Cambridge St Catharine's - Student Life

Housing: All live in college rooms or flats, rents £1122-£1833 pa.

Eats: College: good choice including vegetarian options; cheap and average quality; formal hall excellent value (£7.50 for 3 courses, cheese & coffee).

Town: good sandwich shops, fast food outlets; restaurants fairly expensive but PizzaExpress, Zizi's, Ha Ha's, Trinity Vaults reasonable.

Drink: A number of good pubs (Anchor, Granta, Bath Ale House) but tend to be quite expensive. College bars cheaper (£1.80 a pint in Catz).

Nightlife: College ents committee arranges regular bops. Cambridge good for films and plays; Cindy's, Life, Cocos and The Fez are all good clubs. ADC for comedy including world-famous Footlights, great college music scene; something for everyone.

Locals: Averagely friendly. Lots of toursits!

Sports: Superb college facilities 10 mins' walk (include rugby, football, tennis, cricket, squash, badminton, and astroturf hockey pitch - only a swimming pool is missing). Very strong in university sports. Good discounts on city facilities (with Cityleisure Card), otherwise expensive.

Travel: Many students get summer travel bursaries £200 approx.

Annual living costs: The minimum amount students say you need to live on each year (covering all living expenses but excluding tuition fees) is £3200.

Financial help: Students have to be very definitely in need but plenty of help available.

Jobs: Very few students get paid work during term - officially not allowed. College has work during (summer) conference season; many seasonal jobs in Cambridge tourist industry.

Best features: The people; the atmosphere; bar; sports; accommodation.

More info: Contact JCR President c/o the college.

Past students: Howard Brenton (controversial playwright), Sir Ian McKellen, Steve Punt (Mary Whitehouse Experience), Jeremy Paxman, Allan Green. Richard Dodds, Sir Peter Hall, Kevin Greening (ill-fated Radio 1 DJ).