Our College
St Edmund’s is home to over 800 students from more than 65 different countries. We are a welcoming and friendly college and have students, Fellows and staff from a range of different backgrounds. We pride ourselves on our strong sense of community, which provides the ideal environment for socialising and studying.
We are a college for both ‘mature’ undergraduate students, that is those who are 21 or over when their course starts, and postgraduates. The majority of our students are in their early to mid-twenties, but we regularly admit students in their thirties, forties and beyond. As all our students are over 21, they come to us from many different routes and have interesting and varied life experiences. Our undergraduate and postgraduate students live, socialise and study together. We are also a relatively informal college—you can walk on our grass and we have no high table in our dining hall, so Fellows, Tutors, students and staff all sit side by side. We hold regular formal dinners for those wishing to enjoy this part of the Cambridge experience.
Since we were founded in 1896, St Edmund’s has provided a home for students from backgrounds that are under-represented at Cambridge and for those who feel otherwise excluded from the teaching, learning and research carried out by the University. We are immensely proud of this legacy and continue to prize equity, diversity, belonging and inclusion in all aspects of college life. Although we were originally founded as a Catholic College, we now welcome students of all faiths and none. The College is particularly proud of its ‘faith-friendly’ approach, recognising the important role faith plays in many students’ lives.
Location
The college occupies a 10-acre site as part of the ‘hill college’ community (comprising Churchill, Lucy Cavendish, Fitzwilliam, Murray Edwards and St Edmund’s colleges). We are only a five-minute walk from the city centre, and are close to the West Cambridge site, Sidgwick site, and all the faculties and departments located in the city centre.
Our quieter location, just outside the city centre, makes for a peaceful environment with lots of open space and greenery, which we share with our resident wildlife. You can always find a quiet space to study or relax.
Click here to view our location on google maps.
Accommodation
We have over 300 rooms on site with around 200 of these en-suite. This includes a wide range of accommodation at different price points, from single study bedrooms all the way up to studio flats. We have some accommodation suitable for couples and families and this is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on accommodation visit our accommodation pages.
Undergraduates
All single undergraduate students are guaranteed a room in College for the duration of their studies.
Postgraduates
All single students studying the Graduate Course in Medicine are guaranteed a room in College for the duration of their studies.
Accommodation for all other postgraduate students is available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be guaranteed. All postgraduate offer-holders who have met their conditions and had their place confirmed by the Postgraduate Admissions Office and the College by 31 July are given access to the system to book accommodation on 16 August.
Facilities
St Edmund’s has a range of facilities to enable you to make the most of your time here, both socially and academically.
For your academic work, we have a College library with plenty of study spaces. Our friendly librarian can help you find books for your course and can order them in if they are not already in stock. We also have study spaces elsewhere in the College.
We have a dining hall offering cooked meals and salads each day at lunchtime and in the evening. They also serve brunch on Saturdays and a cooked breakfast every Wednesday. Edspresso, our on-site coffee shop, is open on weekdays for snacks, drinks and continental breakfasts.
If you are interested in sports and fitness, we have an indoor gym, outdoor gym and a bank of rowing machines. For musicians and budding musicians, we have a music room equipped with a range of instruments.
Our Orchard provides a great place to relax in the warmer months and you can also hire the College BBQ area with a group of friends.
The College also has 3 punts, which you can hire in the summer months to try your hand at this traditional Cambridge activity.
We have the only student bar in Cambridge that is still run by our own students, which is a great place to hang out in the evenings. The bar is located within the CR (Combination Room), which is open 24 hours a day for you to study, relax, play a game of pool, watch TV, read or meet people.
We have a Catholic Chapel, and anyone is welcome to join the services or use the space for quiet reflection.