which is not true by the way, unless you call a five minute walk a large distance), let me show you why in my view, it is the best college one can choose! Located directly next to the wonderful University Parks, with a huge garden (and its own tennis courts) and its own access to the river, LMH has felt like home from my first day here onwards! The college community is amazing (and there are many social events, brunches, BBQs and other activities going on all the time), the library absolutely beautiful and the food in hall is better than in most other colleges I have been to! We even have a veggie-Wednesday by now! What I especially love about the community here is its diversity in study programmes, nationalities and fields of interests – which makes everyone feel very welcome, and leads to the most interesting discussions and new insights you can imagine. Convinced? Well, then I hope to be able to welcome you to the LMH family soon! :)
Charlie Honnigfort, MPhil in Development Studies 2017-2019

Find out more

Founded: 1878
Undergraduate students per year: 117
Total number of undergraduate students: 385
Famous alumni: Nigella Lawson (what a babe)

You might also want to take a look at the LMH alternative prospectus or the official college website.