We're on FacebookFor more info contact:
E-mail: access@cusu.cam.ac.uk
Telephone: 01223 333313
Fax: 01223 333179
Access Officer,
Cambridge University Students' Union
Old Examination Hall
Free School Lane
Cambridge CB2 3RF
Downing College
Downing is on the edge of the centre of town, the perfect location: it is only a 5 minute walk to the main shops (and 1minute from Sainsbury’s local!) but far enough out the way to avoid being surrounded by tourists. Built in 1800, it is unique amongst the colleges in its architecture and the amount of open space it offers. In summer the paddock (an area of grass that you are allowed to walk on) is full of students playing sports, having picnics and revising for exams in the sun.
Bethan Page
Downing College
Philosophy, 2nd year
Reading
Downing is a welcoming, relaxed college with a great community. Being a mid-size college, you will never feel like a face in the crowd but neither will you ever be short of people to talk to! We have one of Cambridge’s few remaining student-run bars, which is a great place to chat with friends and buy a cheap drink! Every year we hold a fireworks display on the Paddock on fireworks night; nearly everybody comes out to watch and there is a great community atmosphere. Our chaplain Keith also offers free donuts every week on a Thursday afternoon: another great place to go and chat to friends, and also enjoy some free food!
We are particularly renowned for our sports: just last week our women’s first boat won Bumps, the term’s rowing competition, with the men’s first boat coming a close second in their category. Downing offers a variety of sports teams from the conventional (football, rugby, hockey etc.) to the more unusual (Ultimate Frisbee and Kickboxing!) Whatever your interests and ability, you are certain to find a sports club here to interest you! We are also lucky enough to have our own tennis courts and gym on site and the local swimming pool is just a few minutes’ walk away.
Music also thrives here at Downing: the student-run choir are going on tour this summer, and the newly-formed Downing Jazz Band have been getting plenty of gigs around Cambridge! We also have a Steinway grand piano which can be booked by students. The recently built Howard Theatre is also greatly appreciated by our Drama Society and was recently the venue of a Cambridge-wide charity comedy event with Cambridge’s very best student comedians performing.
Best thing? The sheer variety of activities to get involved in!
Academic wise, we are strong at Law and Medicine hence you’ll find quite large numbers of lawyers and medics here. However due to Downing’s size, whatever subject you’re studying, you’ll nearly always have somebody else doing the same subject as you. Location wise, we are also the closest college to lectures for scientists, medics and geographers. The Blake Society and the Danby Society are our academic societies for arts and sciences respectively and hold a range of social events and dinners: for example, last term the Blake Society had dinner with their patron, the famous illustrator Quentin Blake.
Accommodation here is some of the best Cambridge offers: most first-year rooms are en-suite and a brand new block is being built for next year! Second and third years have the choice of staying in college or living in a college-owned house. All rooms have kitchen facilities nearby, but you’ll find that a lot of students eat in hall quite often: we are one of the best colleges for food. Downing offers lunch and dinner during the week and brunch and dinner at the weekends. The Butterfield café is also available for breakfast, and forpaninis and snacks at lunchtime if you’re in a rush!
Worst thing? Hardly any of the kitchens have tables
We offer an action-packed Fresher’s week including a ‘Family Day’, in which first-years get the chance to go punting with their adopted second-year parents (these are assigned to you before you arrive and typically at least one studies the same subject as you) before going for a meal together. You will also get a chance to talk to other second-years from your subject at the ‘Subject Picnic’ as well as many others events designed to welcome you to college life and help you settle in and get to know the other Freshers.