King's

Rory

The people! King's is a super welcoming and inclusive community where I've found it to have a fun and relaxed atmosphere. We're known for having unique formals, the King's Bunker and a wide variety of societies! An add on to this is of course is College cat, Freddy, who makes everyone's day by rolling around on the grass and asking for strokes.

Rory

At King's, freshers live almost exclusively with each other. As a fresher, I lived in Keynes, a modern building, with an en suite and newly fitted kitchens. Although there were no kitchens, we had hobs, microwaves, kettles, a rice cooker and a toastie machine. The kitchens were huge, with couches and tables which made it really easy to meet new people.  Rent is set according to “bands” to give you a range of options, with weekly rent ranging from about £140 (Band 1) to £213 (Band 6). En suite accommodation is all Band 4 and above, but if you require lower rent and an ensuite for accessibility reasons you can contact college and they will be able to assist you in receiving en suite accommodation at a lower rent. You can also apply for a low rent band guarantee to ensure you receive a room at the lower end of the rent scale. Other freshers accommodation varies year to year, and can include onsite accommodation in historic buildings or off site accommodation in the city centre with oven access and common rooms. In second and third year you will also be able to choose who you live with and where, with college accommodation guaranteed.

Rory

Servery (the canteen) serves lunch and dinner on weekdays, and brunch and dinner on weekends. The food is decent, and we're lucky to be in the city centre so shops are nearby if you prefer to cook. Costs are subsidised, and menus are sent out every Sunday to help you plan for the week.  Food at College is fairly reasonably priced, around £5 a meal, and has veggie, vegan and Halal options so it caters for everyone. Also added bonus you get to eat in the really pretty hall, which never gets old. We also have Formal Hall roughly once a week, which unlike other colleges, is fancy dress themed, something unique to Kings. Formals are great here as they are far more casual and fun events than other colleges, with ents, a college party, always after. Only down side is tickets are expensive, around £20.

Rory

The college has a lot of different funds available. These include the Cambridge bursary, which you will be considered for based on income. You can also apply for the hardship fund in case of additional financial hardship experienced. The aim of these funds is to ensure that financial hardship does not preclude anyone from fully participating in their studies and College life. You can also apply for other funds for travel and language learning, amongst others!

Rory

King's provides both free talk therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy upon request. You can be seen the same week and it's kept in College, you can keep going as long as you want as a student here and can also stop at any time you want. KCSU Welfare Officers run regular welfare events, including welfare tea (free tea and biscuits!), and you can also always meet with your College Tutor (a member of staff assigned to assist you with welfare).

Graham

I am the KCSU disabled student's officer, and so am currently working to reform the King's special requirements ballot. Onsite, there are two ‘wheelchair accessible' rooms. One is separated from its nearest bathroom by a flight of awkward stairs, and the other is occupied by a fellow for the forseeable. There are possible wheelchair accessible rooms in Keynes, but there is only one small lift for the whole building. There is accessible accommodation a five or so minute journey from college, which is very nice but worth noting that it's offsite. If you can bear the stench of working out in a basement full of bins, there are: weights, weight machines, 2x treadmills, 2x rowing machines, 3x bikes (1 relatively reliable, 2 usually broken), but no toilets, showers, or windows. Sometimes the basement bunker is used for plays. It's happened… once? Since ive been here. But there could be space for theatre in Keynes hall- it's just not really used, as large spaces like that are often overrun with conferencing

Rory

There's a gym with free weights and another gym with machines (the “Vault”). Membership is £35 for a year. Keynes Hall is located in the main college building and has a stage and seating area. It's used for panels, talks and theatre. 

Rory

Tough question! To be honest the only thing that gets annoying is the number of tourists, but in fairness college already does a good job of making sure that tourists only come in for limited hours on specific days. I guess it's just a trade-off of going to King's.