The College occupies a surprisingly spacious site, including extensive gardens.  These are a well-kept secret, even in Cambridge, and provide a peaceful haven for study or relaxation on the grass during the summer months. 

Peterhouse is strikingly pretty: the 'Deer Park' is alive with daffodils in the spring, and the College features a range of historic buildings, some of which date back to its foundation.  There is a real sense of history as our students live, work and play in buildings which have been in continuous use for over 700 years - although our newest building was completed in January 2015, so there are plenty of modern bits too. 

Peterhouse and all of its accommodation is centrally located, but off the tourist trail and in a relatively quiet part of town.  Travel costs whilst at Peterhouse are very low.  The majority of academic sites students will need to visit are within a ten minute walk (or a couple of minutes by bike).  The University bus service, which links University sites such as the West Cambridge site, the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Cambridge Biomedical campus, stops immediately opposite our gates.  Lots of shops (including the market), restaurants and evening entertainment are only five minutes away in the centre of town. 

All undergraduate accommodation at Peterhouse is located on or adjacent to the main College site and all rooms are less than 5 minutes’ walk from the Porter's Lodge, dining hall, College Bar and Junior Common Room (JCR).  Being on the College site means that our accommodation is very secure.  The Porter's Lodge is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and porters carry out regular patrols of the site.  Students can get also walk from one part of the College to another without leaving the site. 

Peterhouse freshers enjoy some of the best rooms in Cambridge and are housed together so that it’s easy to make friends in the first few months.  All first-years are accommodated in fully-furnished single rooms.  Most have shared bathroom facilities nearby, a few are en-suite.  All student rooms are equipped with a connection to the University’s high speed network for internet and email. 

Before they arrive, freshers are asked to indicate their preferred rent band.  The College then allocates rooms on a ‘best fit’ basis within the constraints of the available rooms. 

Students don’t need to worry about finding accommodation in subsequent years either, as Peterhouse guarantees accommodation for all its undergraduates for the duration of their course, whether for three or four years.  In later years, students choose rooms via a ballot. Most of the rooms are fully-furnished singles, but some en-suite rooms and shared ‘sets’ are also available.

Peterhouse is a certified Accreditation Network UK landlord – we follow the code of practice for the management of student accommodation, which sets out expected standards of service in accommodation provision for students. 

Please visit https://www.anuk.org.uk/ for further information on this.

There are two ANUK/Unipol National Codes:

The ANUK / National Code for accommodation owned or managed by educational establishments

Please take a look at the codes that are followed throughout Peterhouse accommodation.

Peterhouse offers a wide range of rents to suit all budgets, with rents determined by room size and facilities.  The College requires a 'caution payment' of £125 as a deposit before you first arrive.  This is held by the College and is refundable at the end of your stay provided you have paid all the rent due and no charges have been incurred. 

Rents include the cost of network connection, water, central heating, electricity, insurance, and cleaning.  Undergraduates are charged for rent on a termly basis (generally for 10 weeks), in advance, via their College account. Charges for additional days of residence or for damage caused, if any, are added to the College Bill for the following term.  Rents and other charges are reviewed annually and the College does not seek to make a profit from charges to undergraduates. 

Importantly, unlike most universities, students only pay rent for the three ten-week termly periods when they are likely to be in residence, although the flexibility exists to stay up for longer (subject to application approval). 

Room licences for freshers run for 29 weeks of the year, 9 weeks in Michaelmas and 10 weeks in Lent and Easter; for all other undergraduates, they run for three 10 week periods.  The licence dates fit around the University's academic term dates.  Rents are in 12 bands and the costs for 2024/25 are: 

• Band 1: £1031/term 
• Band 2: £1203/term 
• Band 3: £1306/term 
• Band 4: £1409/term 
• Band 5: £1512/term 
• Band 6: £1616/term 
• Band 7: £1719/term 
• Band 8: £1822/term 
• Band 9: £1925/term 
• Band 10: £2028/term 
• Band 11: £2131/term 
• Band 12: £2234/term 

Extended licence: £228/term on top of the rent band (this is not available for freshers).

