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Caius is brilliant at making everyone feel at home and part of the College community quickly. As first years all live together and there’s an emphasis on eating with friends in hall, I felt like I fitted into the College and adjusted to university life really easily.
Dan
Based in the very centre of Cambridge, Gonville & Caius (though we’re usually known simply as ‘Keys’) is a large, welcoming College whose many strengths include superior accommodation, lots of teaching Fellows, excellent pastoral support and extensive opportunities to participate outside your studies.
Accommodation
Accommodation at Caius blends the old with the new: in first year, you’ll be housed amongst beautiful gardens in 21st-century ensuite accommodation, just a minute’s walk from many faculties and the University Library, music practice rooms and our large sports ground. In later years you’ll have the chance to live in some of Cambridge’s oldest buildings, right in the heart of the city. Accommodation is guaranteed for all undergraduates for the duration of their degree, including for clinical medics – and all our accommodation is equipped with cooking facilities.
Facilities
We have a range of facilities at Caius to foster, support and complement your studies. Highlights on the academic side include our Library, which is widely reckoned to be the most beautiful in Cambridge, and is certainly one of the best stocked.
On the pastoral, we have an on-site health centre which provides wellbeing and mental health support, led by a full-time College nurse and a mental health and wellbeing adviser who regularly organise activities such as mindfulness, yoga and craft workshops.
From two College gyms and dedicated music practice rooms to a theatre and even a dark room for budding photographers, Caius is full of facilities to help you pursue and develop your interests.
Location and community
The heart of Caius is right in the very centre of the city. Here you’ll find our three oldest courts, containing our dining hall and many rooms for second- and third-year students. Just a ten-minute walk away is our second site, Harvey Court, where you’ll find our first-years, beautiful green space and our sports facilities. It is also next door to most Arts & Humanities departments and the University Library.
With one of the largest BAME student populations in Cambridge, we are an increasingly diverse community with a strong commitment to widening participation (over 75% of UK offers made to students from state schools in 2023). Our size means there’s plenty of room for you to find your own niche within a highly supportive community, which is strengthened by our dedicated approach to dining. We encourage students to eat in our dining hall – a great place to meet new people and have an interesting conversation. You’ll pay in advance for about 30 dining hall meals per term. When you’re feeling like a quiet meal, all our accommodation is equipped with cooking facilities.
We have one of the largest Fellowships in the University, with teaching Fellows in nearly every subject. This means that much of our teaching takes place in College, which is great for settling in and finding your feet.
Find out more
There are lots of ways to find out more about Caius. You can have a look at our website and engage with our new interactive prospectus. Our Admissions and Outreach team is very active on Instagram and TikTok, under the handle @CaiusSchools – we post nearly every day of the week, so give us a follow to be kept right up to date with Caius information and opportunities.
And you can pay us a visit in person. Prospective applicants are always welcome: just say hello at our Porters’ Lodge off Trinity Street and you’ll be welcomed right in with a free Caius bookmark. We even have a video showing you how to do it!
