A Day in the Life of a Cambridge English student

Much about the Cambridge lifestyle is elusive to many. It can be difficult to see through all the gowns and old brick buildings to understand what a normal day might look like. Hopefully, this article will reduce some of the mystery, and show you that Cambridge students do actually socialise! (Disclaimer: not very day looks the same, and also please be aware that I am much more of a night owl, some people get up at 5am for a run or rowing, but that is not me).

9am – Wake up. Have breakfast, get dressed and get ready for the day. Often Cambridge students will do work in the morning before lectures, but I prefer a lie-in and to work more in the evening. One of the perks of doing a humanities degree is there tends to be less contact hours so you usually have more flexibility about what hours you work, as opposed to STEM students who tend to have a more structured schedule of labs and lectures.

9:40am – Walk to lectures. If you walk around Cambridge on a weekday morning at 8:50, 9:50, or 10:50 you will usually see students walking, cycling, or sprinting to their lectures, depending on how late they are. There are four main lecture area sites (although some faculties fall outside of these), and these are New Museums Site (mainly science, central), Downing Site (also mainly science and central), Sidgwick Site (humanities and arts, a 15 minute walk out of the centre) and West Hub (mostly physical sciences, a 40 minute walk from the centre of Cambridge)

10am-11am – Lecture (Sidgewick Site). Lectures usually last an hour and mostly consist of frantic typing. They are not unique to Cambridge and honestly there isn’t that much to say about them.

Most Read

Erm, so Lauren’s ex made his own Love Is Blind headshot and it’s all really bizarre

This video of Lacey from MAFS and her mum at the club has leaked and I don’t know how to feel

Molly from Love Is Blind had a past career as an NBA dancer, and the pics are insane

11-12:30 – Studying in the English Faculty Library (Sidgwick Site). I know I said Cambridge students don’t spend all day studying, but it’s not like we spend none of it studying either. For an English degree, this mostly consists of reading primary texts, and then researching areas related to these texts that you are interested in, and writing an essay on this. And where else could be better to do this than in the English Faculty, surrounded by books?

12:30-1:30pm – Lunch. While there are cafés at most lecture sites, I prefer to break up the day by walking home and cooking myself some lunch. I will often go shopping on the way home for food or run other errands in town on my way back.

2-3pm – Supervision. This is a Cambridge term (Oxford calls them tutorials) that usually involves one academic professor and a small group discussing what they have been learning. For me, this is usually me and one other student with a professor talking about essays that we have written. For more science-based students, this often involves problem sheets and questions, and either way it is a really good opportunity to have a smaller group discussion about your work and things you may be confused by or interested in.

Studying in my room

3-4pm – Careers in Marketing Event. This type of event is not exactly everyday but it happens from time to time, increasingly in later years at university. They can be useful for thinking about future careers, and they normally also have free food which is always a win! If I am not at one of these, I will probably be studying again.

4-5pm – Relaxing time. This can take different forms, from chatting to friends, to embroidery, to watching TV, to listening to music and going for a walk, but it’s important to take some time each day to chill and let your brain recover.

Going for a run along the river Cam

5-7pm – Studying in my college library. It is no secret that Cambridge has a lot of libraries. Most faculty departments have their own library, and every college has one as well. Colleges are a bit like halls or mini-campuses, which allows you to get close with a group of around 150 students within your year, as well as in other years, because you live close together and share facilities like a canteen, bar, café, and library. As a result, every time I go into the college library to study, there is someone I know in there to study with, which is a nice experience.

7:30pm – Formal Dinner. This is a classic Harry Potter-esque scene of candlelit dinners and wine. I cannot afford to go to these every night, and I normally just cook myself tea, but a few times per term it can be fun to dress up in a fancy outfit and gown!

formal dinner!

9-11pm – Bar. As far as I am aware, all Cambridge colleges have a bar, and usually after formal dinner, people will go there to keep drinking. Prices vary from college to college, but they are usually pretty good. There isn’t that much to say about this: it’s basically just consuming alcohol.

Valentine’s Day bar night

11pm-Midnight – Netflix and sleep. After the bar (or studying if I have an essay due), I usually finish my day by watching an episode or two on Netflix, and then going to sleep!