First-year students, or 'freshers', usually live in either the William Stone Building (en-suite), or in one of the houses on St Peter's Terrace (non-en-suite).

There are a number of wheelchair-accessible student bedrooms available in College and social spaces such as the Theatre, Lubbock Room, JCR and Bar are all wheelchair-accessible.  However, due to the age of some of the buildings, there are a number of staircases and other places in College which may not be accessible to all students.  For more information, please consult the University's Disability Resource Centre's guide to Colleges as well as our AccessAble information on the website.

We are happy to consider other requirements such as live-in assistants or assistance dogs, but unfortunately cannot guarantee that these would be possible and would advise you to contact us and the University's Disability Resource Centre before applying.

Peterhouse is a small and vibrant College with about 75 students in each undergraduate year and about 475 students in total. Peterhouse has a uniquely friendly and welcoming environment, and is close to the main Arts, Engineering and Science faculties and five minutes’ walk from the city centre. Peterhouse has a diverse student body, and the only thing all our students have in common is their commitment and ability for their subject and the drive to work hard. 

There is a wealth of information about Peterhouse on this website, including the current Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Handbooks.

Every student at Cambridge is a member of one of the colleges that make up the University. You can make an open application, but most chose to apply to a particular college. Your college will be your academic and personal home for the whole of your degree course, so it is important to choose somewhere you will feel comfortable and where you can thrive.

As the oldest Cambridge college with the smallest student body, Peterhouse offers a unique environment and is, above all, a stimulating and friendly place to be for both undergraduates and graduate students.

Peterhouse is a tight-knit and supportive community, where new students quickly feel at home, regardless of their background, and find it easy to participate in the College’s vibrant academic, extra-curricular and social life.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no 'typical' Cambridge student and the same is true of Peterhouse students: our undergraduates and graduates come from an enormously wide range of backgrounds with varied interests and opinions. Many come from overseas. The only things Peterhouse students have in common are high academic ability, a commitment to their subject and a willingness to work hard.

This diversity is nothing new. Throughout its history the College has fostered an impressive roster of illustrious alumni. These range from historical figures in every field, from poet Thomas Gray to scientists Charles Babbage and Lord Kelvin, to more recent graduates such as Oscar-winning film director Sam Mendes, bass guitarist of Radiohead Colin Greenwood and Olympic gold-medallist Stephanie Cook.

We are centrally located but off the tourist trail and in a relatively quiet part of town. All of our students are accommodated in College property for the duration of their course; there is further information available on undergraduate and postgraduate accommodation on this site.  Peterhouse provide some of the best rooms in Cambridge and at a wide range of rents. Students are able to take advantage of our outstanding facilities and support, both academic and extra-curricular, and our large grounds allow plenty of space, indoors and out, to relax and feel at home.

Meet the Admissions Team

Telephone: 01223 338223 or 01223 768877

Email: admissions@pet.cam.ac.uk

Address: The Admissions Office, Peterhouse, Cambridge, CB2 1RD, United Kingdom

Each year Peterhouse admits about 80 undergraduates studying for their first degree. Our undergraduates are drawn from a diverse range of educational, cultural and social backgrounds and we welcome applicants from all types of schools both in the UK and abroad. We are committed to offering the widest possible access to Cambridge based on academic ability, achievement and the potential to achieve. 

Choosing which College to apply to can be daunting, particularly if you haven’t visited Cambridge before. Your College will be your home for the time you spend studying at Cambridge (and indeed the rest of your life!) and we strongly recommend applying to a College you’d feel comfortable in. Most students think their College is the best one, and Peterhouse students are no different! However, the Colleges are all more similar than they are different and the choice of College won’t affect the education you receive. The Admissions Team are always happy to show prospective applicants around or to answer any questions, or you can visit us. 

If you are predicted, or have secured, high grades in your school leaving exams we would strongly encourage you to think about applying. For entrance requirements for specific subjects, see our  courses.

We hope that you will find all of the information you need on our website, but please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you wish to arrange a visit.