Undergraduate accommodation
We’re very proud to be able to offer accommodation to every undergraduate who wishes to ‘live in’ for the duration of their studies, despite the small size of our main college site.
Students have been living on Catte Street for over seven centuries, and today our main college site is a quirky mixture of buildings and architectural styles. Although ‘living in’ isn’t compulsory beyond your first year, most of our students choose to live in college properties throughout their time at Hertford. The great advantage of this is that you only need to pay rent for the time you spend in Oxford – usually around half the year. You’ll need to empty your room at the end of every term, but this is not unique to Hertford – most other colleges use student rooms for interview candidates and guests during vacations too.
HERTFORD COLLEGE LIVING COSTS
First-year accommodation
As a fresher, you’ll be allocated a room on our main college site in the heart of Oxford. All of our main site rooms cost the same price, so the allocation is random and you’ll find out which room is yours when you arrive at the start of your first term.
First-years live in New Buildings (NB) Quad and Holywell Quad. There are 50 student bedrooms in NB Quad, and this is also where you can find our college gym, laundry room and café bar. Next to NB Quad, Holywell houses 70 bedrooms in a mix of 18th-century houses and purpose-built accommodation. This is where you’ll find the Junior Common Room (JCR), a space where all undergraduates can chill out, relax and take part in regular events.
Across both quads, there are plenty of bathrooms and kitchens which our students share. As our accommodation is maintained by housekeepers called scouts, these shared spaces are regularly cleaned. We’ve recently refurbished Holywell Quad to a high standard, with new furniture and decoration.
Second-year and beyond
In the subsequent years of your course, you’ll be able to live in our south Oxford annexe at Folly Bridge (with some ensuites available), in one of our historic north Oxford townhouses, or in one of the remaining available rooms on the main site. You room choice is determined by a random ballot, with older years picking first.
South Oxford
Just south of the River Thames, the area of Grandpont is home to many of our students in second year and above. There are lots of cycle and running paths nearby, along the river and through the beautiful Christ Church Meadow. Our south Oxford annexes are only a 10-15 minute walk from the main college site, and the rest of Oxford can be easily reached on foot, bike or the regular buses.
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Abingdon House
On Abingdon Road, just south of the river, Abingdon House provides 65 single bedrooms in a combination of historic townhouses and purpose-built accommodation, where our students share bathrooms and kitchens. There’s an on-site caretaker and housekeeper at Abingdon House, who is there to make sure everything is up to scratch. This annexe is just 1.2km from the main college site. We also own several townhouses adjacent to Abingdon House on Western Road and Abingdon Road. These houses provide single bedrooms and each has shared bathrooms and kitchens.
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Folly Bridge
This purpose-built accommodation opened in 2000 and provides 85 en-suite bedrooms with showers and toilets around a central courtyard. It’s situated right on the river and has great views across Christ Church Meadow. There’s an on-site caretaker and housekeeper, and plenty of kitchens and a common room to share.
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Warnock House
Geoffrey & Mary Warnock House are purpose-built accommodation annexes at the bottom of St Aldate’s, adjacent to the River Thames and just a kilometre from the main college site. There are around 70 single bedrooms here, sharing bathrooms and kitchens. The on-site caretaker and housekeeper make sure everything is ship shape.
North Oxford
Our college houses are located in three popular areas of north Oxford – Jericho, Park Town and Summertown – all of which are within a short distance of the main college site. Students in second year and above live in the these properties, which are popular with our science students thanks to their proximity to the University’s science departments and labs.
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Jericho
Jericho is a small but vibrant community, north-west of the city centre near Oxford canal. Jericho is the home of Oxford University Press and a wide array of independent cafés, restaurants, bars and shops, as well as an independent cinema. We own one house in Jericho on Leckford Road for undergraduate accommodation, with 14 single bedrooms, sharing bathrooms and kitchens. The property is on a 15-minute walk from the main college site and has a large garden which residents are welcome to use, as well as secure bike storage and an onsite laundry facility.
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Park Town
Park Town is a beautiful 19th-century suburb just north of the city centre near to University Parks, where there are over 70 acres of open parkland, popular jogging routes, and the meandering River Cherwell. The independent shops and pubs of North Parade Avenue are a popular feature of the area too. Hertford owns two neighbouring Victorian houses on Banbury Road, just a 15-minute walk from the main college site. Here we have an on-site caretaker along with plenty of bathrooms, kitchens and laundry facilities for our students to share.
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Summertown
Summertown is a large community situated 2.5km from the city centre, yet easily accessible – half an hour on foot or ten minutes by bike or bus. As well as independent shops, bars, cafés and restaurants, there are several small supermarkets, a weekly farmers’ market and a public leisure centre with gym and swimming pool. We have a large pair of redbrick houses on Banbury Road converted into student accommodation with shared bathrooms, kitchens, secure bicycle parking and laundry facilities on-site.