St John's College Crest

St John's College

St John's is the richest college in Oxford, so lots of grants and funds are available to apply for which is a massive help when living on a student budget. They even have a travel grant which is specifically for non-academic travel purposes! Despite not being the prettiest college in Oxford, I really like the way St John's looks. It has multiple quads all with very different characters, and because it's not too 'pretty', we're not overrun with tourists!

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Food

'We have Hall and Kendrew Cafe, both of which do hot meals on the daily (and Kendrew does sandwiches/cakes etc.). Food in John's is really cheap compared to other colleges. Lunch is about £3 and dinner £4 - that's for a main and dessert, and portions are always massive! Formals are quite relaxed and they happen 4 times a week. You can dress casually or however you want, as long as you have your gown. Guest dinners tend to be when people dress up more.

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Accommodation

Most student accommodation particularly for first years is in Tommy White, a 60s building of concrete and glass which has some pretty small rooms and some pretty big ones! The kitchens, however, are tiny, only really big enough to stand up in. Second years often get houses just around the back of college on Museum Road, which have bigger rooms on average and decent kitchens. Accommodation is nice overall, and cleaners (scouts) are thorough and most are friendly.

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Extracurricular

We have a good college bar with a much-loved barman, and at least a couple of bops a term.

Welfare

College welfare isn't great, with only one welfare dean and one counsellor as of March 2021, but the JCR welfare guys from the student body really go above and beyond to make up for that! They're always organising playlists, bake-offs, photo competitions, free snacks, and offering drop-in sessions to talk about anything that's on your mind, get support or just vent your problems. They're lovely.

Entertainment

The mentality at Oxford is that you’ve got to relax and have some fun amid the hard work. Students at John’s are lucky to have four bops a term, which are basically college parties where student DJs get on the decks, run the bar, and everyone dances questionably. There are guest dinners which happen twice a term, a chance to bring friends from home/outside St John’s: basically everyone dresses up for a really nice meal with drinks before and after, and the hall gets really awesomely decorated. The college bar sells cheap drinks. and often puts on open mic nights and quizzes.

Find out more

Founded: 1555
Undergraduate students per year: 119
Total number of undergraduate students: 380
Famous alumni: Kingsley Amis, Tony Blair, Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Angela Eagle, Robert Graves, A. E. Houseman, Philip Larkin

You might also want to take a look at the St John's alternative prospectus or the official college website.