ROBINSON COLLEGE

Robinson is one of the newest colleges in the University of Cambridge. It was founded with a donation by the entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir David Robinson and formally opened in 1981. Its location on the west side of the city is quiet, away from tourists, and everyone can sit on the grass in our beautiful gardens! The relatively small size (386 undergraduates and 180 postgraduates) means that you can get to know most of your current students, and all accommodation is on-site, creating a close-knit and friendly college community.

ROBINSON COLLEGE

An insight into Robinson College life, buildings, and gardens.

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES – ROBINSON COLLEGE

Zachary Marsh – 2nd Year Undergradudate (History)

Robinson College is a close-knit and friendly community that benefits from an active and varied student life. In addition to University societies, the College is home to many clubs and groups covering a wide variety of interests. Robinson has active College sports teams in diverse disciplines, ranging from rowing and rugby to mixed netball, ultimate frisbee and Cambridge’s leading college pool team. Sport at a college level enables students to keep healthy, make friends and have fun without the pressure or commitment of taking on a University sport. Robinson is perfectly placed for sports, with its own grounds close by and the University Sports facilities only a 5-minute bike ride away, a much shorter distance than for central Colleges. With a lot of College sports grounds in the Grange Road area, you are likely to be closer to away fixtures than your opponents are.

Off the pitch or river, Robinson societies also have much to offer. Robinson’s gardens offer not just a place for students to relax but are also home to the College Gardening Society. Robinson Wine and Cheese Society, a relatively new addition to College social life, has become a popular fixture for many students in both the College and the wider University. Boardgames, Videogames and Dungeons and Dragons Society all have thriving memberships and regular events. The newly established College Politics Society has quickly gained a reputation for attracting excellent speakers on topical issues. The Film Society holds a weekly film night in the Umney Theatre, something which tends to occur less regularly in other Colleges. With a range of subject societies, SCOTSOC and Vegan society, to name just a few, Robinson offers something for any student hoping to get more involved in College life.

Robinson College is known throughout the University as one of the Colleges with the strongest and friendliest communities, which is fostered by a variety of well attended events. The Red Brick Café holds karaoke nights and pub quizzes throughout the term that pack out the home of Cambridge’s cheapest pint. Every Friday Robinson Ents host college bops, fun ‘student diSCO’ style events with cheesy music and cheap drinks that attracts students from across the college. Robinson is the only Cambridge College to hold bops on a weekly basis. Annual events also bring the college together. This year Robinson hosted its 11th Annual Beer Festival, and after exams in the summer, Robinson hosts its own May Ball across its expansive gardens and main site.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ROBINSON COLLEGE

Written by Christopher Cheng, Medicine Student

I’ve been at Robinson for three years. There are many, many reasons I love my College, so it’s not easy to choose only three! Before applying, I actually visited the College asking what people felt were the best things about the College that they wished they had known when they applied. Apart from “everyone’s super nice” and a customary mention of the red bricks, answers included the cheapest pint in Cambridge, our twenty-four-hour library, the condition of our rooms, our gardens and our convenient location to various sites. I will try to summarise these below!

1. Convenient location.?Our easy access to the University Library and the Sidgwick Site makes us well placed for Humanities students, while our proximity to the West Site and the Centre for Mathematical Sciences make us highly attractive to STEM students too. Our location also gives easy access to various sporting facilities, including the Sports Centre, where we enjoy a diSCOunted gym membership, and the University Athletics Track. Moreover, not being in central Cambridge means we rarely have tourists in our college.

2. Excellent facilities and lovely staff.?Robinson enjoys the highest ratio of bathrooms and balconies to students. A large proportion of our rooms have en suite bathrooms or bathrooms shared between two, and even the most affordable rooms are reasonably large. Since we are a modern college, our beds are comfortable, showerheads of good pressure, and walls of decent sound-proofing. Our balconies look out over our beautiful gardens, which are maintained by our lovely gardeners. (Unlike some other Colleges, you can walk, rest and study on our grass. Frisbee and croquet are common. Snowball fights occasional!) Our food, both at formals and during daily catering, is known to be excellent. Our catering department cares about ethical sources and providing quality food for a diverse range of dietary requirements. If you prefer to make your own food, there are fridges and hobs in the shared kitchens. In later years, you may live in houses or flats which have access to an oven.

3. Friendly people; positive vibe.?More than a place to learn and grow, I have come to love Robinson as a community, where you’d struggle not to find a friendly face. One of the ways we benefit from the College’s design is that a lot of mingling can occur on a daily basis. We enjoy a balance of tradition and pragmatism, which means that we observe the fun elements of Cambridge, such as formals and May Balls, without losing the “chill vibes” for which we are known. Our Common Room and Red Brick Cafe (open till 11pm every day) are always brimming with activity. Mario Kart Wii and Pool are among the most popular ways for students to destress on a daily basis. Bops (College-wide, student-run, themed live-DJ parties) happen weekly, while ceilidhs, Open Mic nights, quizzes and film nights occur on a semi-regular basis. With RCMS concerts, evensongs in the Chapel, excellent music facilities, and our very own Brickhouse Theatre productions in the college auditorium, cultural life is vibrant. We have active sports teams for all genders in rugby, football, hockey, lacrosse, frisbee, netball, badminton and squash, but most of these are incredibly friendly and non-competitive. We also have active LGBT+, International, Christian and Video Games sub-communities, to name a few. In general, students are very good at looking out for each other, and the student-run Welfare Team, College Nurse and the College Counsellor are there to provide support to anyone who needs it.