Pembroke College Cambridge

The Ballot

Pembroke offers all undergraduates accommodation for the duration of their course.  Rooms are located either in the College itself or in nearby hostels.  Rooms are chosen according to a ballot order determined in the course of a students’ first year; this order is reversed the following year.  Students who will be entering their third or fourth year of study choose their rooms first.

Rooms will be chosen in July/August 2024 using RMS.  Information on how to choose your room using RMS is available here.

The list of rooms available for the coming year, with their current rents (rents will increase each year), will shortly be available. Any rooms marked with an asterisk are currently not in the ballot.  Please note that this might change slightly in July.

It is important that any student intending to find their own accommodation should inform the College Registrar as soon as possible.  Any undergraduate who chooses a room in the ballot and subsequently decides not to live in College owned accommodation, must notify the College Registrar, in writing, by Monday 1 July. Failure to do so will make you liable to a term’s rent being charged.

Students with Special/Specific Accommodation needs

Any student with specific accommodation needs due to a physical or mental health issue should discuss their situation with their Tutor in the first instance; students may be asked to produce a medical note from their GP or mental health practitioner to support their request.  If the Tutor believes that there is a valid case for the student not to select a room through the normal ballot process then either the Tutor or student will need to discuss the situation with the College Registrar, before 1st May in any given year.  After the 1st May it may not be possible to accommodate the request.  A renewed request would need to be made each year as appropriate.

Once a specific need has been identified then a suitable room will be allocated according to the stated disability.  Students wishing to choose their room or live with friends/other members of their ballot group must enter the ballot in the normal way.

Room swaps

Occasionally following the ballot students decide they would like to swap rooms with someone – this is possible but both interested parties need to inform the College Registrar in writing that they agree to the swap.

Rough timetable of the allocation of rooms

Michaelmas & Lent term: Current third year students (including students on their year abroad) are contacted to determine whether they will be staying for a fourth year and therefore need to be included in the ballot (failure to reply to this request will result in the College not being able to guarantee a room for the fourth year). Students remaining for a fourth year are inserted randomly into the third year ballot below position no. 30 of the main ballot.  Students remaining for a fourth can enter in groups of up to five.

The Ballot order for students entering their third or fourth year in 2024/25 will be published on the College website.

End of Lent term/Beg of Easter term: The names of all first year undergraduates who are staying on for a second year are entered into a draw. The order in which names are drawn determines the order that rooms will be chosen for the second year.  This order is reversed when choosing rooms for the third year so that those at the bottom of the ballot list this year will be top of the list next year.  Students may enter the draw in groups of up to five if they wish to.

The Ballot order for students entering their second year in 2024/25 will be published on the College website.

Second week of July (approx.): Final ballot order published and all students informed of their allocated day and time to choose a room (using RMS).  Students are allocated a 15 minute time slot in which to choose their room from the list of available rooms (students are able to nominate a proxy to choose for them)

Mid/end-August licence agreements are sent out (Student will be deemed to have entered into the agreement when they take possession of the keys to the room listed on the Licence agreement and agree to the Undergraduate Terms and Conditions for Occupation of Accommodation)

End of August/Beginning of September Freshers rooms are allocated.  New undergraduates have their accommodation allocated directly by the College Registrar once their place has been confirmed.  All new students to the College will be sent a form, prior to their arrival, asking them for further information such as their preferred rent and location.)

Living out of College owned Accommodation

Students who prefer to find their own accommodation might find the following websites helpful:

  1. The University Accommodation Service
  2. The Cambridge Accommodation Notice Board

Tutors can also give advice and should always be consulted over contracts and any difficulties over relations with landlords.

Pembroke College is a member of the Accreditation Network UK (ANUK)