Fountain and pond in the main quad of Christ Church
A view across the fish pond in the centre of Tom Quad with a statue of Mercury in the middle.
(Image credit: Greg Smolonski / Oxford University Images).

Christ Church

About the college

Christ Church is home to a welcoming community of students and staff studying in one of the most beautiful colleges in Oxford. Christ Church has a vibrant academic community in a diverse range of disciplines.

College tour

Christ Church: A Tour (descriptive PDF transcript)

College facilities

Library and IT services

Christ Church has one of the largest college libraries in Oxford with well over 160,000 books, generous opening hours and comfortable work areas. The library also houses a particularly large and rich collection of early books and manuscripts.

There is a specialised law library with a valuable and continually expanding collection of legal works which is open 24 hours a day.

Christ Church also has a graduate computer room with ten PCs that provide printing facilities and internet access, and a study room with power points for laptops.

Sport, music and college facilities

Christ Church has a sports ground on Iffley Road, a short distance from the college, which offers facilities for a wide range of sports including badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, squash and tennis.

There is a college boathouse with rowing teams for all abilities. The Christ Church Boat Club is one of the most successful amongst Oxford's colleges with an excellent history of producing Varsity-standard rowers, known as 'blues'. There is also a multi-gym located in the boathouse and the college owns several punts which can be rented by members.

Music is an integral and important part of the college's extensive cultural activities. The Cathedral of the city of Oxford, with its world-famous Cathedral Choir, is part of the college and is a renowned venue for musical events, ranging from small chamber group recitals to full orchestral performances, and the music society organises a very successful annual music festival. Band nights and termly 'open mic' nights are held to support and showcase the college's talent in more contemporary genres.

The Music Practice Room houses a Steinway grand piano and the Art Room offers an open-access studio, seminar, exhibition and social space for college members.

The Christ Church Picture Gallery contains an extensive permanent collection, strongest in Italian art from the 14th to 18th Century; the collection of drawings is internationally renowned as one of the most important private collections of Old Master drawings in the country and includes works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rubens and Raphael. The gallery also has a programme of exhibitions that feature works from many different periods in art history, from sacred Russian icons to contemporary local artists.

Facilities for disabled students

If you have a disability, please get in touch with the Admissions Officer (using the contact details shown under Further information and enquiries) to discuss your individual circumstances. The college is unable to guarantee accommodation, but we will consider all reasonable adjustments.

Welfare

Christ Church offers welfare support for students, with trained student Peer Supporters and a College Counsellor. The Welfare Tutors and Welfare Coordinator are also available to talk to about personal and academic welfare concerns. Further information about all of the welfare support available at Christ Church can be found on the college website.

GCR

The Christ Church Graduate Common Room (GCR) - the equivalent of the MCR in other colleges - has its own president and committee and runs an active social programme, including speaker nights, guest dinners, parties and cultural excursions.

The main common room is a social space and has kitchen facilities, a mini-bar, a stereo, a widescreen TV with a DVD player, and several games consoles.

Accommodation and meals

Accommodation

Christ Church offers a variety of graduate accommodation.

St Aldate’s Quad, just across the road from the main college site, and the Liddell Building on Iffley Road, a ten-minute walk from the college, located near the university and college sports facilities, both offer students private study bedrooms with shared bathrooms.

Christ Church also has a small number of one- and two-bedroom flats. These are located near the Railway Station, just off Botley Road. The flats are suitable for sharing and for couples and so tend to be in very high demand.

Christ Church graduates can also choose to live in a large shared house on Abbey Road (again, near the Railway Station) which has a shared kitchen and shared bathrooms.
Unfortunately, graduate accommodation at Christ Church is limited and not all incoming graduate students can be accommodated.

Further information on accommodation at Christ Church can be found on the college website. 

Meals

Graduate students at Christ Church are lucky enough to eat subsidised meals in the famous dining hall. On top of subsidised meal costs, students are able to buy a further discounted season ticket (essentially buying an evening meal for each day of term in advance). There is also a graduate dining room in the Graduate Common Room (GCR). All of this makes meal times at Christ Church very sociable occasions.
During the vacations, an ad hoc meal service is available (except when the college is closed) and all graduates living in college accommodation have access to kitchens.

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 located in the centre of Oxford, close to the river, with its own water meadow and art gallery.

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