Undergraduate Freshers

The most important thing to do before you arrive is to sign and return the University Card Form which can be downloaded from the Document Library page. This should be returned to the Academic Office as soon as possible, and no later than 1 September. Please return your form to admissions@wadham.ox.ac.uk and note that the form must either be signed or completed with an electronic signature - a typed 'signature' will not be sufficient.

Once your card form is returned and processed, your University Card will be created, ready for you to collect during freshers' week. This card is used to access the libraries, departments and certain parts of the College, as well as to pay for meals taken in College. Card forms not returned by the deadline might not be processed in time for registration. For these reasons, as well as to ensure that any student loan to which you are entitled is released on time, it's very important that you complete and return the card form to us as soon as possible.

When you return the document, please provide a passport-style photograph of yourself for your University card. This may be in colour or black and white, but your face must be clearly visible and you must not be wearing a hat or sunglasses in the photograph.

Visiting Students do not need to complete a University Card Form; instead you should already have completed a separate registration form and returned it to the Academic Office. If you have any queries about this, please contact the Academic Administrator.

You should also sign and return your College Contract to the Academic Office, again by 1 September; please send your contract to admissions@wadham.ox.ac.uk. We ask that you sign and scan your contract if possible, but if necessary a typed 'signature' will be sufficient.

Your College Contract can be found at the Document Library page. Please note that by signing the contract you are agreeing to abide by any instructions provided in the College Student Handbook and by a number of College policies.

Once your University Card Form has been returned to us and processed, you will receive two emails from University Student Administration - assuming you return your Card Form by 1 September, you should have receive these emails by mid-September, so please let us know if that is not the case. These emails will provide you with details of how to activate your Oxford University email account, which you will need to do before you are able to register online with the University's Student Self-Service website.

Online Registration opens on 1 September and you should be able to register once your Oxford email account has been activated. The University's online registration process is separate both from setting up your email account and registering at the College, which you will do in person in early October. It is essential that you complete the online registration before you attend the College registration session in freshers' week, as a delay in completing online registration can lead to delays in you receiving any financial support to which you are entitled.

All undergraduate freshers are guaranteed accommodation during the first year of their course on the main site in central Oxford. Rooms in College will be allocated on the basis of the information gathered by our Student Union in the online Room Allocation Questionnaire. If you have particular accommodation needs as the result of a disability or medical condition, and would prefer not to disclose this to the Student Union, please email the College's Disability Coordinator regarding your requirements before 1st September.

Undergraduates must be in residence from Sunday 6 October, and can move into their rooms from noon on that date. International students can arrive earlier by prior arrangement (please email the Accommodation Manager with details of your intended date of arrival) and will be charged a nightly rate for any accommodation prior to 6 October. If, for special reasons, you are not able to arrive in College by 6 October (for example owing to religious commitments) please let the Academic Administrator know as soon as possible.

When you arrive at the College, you should go to the Lodge for details of the room that has been allocated to you (please note that your room number will not be available prior to move in). The Lodge Receptionists will be able to provide information on parking near to the College in order for you to unload your belongings. However, please be aware that parking generally is heavily restricted and you will only be permitted to stop nearby for a short period before having to make alternative arrangements.

Details of the Board and Lodgings charges for College accommodation can be found at the Document Library page.

For some subjects, there is pre-sessional reading or exercises that you will have been expected to complete before you arrive in College in October. Please check the Reading Lists page of our website now to see if our tutors, or your University department, have set any work for you to complete. Prior to your arrival in Oxford you should also read over our Undergraduate Study Guide which is available from the Document Library page.

Your first port of call for any general academic-related queries is the Academic Office, located on the top floor of the Undergraduate Centre; questions specifically related to the academic content of your specific course will, in most cases, be best directed to your tutors, who you will meet during freshers' week. The office is open for student queries 09.30-12.00 / 13.00-17.00, Monday to Friday. You can also email general enquires to tutorial@wadham.ox.ac.uk.

Appointments with the Senior Tutor (Ms Lynn Featherstone), the Academic Administrator (Dr Mike Froggatt), the Tutor for Undergraduates (Prof. Alex Paseau), and the Dean or Welfare Lead can be made through the Academic Office.

