JYA Social Life

One of the main ways in which Worcester fully integrates its visiting students into the life of college is to provide them with on-site accommodation. JYA students are housed on college staircases or within college buildings, and so find themselves living alongside British undergraduates studying for a degree at Oxford. All rooms are single study-bedrooms - rooms are not shared at Oxford, and many Junior Year Abroad students find this privacy a refreshing contrast to the presence of a roommate. This housing provision has been consistently singled out by past visiting students as one of the main factors in a successful social and cultural exchange with British students. All college housing is co-educational and non-smoking.

Worcester's Dining Hall is excellent, both in terms of the quality of the food served, and the low prices charged. Self-service breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered daily, and on a number of evenings each week there is a served formal meal (formal hall). Vegetarians are provided for, and we are also sensitive to food allergies, but College cannot guarantee to accommodate all religious diets. If this is a concern, please contact the Director of the Visiting Student Programme for further information.

All visiting students arriving in Michaelmas Term (the first term of the academic year) are invited to attend the events of "Freshers' Week". This is a social and academic induction (orientation) schedule designed to give you a helpful introduction to all aspects of college and university life. Information sessions with college officers, registration with the college doctors, and a briefing from the Dean occur alongside more social events and activities. You will also receive a ticket to the University's "Freshers' Fair", where most of the university societies, clubs, and sporting teams have booths promoting their activities. The College holds a smaller version of this Freshers' Fair, designed to introduce new students to the variety of activities available within college, from the dramatic society (the "Buskins"), to novice rowing, to the lacrosse team. There is something for everyone to involve themselves in, if they wish, and visiting students throw themselves into college and university clubs and societies with great enthusiasm.

The Director of the Visiting Student Programme also holds several induction sessions designed especially for visiting students, including a day trip (usually to Stratford), so that the JYA students can get to know one another. Students arriving via Butler University's programme will already have had an introduction to Britain with a one-week session in London. Those students who arrive in Hilary Term (at the beginning of January) will rely more on an intensive induction schedule prepared by the Director, who will make every effort to introduce them to the great variety of societies, teams, and organizations at Worcester, and within the university as a whole.