College Policies and Codes of Practice

The College maintains a range of policies and codes of practice to help set expectations around the way that the College delivers its responsibilities and the way that we expect our members (students, staff, Fellows, Senior Members and others associated with the College) to conduct themselves.

In this Student Handbook, the policies and codes of practice are listed with relevant links to the College website where they are printed in full.

 If a policy or code of practice is updated, the most recent version is the applicable version.

Code of student discipline

The purpose of the Code of Student Discipline is to enable St Antony’s College to take appropriate

measures in cases in which one or more of its students is/are in breach of their obligations as a

member of the College.

All students (including Visiting Students) must observe two separate but complementary sets of disciplinary regulations:

• The University of Oxford’s conduct regulations, accessible here.
• The Code of Student Discipline of St Antony’s College, accessible here.

Policy on Harassment

St Antony’s College does not tolerate any form of harassment or victimisation and expects all members of the College community, its visitors and contractors to treat each other with respect, courtesy and consideration. The College is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all members of the College community are respected.

For the College’s Statement of Policy Concerning Harassment, please see here.

Student-College Contract 

Two copies of the College contract are issued to students on their arrival, and they must return a signed copy to the Registry as a condition of College enrolment.

Complaints procedure

St Antony’s College is committed to monitoring and evaluating its services to enhance their quality and ensure that they meet the needs of all visitors to and members of the College. The College’s Complaints Procedure is available here.

Improper complaints

The College’s default position is to take all Complaints seriously unless there is good reason to do otherwise.

However, the College will terminate consideration of a Complaint if it considers it to be an improper complaint.

Complaints which may be considered improper include:

• complaints which are vexatious, whether intentionally or recklessly, including complaints which are obsessive, harassing, or repetitive;
• complaints which relate to trivial or trifling issues;
• complaints which insist on pursuing manifestly non-meritorious grievances;
• complaints which seek the attainment of unrealistic or unreasonable outcomes;
• complaints which seek to reopen (either in substance or in form) other complaints which have been previously decided;
• complaints which insist on pursuing what may be meritorious issues in an unreasonable manner;
• complaints which are designed to cause disruption (including disruption to the complaints process itself) or annoyance, or are evidently retaliatory in nature;
• complaints which involve demands for redress which lack any serious purpose or value, and/or;
• complaints which, in any event, are made in bad faith.

Complaints about College Accommodation

If the College has failed to fulfil its obligations in respect of the provision of accommodation under a student’s Licence to Occupy, you can submit a complaint under our Complaints Policy. Subject to the outcome of any complaint, possible remedies may include a refund or partial refund for the affected period in cases where this is proportionate and appropriate.

The following points will be borne in mind:

• The period for which a rent refund may be appropriate is from the date on which the student first notified the College of an issue, up to and including the date on which the issue was resolved or alternative accommodation was offered (regardless of whether or not the student chose to accept the alternative offered).
• It is essential that students notify the College of any issues at the earliest opportunity, primarily so that any problems can be addressed promptly, but also because no rent refund will be offered for any period when a student was aware of an issue but chose not to notify the College, and during which the College could not reasonably have done anything to rectify the problem.
• If a room is uninhabitable or not fit for purpose, the College will normally offer a full refund of rent for the days in question. If a room is fit for purpose but some element of the College’s service is materially impaired such that the College is not fully complying with its obligations under the Licence to Occupy, the College will normally offer a partial refund of rent for the days in question. A refund will not be offered for minor issues that do not materially impair the service that the College delivers or affect the College’s ability to comply with its obligations under the Licence to Occupy.
• Any potential rent refunds will be assessed to ensure that the College is being fair and proportionate across all comparable cases, and to ensure that any proposed remedy is reasonable. Except in the case of Reasonable Adjustments or other factors relating to the Equality Act 2010, the fact that an individual student finds a particular issue subjectively more upsetting than average is unlikely to influence any proposed rent refund.
• The College has the right to relocate students to alternative accommodation where necessary, although this is not exercised unreasonably. The fact that a student is unhappy with alternative accommodation (including where this means living in a different part of the College site from their friends) is not a reason for a full or partial refund of rent.

The following are unlikely to constitute reasons for a full or partial refund of rent:

• issues caused by other students, for example noise or mess (although the College will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate behaviour and cleanliness from all residents);
• issues reasonably beyond the College’s control, such as street noise, roadworks, power cuts, or wildlife activity;
• low-grade issues that are integral to old buildings (e.g. occasional noisy pipes or floorboards; creaking windows);
• simply not liking a particular room without a material reason related to the College’s failure to fulfil its obligations under the Licence to Occupy.

Any concerns or complaints about College accommodation should be addressed to the Head of Operations and Estates.

Equality policy

The College’s Equal Opportunities Policy is available here.

Free Speech and Protests

The College’s Free Speech Statement is available here.

The College’s guidelines on protests, demonstrations and similar gatherings are available here.

IT rules

The College’s IT Rules are available here.

Library rules

The Library upholds 13 rules to ensure that reading rooms remain pleasant and conducive to study, and that the collection is protected and shared fairly amongst members. The rules are displayed in every reading room, and here.