After last term’s room ballot around thirty students at Brasenose College still have no idea where they will be staying next year due to building works on college accommodation.
The students, who are all either second or fourth year students, have been assured that they will be housed in college accommodation, but have not been told where they will be living or how much it will cost.
One affected Brasenose student, Emily Sadgrove, pointed out that price is an important factor when choosing a room. She commented, “We have no choice about price. I could end up paying anything.”
The situation has been caused by the modernisation of the kitchen facilities in the college, called Project Q. This has made two staircases in the college unusable over the next year.
As a result, the college has had to offer third year rooms to first years in order to keep its promise that they are guaranteed a room in college. The disruption caused by the building project has led to more third year students being housed in the Frewin Annexe, near to the Oxford Union.
Despite the college’s assurances that the students will get accommodation, undergraduates are frustrated that they have not been told the location, size or price of their rooms next year.
It is unclear when the students will find out when this crucial information that they will require for next year. They have been told they will be notified before the start of the next academic year, but some frustrated students are already looking elsewhere.
Johnny Isaac, a current first year who has been affected by the decision stated that “due to the uncertainty over next year’s accommodation I am seriously considering the much more costly option of going private.”
There is particular concern amongst the finalists. One fourth year, who did not want to be named said, “At the start of the final year of my degree I thought I would be more worried about the impending exams in the summer and not where I will be living. I could end up anywhere.”
Paul Gladwell, Brasenose JCR President, stated that the “college has guaranteed to provide accommodation for all students over each year of their courses and both the college and the appropriate members of the JCR committee are doing all we can to find out which rooms these will be as soon as possible.”
The accommodation manager at Brasenose gave no comment.
