Downing

We are the closest college to Cambridge Central Mosque

We are pretty close to everything: Mill Road (where all the halal places are at), city centre, Market Square, King’s Parade, Parker’s Piece, Fitzwilliam Museum, Kelsey Kerridge (venue for Friday football!).

We are very close to the Engineering, Medicine and Natural Sciences departments.

We have a recently refurbished gym costing £30 a year (maybe a con since some other colleges have free gyms).

It is very open and if you don’t like the old architecture, Downing looks very fresh with its fairer-coloured bricks and pillars. Definitely a unique style. Also has some beautiful award-winning gardens.

It’s got a paddock - grass you’re allowed to walk and play sports on. There are plenty of sports equipment and deck chairs in the sheds to use. There are two tennis courts alongside it which can also be used for basketball/netball.

Accommodation is purportedly one of the best accommodation in Cambridge (some of it looks like hotel accommodation), and the majority of rooms being ensuite, with options of choosing accommodation which you can stay in during the holidays from 2nd year onwards. Accommodation is all on-site throughout your course but you also have the option to live in the houses on Lensfield Road which is just behind the college.

If you like sport, it’s quite far from the University Sports Centre (only being outdone by Homerton) however the proximity to Kelsey Kerridge makes college sport a lot more accessible.

We have outdoor bike racks. Granted there is a canopy and most colleges have outdoor bike racks, but it is worth knowing if you have a decent bike.

We’re unfortunately not like Trinity or St John’s where you will get paid to go on holiday. Our college tends to be more uptight with money, but they will still give you money to buy books, go to talks, pay for travel etc. Anything you can spin to be academically related they will pay for (so this is really a pro in some sense).

JCR lacks a table tennis table which is a crime in my honest opinion (but we do have a foosball and pool table!). I believe there are plans to refurbish the JCR soon so we should expect some improvements.

Two laundry rooms on each side of the college, which are both free. Each room has 3 washing machines and 3 tumble dryers.

No prayer room and likely won’t be in the foreseeable future as the issue has already been raised. However, the librarians were happy with me praying downstairs which saved me having to go back to my room every time when studying.

They have told us, “If you let us know early in the morning then we will cook some halal chicken for you” but I doubt they have any. However, I know the EMC officers are planning to challenge the college on this point to make the chicken halal in general. There always is a vegetarian/vegan or fish option so this isn’t a very big issue. Usually there would be some halal cold sandwiches (they will be labelled as such) available from the Servery or the Butterfield Cafe.

I would recommend reading the ingredients for the dishes on the online weekly menu since some of them contain alcohol. Sometimes they mention if a certain meat used in a dish was halal but this has been very rare. You can request the halal option for formal dinners but they usually tend to be fish or chicken. Twice a term, the college offers alcohol-free formals where there will be no alcoholic drinks or alcohol used as an ingredient.

They weren’t very keen on providing fridges for religious reasons, insisting that you use the fridge and freezer in the shared kitchens. Otherwise, you would have to bring your own.