Understand how catering works in a college environment, where menus are advertised and quieter times for eating.

Dining within a catered college is one of the unique aspects of university allowing you to make friends and socialise whilst eating. Not only does living within a catered college allow you to meet new people over dinner, but it removes the need for shopping, cooking and washing-up meaning that you can focus on your studies.

Whilst dining in college is a positive experience it can pose challenges and at times there can be queues to collect food. During busy times the dining halls are often noisy, and it can be difficult to focus on conversations. Additionally, whilst a lot of decisions are removed by eating in, you still have to choose food from a menu so having extra time to decide in a quiet space can be a bonus.

• Take a photo of serving times. These are often displayed as you go into the dining room; are advertised on your college JCR social media (e.g. Facebook) and you can always ask the servery staff or at your college reception.
• Look at the menu ahead of going in. You can sometimes feel rushed into a decision in the servery so having an idea of what you want is a definite positive. The menus are often displayed at breakfast so take a photo for that day. Alternatively, menus are generally the same for all colleges so using social media sites can help e.g. mouthful of marys
• Arrive early not late. Arriving earlier means that the dining room will be quieter and that you have plenty of time to eat. The busiest times are generally around 1800-1815 for most colleges, but it varies.
• Early standard dinner happens when formals occur – If you are not attending a formal then you have early dinner. Therefore, make a note of when formals occur. Generally, this means that you have to eat in or get a takeaway between 1600-1730 (but varies between colleges). Otherwise, many students get a takeaway, or eat out in a restaurant.

Written by a current Durham University student