About Queens' College
About Queens' CollegeFirst founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou and then, unusually, again in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville, Queens' is fiercely proud of its royal patronesses, including our most recent, Her Majesty The Queen. The history of the College, much like its architecture, is rich, complex and varied. The main College site sits astride the River Cam, the two halves joined across the river by the famous Mathematical Bridge - more correctly called The Wooden Bridge. This watery division can give visitors the impression of stepping across the bridge from the twentieth century to the fifteenth (or vice versa). Regardless of age of the buildings, the available space in College has been used to increase and improve facilities for the benefit of all members of the College. Even the famous medieval Old Hall is used for student concerts, parties, rehearsals and dinners.
Today we have one of the most modern and comfortable working Colleges in Cambridge without having lost any of the historical charm or beauty.
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Teaching & the Tutorial System Accommodation Sports Facilities Music & Drama Catering Library Computers Chapel
Whilst the University organises lectures and exams, the College has responsibility for individual teaching. Lectures, practical demonstrations etc. are held in University lecture theatres and within Departments (or Faculties) and these are attended by students from all Colleges studying that subject. The College arranges individual tuition for its own students. This usually takes the form of a Supervision, a small group, typically two or three students, and their Supervisor. Supervisors can be Fellows or Research Students of Queens' or from other Colleges depending on the subject and the expertise required. A Director of Studies is appointed to oversee the students' academic work, to advise on lectures, to appoint Supervisors and monitor the students' progress. The Senior Tutor has overall responsibility for the students' education. The Senior Tutor is also responsible for the Tutorial side of the College. This is a welfare system, probably second to none. Every student has a personal Tutor (two of whom are women) who is available for advice with problems be they pastoral, financial or academic. These Tutors, together with the College Dean, the College Nurse, the Senior Tutor herself, and the various JCR (the student body) counsellors, ensure that all students have lots of help available - should they need it. The JCR also organises a contact scheme where current second year parents look after new first year undergraduates for their first few weeks of University life. This has proved very popular and worthwhile.
Queens' accommodation on-site ranges from single bedsits to shared sets (shared study/living room and separate bedrooms) in a variety of buildings dating from fifteenth to twentieth centuries. The rents vary depending upon facilities available. Most rooms have shared bathroom facilities and a few have private bathrooms. All Queens' on-site accommodation is built on the traditional staircase design. No rooms are accessible by lifts, an obvious disadvantage to any students with mobility problems, although some rooms are at ground level. Most first year undergraduates are housed in the most modern of all Queens' buildings on the main site: Cripps Building, which offers reasonable-sized bedsits. Queens' owns some accommodation away from the main site in a combination of shared houses and purpose built single flats. There is only limited accommodation for married couples. We have no accommodation for students with children, however we do have a nursery for pre-school children. Off-site accommodation is usually only available to third and fourth year students.
Some of the recent new building includes three squash courts, a multi-gym and other multi-purpose rooms which double as badminton and table-tennis rooms all on the main site at the centre of college life. Less than a mile away our sports ground caters for most sports including pitches for soccer, rugby, hockey and cricket and several tennis courts. The Queens' boathouse is one of the most modern on the river. But not all sports are team games or require special facilities - Queens' is also well known for Pool, Chess, Bridge, Tiddlywinks and much more beside.
The tradition of both music and drama at Queens' is a long one. The Bats (drama society) has been going strong since the early 1940's. They regularly perform classical and contemporary works as well as giving a platform to new writers from within the student body. Their home in Queens' is the Fitzpatrick Hall, one of the best-equipped small theatres in Cambridge, but their annual open-air performance in Cloister Court is hugely popular. Auditions are held throughout the University both on a College and Varsity level and students frequently perform in productions by Colleges other than their own. Music of all styles is heard in Queens' and one would be hard-pressed not to find others with similar musical tastes. Magsoc (St Margaret Society) is the Queens' music society with regular performances throughout term - a blend of choral and orchestral pieces often combining some concerts with the chapel choir. Both the choir and Magsoc have performed at professional level with overseas tours, radio performances and even a CD! However, it is not all Bach and Britten, many individual musicians and singers have plenty of opportunity to perform whether as soloists, or in a band (be it Classical or Rock). Queens' has several music practice rooms and pianos. But if your musical tastes are more simple and you just enjoy a good disco - then the JCR's Saturday night bops will fit the bill.
Queens' is very much a community and we foster this in many ways, the traditional one being by eating together. Our cafeteria offers three self-service meals a day with a selection of dishes, at least one of which is always a vegetarian option. Self-catering is not encouraged - student kitchens (called gyp rooms) have only very basic facilities and anyway, Queens' has a reputation for some of the best food in the University. A formal meal is also available each evening after the cafeteria closes and students often use this for celebrating special occasions.
The Queens' library is housed in our original medieval chapel. A major refurbishment has given Queens' students a beautiful but modern environment in which to work. The library holds an extensive stock of all text books for the various Triposes, including a special law library. All students have 24 hour access to the library.
The Queens' computer room has twelve PCs, three Apple Macs, a laser printer, and a colour scanner, all connected to the University Personal Workstation Facility. All Queens' students have e-mail facilities and access to the World Wide Web. All student bedrooms in College and Owlstone Croft have an ethernet socket (subscription charge £20 per term, or £25 per quarter) permitting full access to the College network, the Cambridge University Data Network CUDN, the UK academic backbone (JANET), and the global Internet. Students in college houses at 71-73 Maids Causeway, 98-100 Norwich Street, and 61-63-65-75-77 Panton Street, and the flats at the Boathouse also have ethernet service. Students in other College Houses and Flats do not have ethernet yet, but can use modems to call the University's Magpie dial-up service.
All student rooms (in College, Owlstone Croft, the Houses and Flats) have an individual telephone service from NTL. In addition, around College and Owlstone Croft there are a number of payphones (cash or card).
The Dean of Chapel holds a wide variety of services including communion which is open to all denominations. Morning and evening prayer is said in Chapel every day except Saturdays in full term. Queens' has a strong Christian Union.