Section 7: Residence
7.1 Residence for a Degree or Other Qualification
There are minimum residence requirements for most degrees and other qualifications. Residence means having resided in college-approved accommodation within the University for at least six weeks in each of a set number of terms and having paid the appropriate fees (the number of terms depends on the degree and subject, and on the status of the candidate - full details are in the Examination Regulations handbook). If an undergraduate is unable to keep the required number of terms because of illness or other reasonable cause, the Proctors may excuse him or her from part of statutable residence (see section 9.2 of this booklet for more information).7.2 Living out of College: Residence Limits
Students living out of college, unless they are part-time, have to remain within a reasonable distance of the University (defined historically as residing within a specified number of miles of Carfax Tower in the city centre). The regulations are summarised as follows:
1. Undergraduates must reside within six miles of Carfax; except that, provided that their College or other Society has no objection to the circumstances of their residence, the limit is increased to twenty-five miles from Carfax for any member of the University reading for a First or Second Public Examination for an undergraduate degree
(a) who holds the status of Senior Student or who has already satisfied the examiners in a Second Public Examination; or
(b) who wishes to reside in the home of his or her parent or guardian.
2. Graduate students must reside within twenty-five miles of Carfax unless they are given special permission to work away from Oxford for a period.
3. The above limits apply only during the period for which student members have to keep terms to meet the requirements of their degree or diploma.
4. All student members (whether undergraduates or graduate students) engaged on part-time courses are exempt from the residence limits.
5. Applications for dispensation should be made on the appropriate form (go to www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/oxonly/collegeforms.shtml) and should be sent by colleges to The Proctors' Office. No application will be considered unless it is forwarded, and supported in writing, by (a) the Head or another officer of the applicant’s college or other Society, to whom prospective applicants should address themselves in the first instance; and (b) the student's Department or Faculty.
Please note that dispensation from the residence limits will only be granted by the Proctors in very exceptional circumstances. Applications need to be made through your college. Students are advised to obtain the necessary permission to live outside the residence limits before making any commitments to rent or buy accommodation. If you live outside the residence limits without permission, you will not fulfil the statutory requirements referred to in section 7.1 and may not be allowed to enter for examinations.