Mansfield College
About the college
Mansfield College offers an informal, stimulating environment in which tutors and students work together to achieve academic excellence and sustain a supportive as well as lively community. In any one year there are around 195 graduates in the Middle Common Room (MCR).
To encourage good relations between the Senior and Middle Common Room members, there are termly joint seminars and dinners. The MCR has occasional guest nights in the college's chapel dining hall, as well as joining Junior Common Room (JCR) members at twice-weekly formal hall during term time.
College facilities
Library and IT services
The college's libraries - the Main Library and the specialised Law and History Reading Room, Theology Reading Room and PPE Reading Room - can be accessed 24 hours a day.
All study bedrooms have either a network connection or Wi-Fi access. There are computers and printing facilities available in the college library.
Sport, music and college facilities
Mansfield shares a sports ground, located around eight minutes' walk away from the main college site, with Merton College. Tennis and squash facilities are available on this site and the college also has excellent rowing facilities.
Mansfield hosts a winter ball, usually once every three years.
The college has a lively music community, with concerts held throughout the academic year and a small college choir.
The college hosts a weekly public lecture series during term-time with leading figures from varied fields, aimed at opening up ideas and debate in front of a wide audience.
Facilities for disabled students
The ground floor facilities on the main site, including the café, chapel, dining hall and MCR, are all fully accessible for wheelchair users. Please contact the college about any accessibility requirements or concerns.
Welfare
Mansfield prides itself on being a warm and supportive College offering a wide range of wellbeing activities and welfare support to Mansfield students. There are many places you can turn to for advice and support – from our subject tutors and Senior Tutor to our Common Room reps and dedicated Welfare Team. It’s important to us that our community is inclusive, diverse, and well supported.
The Welfare Team includes the Head of Welfare and Wellbeing, the College Chaplain and the Junior Deans. They all provide a space to listen and talk through concerns, to offer advice on some practical matters, and to signpost to other sources of help. Students seeking advice and guidance on the welfare support available to them can also contact Mansfield’s Tutor for Graduates, in addition to their individual College Advisor. The College also has designated academic and other senior College staff to lead on and support students with any concerns related to issues including disability, racial inclusion and harassment.
MCR
There is a common room exclusively for graduate students on the main site ground floor which has recently been refurbished. The Mansfield Middle Common Room (MCR) has full representation on the college's governing body and other committees, and a MCR-elected bench organises a number of events often with SCR, JCR and other colleges.
The MCR arranges speakers from among the MCR and SCR for a termly seminar to allow members to present their own research.
The ground floor facilities on the main site are all fully accessible for wheelchair users.
Accommodation and meals
Accommodation
Mansfield College offers housing for new postgraduates in a number of different buildings located around Oxford. Information about each type of accommodation, including a link to the virtual tour, can be found on our website.
Tenancies ordinarily run from mid-September to mid-August, and prices vary depending on the size and location of the room.
Please note that Mansfield is not able to offer any couples or family accommodation, or accommodation to students studying for part-time programmes.
Further information on accommodation at Mansfield College is available on the college website.
Meals
Mansfield has some of the best food in the University, and at reasonable prices. Although there is no obligation to eat in the college dining hall, students are encouraged to do so. In a recent survey of provision of vegetarian and vegan food in Oxford colleges, Mansfield came first.
Lunch and dinner are served in the college's beautiful chapel dining hall and most meals are cafeteria-style. There is a wide choice of meals, including vegetarian and vegan options. Meals are available year round except for short periods of college closure around public holidays. Sandwiches, snacks and hot drinks are served in the college’s café-bar, which is also the social hub of the college.
The twice-weekly formal second sitting of dinner in the chapel dining hall is very popular and there are regular special dinners such as a Thanksgiving dinner.
The on-site Middle Common Room has a small adjacent kitchenette.
Courses
This college accepts graduate students for the following courses:
Please note that not all subjects areas or streams of a particular course may be offered by this college. Please see the college information on the relevant course page for further details. For a comprehensive list of all graduate courses available at the University of Oxford, please refer to our courses A-Z listing.
Location
The college is less than a five-minute walk away from the science area, major humanities libraries and the Bodleian Library.
Key facts
Mansfield College,
Oxford OX1 3TF
www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Founded
1886
| Students (total*) in 2023-24 | Full-time places in 2025-26 | Part-time places in 2025-26 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught graduates | 90 | c. 59 | c. 5 |
| Research graduates | 105 | c. 21 | c. 1 |
| Undergrad. | 245 | N/A | N/A |
*Total across all year groups (see source data)