Whether you’re living in a shared house on a quintessential Cambridge street a stone’s throw from College, or in a flat or small family home close by, postgraduate student accommodation at St John’s is among the best in the collegiate University.
We aim to offer accommodation to all St John’s postgraduates who would like to live in our College-owned buildings. Our shared properties enable you to live among a cohort of your peers, engendering a real sense of community. Housing for postgraduates with a family or long-term partner is also available, along with single bedsits.
The College is investing in several major building and redevelopment projects especially for postgraduate student accommodation. These include a small terrace of shared houses a brief walk from the main College site that are being transformed to below carbon, with the first properties under the Passive House design due to be available from autumn 2025.
A separate new complex with green credentials will be available to accommodate postgraduates in 2027, and a variety of further postgraduate housing has recently been refurbished.
All our rooms are furnished and include a high-speed internet connection, water and energy bills, and access to a kitchen and free laundry facilities.
All our shared houses are within two miles of the main College buildings and the historic city centre, and most are within a quarter of a mile.
In a shared house, you will live in a single room in a converted or purpose-built property with communal kitchen and bathroom facilities, and a telephone. Shared properties have washing and drying machines, and further free laundry facilities are available in the College. Between four and 15 postgraduates live in each shared house.
St John’s has some self-contained furnished accommodation for students with families or long-term partners, or for single students who are unable to live in a College shared house. This housing ranges from bedsits and one-bedroom flats to two-bedroom houses. Each unit has its own bathroom and kitchen.
The College is generally able to meet demand for this type of accommodation at the start of the academic year, provided sufficient notice of requirement is given. It is allocated according to availability and circumstances of the applicants.
Our disabled students are part of a welcoming and supportive community who can help you achieve your full potential, including accommodation suited to your needs.
St John’s has aground-floor room adapted for wheelchair-users in a shared property for postgraduates, and a small number of en-suiterooms in shared houses that are allocated to students with special requirements on medical grounds.
The College has four ground-floor student rooms adapted for wheelchair-users on the main site, and a number of other ground-floor rooms with step-free access suitable for ambulant disabled non-wheelchair users.
Most rooms on theCollege site are en-suite and further adaptations can be made if necessary.Live-in assistants and assistance dogs are possible. Your requirements should be discussed with the College well in advance.
You can find out more in our Disability Support section and FAQs.
Basic kitchen facilities are provided in all our accommodation but if you don’t fancy cooking, there are plenty of other options. The College has an airy and light self-service canteen, called the Buttery, as well as our cosy Café, which together provide meals, snacks, soup, salads and sandwiches at heavily subsidised prices and cater for most dietary needs.
Our students can also don their black gowns to eat candlelit formal dinner in Hall with friends and guests, which is a wonderful Cambridge tradition.
Our College rents are very competitive and vary according to the type of accommodation.
Room/flat rents for postgraduates for the academic year 2025-2026 are between £695 and £1,054 per month according to the size of room and associated facilities. Energy and water bills are included, as well as high-speed internet access and frequent cleaning of communal areas by College Housekeeping staff.
Postgraduates wishing to seek private housing in Cambridge should contact the University of Cambridge Accommodation Service.
Note that private accommodation of a similar standard to College properties is scarce and liable to be expensive.
Find further information on the Accommodation Service page of the University website.
St John’s students with children aged three months to five years old are eligible for places at Wolfson Court Day Nursery and Preschool, which is close to the College. Managed by Bright Horizons, the nursery was set up with three fellow Cambridge colleges in 2005.
Grants are available to students to meet half the cost of childcare and larger grants maybe made in cases of severe need.
Contact St John’s College Postgraduate Office for more information.
The College has adopted the Accreditation Network UK (ANUK) Code of Practice for the management of student housing.
Council Tax is not included in rental costs for postgraduates as it is the responsibility of the tenants, although all rooms in our shared houses are exempt.
It is students’ responsibility to obtain a TV licence where required as there is noCollege-wide cover. You will need a licence if you bring a television and when viewing a BBC television programme online live or on demand on BBC iPlayer.Find out more from the TV Licensing website.
Every student at St John’s is provided with a pigeonhole for external and internal mail and parcels can be collected from the Great Gate Porters’ Lodge. CambridgeStudents’ Union also operates a free internal post service for students that delivers to all 31 University colleges.
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