Your tutors will provide you with full details of the courses that you'll be studying, and what is expected of you, when you meet with them during freshers' week.

There is also much useful information in the Wadham Student Handbook, the Oxford University Student Handbook, and the Freshers’ Undergraduate Study Guide. You will need to be familiar with these documents; they contain the answers to many questions that you might have. Checking through these can be much quicker than having to wait for an appointment, especially at busy times of the year. Please take a few moments to read through them before you arrive.

The main method by which tutors and College Officers will communicate is via email, and you MUST check your Wadham College email address daily during term-time. You should also check your pigeon-hole at the College Lodge, as tutors and other members of college staff occasionally communicate by putting notes into pigeon-holes.

The College employs five graduate students as Study Advisors; they meet with undergraduates one-on-one to provide guidance on study skills issues such as effective time management, reading productively or planning essays. Contact details for our Study Advisors can be found here, and once you’ve arrived in Oxford you’re very welcome to get in touch with them to arrange a meeting.

The College has put together a helpful Undergraduate Financial Guide which includes information on all key aspects of student finance and can be found in the Documents Library.

If you wish to discuss the payment of fees and/or any other financial matters, please contact the Finance Bursar's Office via email or phone on 0044 (0) 1865 277965.  Queries regarding 'battels' charges (accommodation and meals in College) should be addressed to the Domestic Bursar either via email or phone on 0044 (0) 1865 277963.

Students who have not already completed and returned to us their Financial Declaration and (where relevant) any supporting documentation should do so at the earliest possible opportunity by emailing our Admissions Administrator.

If you have taken out a loan to cover your University fee the Financial Notification you have received from your funding body will confirm the level of loan, and you must pay any remaining contribution at the time you come into residence. Payment of any outstanding fees can be done either in advance of your arrival or during freshers week by one of the methods detailed in the Financial Guide available on the Document Library page.

Even if the extent of your family income means that you are unlikely to receive a maintenance grant to assist with your living costs, or you do not want to apply for loans to cover fees or maintenance, we still advise that you complete a funding application through the relevant agency to establish that you are, in principle, eligible for public support (as will be the case for most UK students who have not already studied for an undergraduate degree). This will ensure that should your circumstances change during the course of your studies you will be able to access any financial support you require as promptly as possible.

It is strongly advised to open a student bank account when you arrive in Oxford.

To open a student bank account you will need to provide the relevant bank with several types of documentary evidence confirming your identity, your correspondence addresses before and after admission to the College, and your status as a student. Students who are not normally resident in the UK will also need to have their passport and visa with them. Banks do not accept your University card as proof of identity. However once you have registered with the College, you will be able to download and print a copy of your enrolment certificate from Student Self-Service; most banks will accept this as proof that you are a student, but in some cases they will expect to the document to be stamped. If this is the case please contact the Academic Office who will be happy who will be happy to sign and stamp your enrolment certificate.

If you already have a bank account, you are strongly recommended to enquire at your regular bank about arranging a transfer of your account to an Oxford branch. Documentary evidence of your Oxford address will be required; banks will normally accept your enrolment certificate or battels (i.e. Board and Lodging charges) bill if you are living in College.

Student possessions insurance has been provided through Endsleigh for every student who is living in college-owned accommodation for the coming academic year; a certificate of insurance can be found in the Contracts & Documents Library.

This cover does not protect laptops and phones or other items when you are outside your room, or all risks inside your room. It is important for you to check this cover, so please follow the steps below to ensure you fully understand the protection provided.

Enter in your policy number HH1145 at www.endsleigh.co.uk/student/check-your-student-cover to check your policy details. Via this link you can also

Check what is covered

Check key exclusions and limitations

Check your policy excess

Check how to make a claim

Extend and personalise your cover to protect laptops, phones and other valuables.

It is important to find out exactly what you are covered for, as you may find that the contents cover is not sufficient and you need to extend it to protect all of your possessions both inside and outside of your room. You are strongly advised to insure any laptop or tablet that you will be bringing to University.

A Book Grant of £50 will be available to all first year students for the purchase of course-related books from Blackwell’s Bookshop.

