St Hilda's College
About the college
There are a number of reasons to choose St Hilda’s as a graduate student: its commitment to excellence and equality, its beautiful riverside setting, its relaxed and friendly environment and the wide range of scholarships, grants and facilities available to its graduates.
St Hilda’s has many distinctive characteristics that make it a unique and remarkable college. The college is committed to excellence and equality and values the essential Oxford traditions of scholarship and learning, but is also able to provide students with a relaxed and accessible environment in which to live and study.
The college is set in four acres of informal landscape gardens; this tranquil setting has many lawns that students can enjoy freely as well as river punts to borrow. St Hilda's is also the only college with circular tables in its dining hall, enabling friendly and informal mealtime gatherings. All these elements exemplify the distinctive approach of St Hilda’s, which with its dynamic community of fellows, staff and students, makes it an inspiring and vibrant college.
St Hilda’s has very generous financial and other support for students. The college’s focus is on providing an environment where everyone can succeed, helping not only with academic needs but also support if problems arise. The college can offer a number of fully-funded Clarendon-linked scholarships as well as direct awards for subjects in the social sciences for graduate study. In addition, the college's study and travel grant support for graduate students is extensive. A wide range of networks set up by former students help encourage and mentor the college's graduates into their careers.
College tour
College facilities
Library and IT services
The library boasts seven reading rooms over three floors, with seating for 158 readers; the library collection is one of the most extensive of all Oxford Colleges. The galleried main reading room, dating from 1935, looks out over the River Cherwell and the ‘dreaming spires’ of Oxford.
The library has a small rare book collection as well as special collections in law and medieval history. Together with the college archive, the rare books are kept in a state-of-the-art archive store, where temperature and humidity levels are closely controlled.
Internet access is provided free of charge in all student rooms and other areas within the college.
Sport, music and college facilities
The Jacqueline du Pré Music Building situated on the college site offers St Hilda’s students outstanding practice and performing facilities, as well as being the venue for prestigious concerts, recording sessions, and community music events. The Director of College Music helps students organise musical events and recital series, and conducts one of the student choirs.
The college has an on-site gym and facilities for association football, lawn tennis, and rugby. In recent years, St Hilda’s has had successes in a variety of sports, including rowing, netball, rugby, and football. St Hilda’s is also the closest Oxford college to the Oxford University Sports complex on Iffley Road, where facilities include a power-lifting gym, rowing tank, Olympic-sized swimming pool, and running track. The sports complex offers St Hilda's students a fantastic discounted annual membership.
Facilities for disabled students
St Hilda’s College welcomes applications from disabled students. The college has adapted rooms for students with mobility requirements, and the library has full disabled access. Candidates who are considering an application are advised to contact the college to discuss their requirements in confidence. The college has a Disability Fellow, a senior member of college who is there to offer practical help and support. Arrangements for assistance can be made on an individual basis, and the college aims to respond to the needs and requirements of all students.
MCR
St Hilda's Middle Common Room (MCR) is a lively community and is the place to make friendships, share ideas and have a great social life outside the limits of your own department or faculty. The MCR provides a large, and growing, range of events, conferences and workshops bringing together graduate students, early career academics and senior fellows. Our new front-of-house development providing an improved MCR space for graduate students, which overlooks the river and makes the most of our beautiful setting, opened in September 2020.
Accommodation and meals
Accommodation
All first year graduates can apply for accommodation, which is subject to availability and operates on a first-come-first-served basis. There are a limited number of rooms available for second- and third-year graduates.
The college’s range of well-equipped graduate housing is located in East Oxford near the vibrant Cowley Road and in Norham Gardens, on the peaceful north side of the city.
Meals
We offer a range of high-quality, good-value food (including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options) for breakfast, lunch and dinner in St Hilda's Dining Hall. All special dietary requirements can be catered for and our catering manager is happy to discuss these with you.
All students pay a compulsory catering credit each term, which is redeemed against food purchased in the dining hall. For those who want to cook their own food, kitchens are available in our accommodation. For a quick snack, the dining hall is open between meals.
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
St Hilda’s has one of the most beautiful settings in Oxford. The buildings and gardens stretch along the banks of the River Cherwell which flows under nearby Magdalen Bridge. From the lawns, you can enjoy one of the best views of Oxford’s dreaming spires.
The college is just off Oxford’s busy High Street, close to the University Examination Schools, with the Bodleian Library, museums, laboratories and departments just a short way beyond this. St Hilda’s is also two minutes from East Oxford, famed for its vibrant mix of independent shops, world cuisine restaurants, cafés and bars.
Key facts
St Hilda's College,
Oxford OX4 1DY
www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
Founded
1893
| Students (total*) in 2022-23 | Full-time places in 2024-25 | Part-time places in 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught graduates | 80 | c. tbc | c. tbc |
| Research graduates | 115 | c. tbc | c. tbc |
| Undergrad. | 400 | N/A | N/A |
*Total across all year groups (see source data)