Student Societies and the MCR

The Postgraduate College-level equivalent to a Students’ Union is the Middle Combination Room, usually known as the “MCR”. The name comes from the common room where students “combine” with one another; the Undergraduates have a Junior Combination Room, and the College Fellows have a Senior Combination Room – there is more information here.

The MCR represents the College’s Postgraduate students on College committees, in day-to-day interactions with the College’s administrative processes, and arranges social, recreational and intellectual events for students through the year.

The MCR prepares a “Freshers’ Guide” and “Freshers’ Programme” of induction events for Postgraduate students each year. These are published to the MCR website before the start of each academic year.

The College has a diverse range of student clubs and societies, from Art and Badminton to Volleyball and Yoga, and there are hundreds of student societies in the University. You can find out more about College societies on these pages, and the those in the University here.

You may also wish to get involved in the Cambridge Students’ Union which is a University-wide student representative body. The Cambridge SU represents the students in various committees of the University and provides advice and support to students separately from College and University structures.

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