This will be provided in the form of an EGift code that you may request by email from the Finance Bursar’s PA at fbsec@wadham.ox.ac.uk at the start of term (or in advance of the start of term if you need to purchase books prior to your arrival). The EGift code may be used in the shop as well as online, and is valid up until the end of Michaelmas Term. Delivery of books within the UK is free.

The code can be used multiple times until the £50 has been spent. Blackwell’s offers very competitive prices and will match the price of any other retailer. If you still find a cheaper price online, they will match that price when you come to pay in store and show your Student ID. With online purchases, the price match happens automatically.

Purchases made with the Book Grant will be monitored. Students will be asked to refund any amounts spent on non-eligible books or other items.

On arrival in Oxford you will also be able to request a Blackwell's Student Discount Card, which gives you 10% off any purchase (not only books) in store only. In the case of course books, you can apply the price match or the 10% discount, whichever is the lowest price.

The University of Oxford has provided advice about the vaccinations that you are strongly advised to have before arriving.

All students are strongly encouraged to get the Covid-19 vaccination when available.

Due to an increase in cases of meningitis type W, new students (aged under 25) are now recommended to have the Meningitis ACWY vaccine. This is different from the previous meningitis C vaccine. Please make an appointment with your local doctor/general practice to have this vaccine before coming to Oxford. The ACWY vaccine has not been part of the routine immunisation schedule before, although some people will have had it for travel purposes. If you have had ACWY vaccine in the last five years, you do not need another dose.

The Health Protection Agency recommends that young adults are protected against mumps by receiving two doses of MMR vaccine, which gives 90% protection. If you have not had both the normal doses of MMR vaccine, it is strongly recommended that you are immunised before coming to Oxford, as there have been clusters of cases of mumps and measles at various universities. MMR can be given at the same time as the Meningitis ACWY vaccine. It is better to be immunised before arrival (because of the risk of transmission during events at the start of term) but it will be possible to have the vaccine later, once you have registered with the College GPs at the Beaumont Elms Practice.

Further guidance from the University regarding vaccinations and healthcare can be found at the Document Library page.

If you have a physical disability or illness, a mental health condition, or a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) that you did not declare when applying to Oxford, then we strongly advise you to inform us of this at the earliest possible opportunity, so we can put in place whatever support might be most appropriate for you. Please contact the College's Disability Coordinator, who will, with your permission, liaise with the University Disability Advisory Service (DAS).

If you have already declared a disability, as part of your application to the University, the Disability Coordinator will contact you shortly after your arrival here to schedule a meeting to discuss how we can best support you during your time here. If you would find it helpful to have such a meeting prior to arriving in Oxford please contact the Disability Coordinator and they will be happy to schedule a virtual meeting at some point in September.

Further details about the Disability Advisory Service and the support they can provide can be found here.

Wadham College takes the welfare of its students very seriously, and there is a wealth of free and confidential support available. Full details of the College's welfare team, and resources available to students, here can be found on our website, whilst details of the University's welfare provision, including the University Counselling service, can be found here.

Students who are formally estranged from their families are encouraged to contact the Senior Tutor in the first instance to discuss any additional support that they might require. Estranged students will normally be entitled to remain resident in college-owned accommodation all year round, although they may in some cases be asked to move room during the vacation.

The University is a signatory to the StandAlone Pledge to support students who are studying without the support or approval of a family network; further details of support available can be found here.

College registration will be held during freshers' week; details of the time and location of this session can be found on the Freshers' Week Timetable in the Documents Library. During college registration you will be issued with your University card and other essential documentation.

All students are required to be familiar with the Wadham Handbook, documenting the policies of the College in domestic, decanal, financial and academic matters, and providing essential information and guidance in all these areas. The handbook can be accessed online here.

Please note that you are required to be aware of the contents of the Wadham Handbook, to pay regard to the rules set out in it (ignorance will be no defence in cases of transgression), and that it is in your own interests to turn to that handbook for advice and guidance in navigating your way through your studies. This applies equally to new and ongoing students.

