Real life in Corpus

Keep in mind that you’re not only here to work. You are going to spend at least 24 weeks of the year living here and you’ll want to enjoy it. It’s up to you to plan your social life around work, and work around key social events however you wish.

Extracurricular Activities: It may be a cliche, but Cambridge is the perfect place to try new things, so make sure you go along to the JCR’s and CUSU’s Societies Fairs. For more information on the JCR Societies, check out the Sports and Societies page. It’s up to you to decide how much, or how little you want to fit into your schedule.

Cleaning: Your bedder will clean your room once a week. If you are busy or want a lie in, just put your bin outside your door and you won’t be disturbed. But remember, bedders are not there to clean up your mess and won’t do your washing up. Also don’t complain if they haven’t vacuumed all term when your carpet isn’t visible beneath the heaps of clothes. Nonetheless, if you do have problems, talk to the JCR Amenities Officer.

Washing machines and dryers: Washing facilities are available in Botolph, Beldam, Newnham and T-Street. If you don’t know where they are, just ask someone, or ask the Porters and they’ll show you a lovely map. A wash costs £1.40, and it’s about 20p per 8 minutes in the dryer.

Food and Drink: Hall serves hot meals for lunch and dinner (or dinner and tea if you’re a northerner) every day during term, except Saturday when only Brunch is available.

Hall Opening Times:

Mon–Thurs Friday Saturday Sunday
Brunch - - 12pm–1.30pm -
Lunch 12pm–1.30pm 12pm–1.30pm - 12.30pm–1.30pm
Dinner 6pm–7pm 6pm–6.50pm - 6pm–6.50pm

A vegetarian option is always provided and Halal meat is available on request. Meals cost around £3.75–5.75. Bear in mind KFC (Kitchen Fixed Charge), which subsidises food, means you pay around £2 a day even if you don’t eat.

Breakfast is available in the bar Sun–Fri. The bar also serves sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, paninis and plenty of snacks. Alcohol is available in the evenings, with pints costing around £2.35 and cheap bottles of wine around £8.50 (not as cheap as Sainsburys, but ideal for Formal). The bar staff are really fun and friendly – they are part of the community so get on their good side! We have a sound system in the bar to play music, as well as pool and table football. Everything from the bar and Hall can be charged to your University card and is added onto your College bill (though you can use cash if you prefer).

Bar Opening Times (during Full Term):

Mon–Thurs Friday Saturday Sunday
Breakfast 8.15am–9.00am 8.15am–9.00am – 9am–10am
Day Hours 8.15am–2pm 8.15am–2pm 10am–2pm 9am–2pm
Evening Hours 6.30pm–10.30pm 6.30pm–11pm 6.30pm–11pm 6.30pm–10.30pm

Outside of Full Term, the bar is open Mon–Fri, 9am–2pm.

Cooking: If you want to cook, all staircases have “gyp rooms”. The most basic are no more than a microwave, sink and fridge, while others have ovens, hobs and freezers. Sainsburys is a 10 minute walk away from Corpus, opposite Sidney Sussex College. There are also plenty of standard takeaways.

JCR / TV Room: The Junior Combination Room serves as our common room, and has a large screen TV, Sky, a DVD player and lots of comfy chairs and sofas.

Administration: The College has many offices, but probably the most important is the Tutorial Office (staircase A) which is run by Jan and Pam, who you will meet in the first couple of days. They are happy to help with all sorts of issues.

CorpusEnts: Slacks (called a bop in other colleges, or simply a fancy dress party in non–Cambridge terms) are organised three times a term. There’s also acoustic nights, concerts, film nights and many other events to keep you occupied and give you another reason to put off that essay! To be kept up to date with all the events and goings on in Corpus, like us on Facebook.

Night Life: There are numerous clubs and bars all within 5 mins walk away from Corpus. Tastes range from classic 90’s cheese to gothic rock to hard core drum n bass. There’s also the usual Wetherspoons, Revolution and an array of pubs.