Hello all

I am in the process of applying to study the BCL at Oxford in 2009/2010. I am from Australia and am intending to move to Oxford with my partner if I am accepted. However, I am finding it difficult to get a sense of which colleges are best for couple's accommodation and therefore which colleges I should preference on my application. I am keen to have access to good accommodation and in a good location (close to the law faculty and college). I would also like not to be separated from the rest of the college community on account of being in couple's accom. Any tips would be gratefully received.

(Forgive me if I have missed a thread on this but I've searched and searched for useful information on this topic and have found little.)

Thanks!

The individual colleges should have information on their websites under Accommodation/Graduate or Graduate/Accommodation. Sorry I don't have a quick answer.

Yes, I've looked at the individual college websites - some of them are quite unhelpful and it's generally hard to get a sense of what the couple's accommodation is like etc. Was hoping someone might have an inside perspective on this is all. Thanks anyway!

Sorry I can't help more. Maybe email the colleges to which you want to apply?

Word is that Merton has pretty good couples accommodation. I'm at Merton presently and can attest that their singles accommodation is first class by Ox standards. Balliol also recently renovated their couples accommodation, but I don't have the inside scoop there...

Rents also seem to be coming down here owing to the state of the economy. This might ultimately make living out a more attractive option (although the subsidizing at colleges like Merton make the math a no brainer at present).

Best of luck!

Paddy

btw, I'm not aware of any couples accommodation anywhere in Ox that is actually part of the affiliated college. Generally speaking, all graduate accommodation is off site (some of it WAY off site). Also, you may ultimately find that being close to the Law Faculty is less important than you might think (although I will say that Merton, Balliol and St. Catz have the closest grad accommodation... I think). I say this simply because Ox's college system tends to mean that your classes (and sometimes course materials) will often be located at one of the colleges (depending on, inter alia, where the instructor is posted and the availability of appropriately sized rooms). Also, the law faculty is an architectural disaster in the middle of an otherwise beautiful city, making it a less than popular destination for studying or socialization...

Thanks Paddy and HRoark - all helpful.