The Wadham Handbook is updated every summer and all students then become bound by the updated version. Typical changes might include a new harassment policy or procedure, or updating information on student welfare provision. College rent and food charges are also revised in an agreed process involving current students, and all students then pay the updated charges.

Alongside awareness of the handbook’s contents, all students are politely reminded of the obligation, stated therein, to check their College email account daily. Tutors, College officers and other staff will regularly send information by email, to your Wadham address and you are expected to have received this within 24 hours of its sending. Prompt responses are expected and required.

As a community of which students and staff are all citizens, the policies set out in the handbook allow each individual to participate to their full potential.

The University Student Handbook provides general information and guidance you may need to help you to make the most of the opportunities on offer at the University of Oxford. It also gives you formal notification and explanation of the University’s codes, regulations, policies and procedures.

When you received your University Offer (through UCAS) you were provided with a link to the University's Student Handbook. This document is updated annually and the version for 2023-24 can be found here; the revised 2024-25 version will be made available via the same webpage shortly. Please do familiarise yourself with the content of the new booklet when it becomes available.

Many of the social aspects of student life at the College are organised by the Students' Union. They have put together a guide, explaining more about what the Students' Union does and the support they offer, which can be downloaded from the Document Library. This guide also provides lots of helpful advice on the practicalities of settling in to life at Wadham, so we would strongly advise you to read this thoroughly in advance of your arrival. Details of social events that the SU have planned can be found on the Undergraduate Freshers' Week Timetable in the same location, and you may also want to have a look at the Wadham SU Instagram.

Each Wadham fresher will be provided with college 'parents' drawn from current undergraduates who have recently completed their first year of study. You should be emailed details of your college parents shortly; if you have not received anything by the end of August do please let us know.

Matriculation is the ceremony that marks a student's formal admission to the University; this year's ceremony is scheduled for Saturday 19th October and attendance is compulsory for all new students. Further details will be communicated to you during freshers' week.

The required dress for matriculation is known as sub fusc, and also needs to be worn for formal University exams, so you will need to ensure that you either bring appropriate clothing with you when you arrive in Oxford, or purchase something suitable shortly after arrival.

It consists of one of the following:

A dark suit with dark socks, or

A dark skirt with black tights or stockings, or

Dark trousers with dark socks

Plus:

Black shoes

A plain white collared shirt or blouse

A white bow tie, black bow tie, full-length black tie or black ribbon

A dark coat, if required

A mortar board or soft cap

An academic gown

Further information can be found on the University website, along with details of three shops in Oxford from which academic dress can be purchased.

Nationals of other countries, other than the Republic of Ireland, are likely to require visas. To check your status, or for further information, including information for students for EU/EEA with Settled/Pre-Settled status, please click here.

If you do need a visa to enter the UK, it is very likely that we will already have been in touch with you to start the process. However, if after reading the information here, you think that you will need a visa and you haven't already started the process, please contact us immediately.

All new students are required to attend the College Registration sessions scheduled for Freshers' Week (details can be found on the Freshers Timetable in the Documents Library).

Students from outside the UK who made a CAS / visa application must bring their passport and visa documentation (usually a Biometric Residence Permit) to Registration with them. Current UK Home Office regulations require the College to keep on file a scanned copy of the passport and visa of any student who requires a student visa. Please note that if you require a visa to come to study in the UK, you cannot be registered if you do not bring your passport and visa documentation with you. If you have an electronic visa, please send your share code to tutorial@wadham.ox.ac.uk in advance of arriving in Oxford.

International students should have already provided us with evidence that you have funds sufficient to cover your first year's fees. This is done by completing a Financial Declaration form and returning it to us with satisfactory evidence. If you have not already provided this, it must be sent to the Academic Office immediately. Any delay in providing this information could jeopardise your application for a student visa.

Undergraduate overseas and visiting students must pay the annual College and University Fees in one instalment at the beginning of Michaelmas Term. If your fees and living expenses are not covered by a grant from an established institution, such as a government, university or grant awarding foundation, you are advised to take out insurance cover against the death or early retirement due to ill health of your sponsor(s). The insurance should be arranged with a company in the country in which the sponsor lives and/or works, taking careful note of any relevant exchange-control regulations.