Cambridge Pembroke - Student Life

Housing: College rents relatively cheap.

Eats: Local market great for fresh food, and 10 minutes' walk from Sainsburys. A range of restaurants nearby. Meal in college £3-£4.50; buttery food variable but improving. Reciprocal arrangements with other colleges.

Drink: Excellent, newly refurbished, cheap college bar (beer £1.60 a pint). Well situated for other college bars and local pubs - Mill, Anchor, Eagle.

Nightlife: Regular college bops, karaoke, stand-up, the Event (cheaper version of a May Ball and, they say, more fun). Much cheap and often good student theatre and close to Arts Theatre. Regular cheap films and events at nearby colleges. Weekly university-wide student night at local night-club.

Locals: Very friendly in general.

Sports: Wide range of facilities - own boathouse; football/rugby/cricket grounds; squash and tennis courts; multigym in college; free access to university gym.

Travel: Number of travel awards - easy to get.

Financial help: Isaac Newton Trust awards to those on full loans; other hardship funds and many bursaries. Access funds well organised. Financial pressures as anywhere but many safety-nets, fair rents and rebates etc.

Jobs: Various in vacation. Best feature: Friendly relaxed atmosphere. Worst: Some feel suffocated (but a Cambridge problem, not just Pembroke).

More info: Email JP Committee: jp(at)pem.cam.ac.uk

Past students: Ted Hughes, Sir Robert Sainsbury, Tom Sharpe, Clive James, Edmund Spenser, Peter Cook, Eric Idle, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Ray Dolby, William Pitt, R Porter, Peter May, Christopher Hogwood, David Munroe, Thomas Gray, Lord Prior, Lord Chief Justice Taylor, Chris Smith MP.