Wolfson College

Wolfson is an exciting and inspiring academic environment with a large scholarly community of students, senior academics, postdoctoral researchers and visitors. The college has since 2000 built on its academic prestige across the disciplines, establishing interdisciplinary research clusters for fellows and students, ranging from Quantum Computing to the Ancient World, and from Life Writing to the Climate Emergency. These academic initiatives have been matched by a new Academic Wing and 150-seat auditorium. 

The college was founded to create a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere. There is family accommodation and a nursery. There are punts, canoes, an allotment and extensive gardens.

With its setting and ethos the College has been at the forefront of work to support biodiversity and decarbonisation. The entire College estate is now fossil-fuel free in scopes one and two (gas boilers all replaced by heat pumps, no emissions from the College, no use of fossil fuels, no investment in fossil fuels, all renewable energy supply, solar farm on our roofs) and each year we set an offset budget for scope three – supply chains – which we spend at college on green initiatives led by students.

The college is open, informal, diverse, democratic and multidisciplinary. Its ethos has been carried through from its founding President the historian of ideas Sir Isaiah Berlin, and is embedded in the college structure up to this very day. Wolfson has one single common room organisation to which all members of the college belong and which reflects the college’s egalitarian philosophy. It has no high table and no chapel. 

The college offers a number of scholarships each year and several new students receive scholarships either fully or partly funded by the college. Details of the scholarships available for entry in the current admissions cycle may be found on the college website. 

Accommodation and meals

Accommodation

Wolfson is purpose-built for a graduate community, with accommodation available for individuals, couples and families. All accommodation is located on-site or in property next to the college grounds.

There is a mix of en-suite accommodation and rooms with shared facilities, along with two- and three-bedroom houses and flats for members with children, and two-room flats for couples. All rooms have internet and access to kitchens and a shared laundry on both the main site as well as in the nearby street properties.

Accommodation is offered to many students in their first year. In second and subsequent years, students can enter a ballot for single, couple or family accommodation, with many applicants offered rooms.

Further information about accommodation at Wolfson is available on the college website.

Meals

The college's dining hall is normally open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and for Saturday brunch throughout the year, except when the college closes for public or planned holidays. Meal charges to graduate students are subsidised by the college. The college prides itself on its food offerings, and tries to offer sustainable, seasonal, and locally-sourced offerings where possible.

Further information about meals at Wolfson is available on the college website.