Hilary Vacation 2024
As the terms in Oxford are busy and intense, vacations are an important time to take a break, spend time in different environments, see friends, family and loved ones, and to recharge and prepare for the next term.
Vacation times in college have a different feel to term-times, students leave, the dining hall is closed to students, and some services change or close.
During this vacation, college closes at 17:00 on Thursday 28th March and re-opens at 09:00 on Friday 5th April.
This page offers information on the range of health and welfare support available over the vacation.
Accessing Health and Welfare Support in vacation
We hope you all stay well during vacations and enjoy a much-needed break, but should you need medical or mental health support you can find information on where to access help during this time here.
These leaflets include details of closures and changes in service for welfare in college and the university:
University Student Welfare and Support Services
Click here for the University's vacation information
Further information
Hopefully you won’t be unwell during vacation, but it helps to be prepared. Consider if you have enough of the following to see you through a period of illness:
- Food (including arrangements for someone to bring food/take away to you)
- Prescription medication
- Toiletries, toilet paper, period products
- Cleaning essentials
- Paracetamol or cold remedies, tissues
- Devices and chargers for staying connected on social media/video calling
Consider making ‘just in case’ arrangements with a friend to bring some shopping in the event you are too unwell to shop for yourself. Many local supermarkets offer click and collect, so a friend could pick up an order for you, or you could arrange for a delivery. Deliveries to the college area including Sainsburys, Tesco Groceries, Ocado Online Groceries (M&S), and Co-op via Deliveroo.
Consider having some non-perishable items such as tinned foods, cereals, longlife milk, fruits that don’t need to be chilled and perhaps some ‘ready meals‘. Take away deliveries are also plentiful Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat (just-eat.co.uk) but can be more expensive than the supermarket option.
If you need medication and are too unwell to collect it yourself, consider if a friend could collect for you or contact your local pharmacy to enquire about delivery. The pharmacy nearest to college is Woodstock Road Chemist.
Keep in touch with your support network, family and friends, let someone know you are unwell and tell them when you feel better. Ask for help when you need it whether you are home or away.
For those of you in and around Oxford over the vacation, you may find The Oxford Vacation Guide useful. It details local events, dining, amenities and services. Daily Info is also a great source of information on dining and events in Oxford.
We understand that some students may not return to their family home for many reasons during vacations and instead may look to stay with friends, travel, take an internship or pursue other work and accommodation.
Alternative accommodation and short-term employment options are available locally:
- Some Oxford Colleges offer Bed & Breakfast accommodation in vacations, advertised through accommodation websites or by contacting a specific college directly.
- Daily Info has a range of info on local jobs, accommodation and more.
- Some Oxford Colleges offer casual jobs over vacations Conference of Colleges, in the University of Oxford and some posts may include accommodation.
- The University offers short-term work over vacations How to apply | Oxford University Jobs some posts may include accommodation