Accommodation

Communal areas, such as gyp rooms, are cleaned daily from Monday to Friday, but students are expected to clean their own rooms. If you have an en suite bathroom, this will be cleaned once a week. You can have your bin emptied Monday to Friday, all you have to do is make sure that your bin is outside your room by 8am.

If you require something mechanical fixed, such as a light or a shower, or if something has broken in your room, report it as follows: Unfortunately the new College website has made this an awkward process: Click here to log into the College website, then return to this page... ...and now you can click here to file a Maintenance or Housekeeping request. Your request will be passed on to College, anonymously unless identity is required. The maintenance department is in Benson D, opposite the laundry room. Do not hesitate to do this! If you have a domestic request or complaint (e.g. drying racks in gyp rooms not being emptied, corridors not being cleaned), the housekeeping department is in Benson E. This is also where you can borrow a camp-bed for a £10 deposit. The College seamstress’ office is in Benson D.

The following information is quoted from the Magdalene Main Website: 'Magdalene will provide accommodation to all undergraduates for the duration of their course. Undergraduates are housed in College-owned houses, all of which are within a few minutes walk of the main College site, or within the College itself. As one of the older Colleges within the University, College accommodation has been acquired over several centuries, so there is no 'average' Magdalene room. Accommodation is incredibly varied, from spacious bedroom and sitting-room sets in the roof of medieval First Court, to modern en-suite rooms in quiet Cripps Court. The cost of College accommodation is also varied, so there are rooms that suit every budget. First-year students are automatically allocated a room before they arrive for Michaelmas term. New students cannot reserve a specific room, but once their place is confirmed they can express a preference about things like the cost, location, and facilities, and the College will endeavour to match these preferences as closely as possible. After their first year, students can choose their rooms in a student-organised ballot.'

• Kitchens – everyone has access to shared kitchen facilities including a microwave (which in some cases has an oven setting) hobs, a toaster, a kettle and washing up facilities. There are very few ovens in undergraduate accommodation.
• Most rooms are equipped with a small fridge and students may bring their own kettles. Other electrical cooking devices, such as slow cookers and toastie makers, are not permitted.
• Bathrooms – most rooms, even if they are not en-suite, have a sink. Shared bathroom facilities are always very close to non en-suite rooms.
• Washing – laundry rooms are situated in the Lutyens Building, Cripps Court and Thompson’s Lane.
• Internet - each student has a daily allowance of 2GB internet per day. There is wireless internet across the college.
• Cost – Prices are listed in Appendix 1 of the Accommodation Handbook or at this link: http://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/costs-and-charges-for-graduates/. After first year, you can choose what rent band you would like. Freshers may express a room preference using the Accommodation Preference form which can be found on the freshers’ area of the College website.
• Vacation Storage – Undergraduate rooms must be emptied during the vacations as we only pay for term time accommodation. For the Christmas Vacation a certain number of boxes may be left in all rooms although fewer or none will be allowed in rooms used for conferences during the Easter Vacation. The storage allowance changes with the College’s out of term use of the rooms. Reminders will be given nearer the time, but please be understanding. For more information please see Appendix 4 of the Accommodation Handbook.
• Out of Term Residence – If you wish to stay in College over the vacation out of term time, you must apply before the end of term and get approval from your tutor.

Fresher rooms are allocated before their arrival. The room ballot takes place towards the end of Lent term. First year names are randomly selected using a computer to create a ballot list which decides the order in which they will chose their second year rooms. In the second year this ballot list is reversed, so if you were last to pick in first year, you'll be at the top of the list for second year. Across the College, second years choose their rooms first, then any third years staying for a fourth year, and finally first years. This ensures that everyone has a chance to obtain a good room at some point during their degree (so don't feel too bad if your first year room isn't the room of your dreams). Nearer the time, the Domestic and Academic officer (ejh85) will send out emails with more information.

• Basing House – This building is reserved just for freshers and has rooms ranging from band 5-3. It is just over Magdalene Bridge.
• Benson Court – This covers a large range of rooms in the ‘Village’, on the other side of Magdalene Street. Benson B-D are in the Lutyens building, with a range of rooms, near the laundry room and housekeeping and maintenance departments. Benson F and G are made up of band 1 en-suite sets. Benson J, K, M and N are in different places around the village, near the entrance and near the river, and have a wide range of price bands. Benson O is a block in itself, near the river, made up of band 1 en-suite sets.
• Bridge Street – There are several houses along this street, some of which have been newly refurbished.
• Buckingham Court – Another area of the Village. The rooms in Buckingham A-E are band 2 sets with balconies. F, J, K staircases have a mixture of sets and single rooms from various price bands.
• Chesterton Road – Near Cripps Court there are several houses with band 3 and 4 rooms. These houses have kitchens with ovens.
• Cripps Court (incl. Edwards Court) – Built in 2006, this area has many rooms ranging from band 2-1*, including many en-suite rooms, its own gym, laundry room and music practice room. It is on Chesterton Lane, a short walk away from the main part of College. These rooms are conference rooms.
• First Court – A wide range of rooms are here from the Captain of the Boats’ room to band 5 rooms. The main parts of College life is right on the doorstep including the Bar, the JCR, Hall, Chapel and the music practice room.
• Mallory Court – A mixture of single rooms and sets from different price bands, situated in the Village.
• Old Lodge – Off First Court, the rooms here are peaceful and near the heart of College.
• Thompson’s Lane – Along Thompson’s Lane, off Bridge Street, there are some houses as well as the larger hostel. The houses have about 6 rooms and ovens. The large hostel has about 40 rooms on 3 floors ranging from band 5-2. There is a washing machine and a drier.