St Hilda’s College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, which admits Undergraduate, Graduate and Visiting Students.
St Hilda's College was founded by Dorothea Beale in 1893 as a Hall for Women Students. The College received its first Royal Charter in 1926 when it was incorporated under the title “Principal and Council of St Hilda’s College, Oxford”. In 1960, it became a College of the University, and since 2007 has permitted the admission of male students.
The College is an eleemosynary chartered charitable corporation aggregate, registered with the Charity Commission. It is constituted and regulated in accordance with the College Charter, Statutes, and By-Laws, the terms of which are enforceable ultimately by the Visitor, The Rt Hon, the Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, GBE.
The Governing Body determines the ongoing strategic direction of the College and holds overall responsibility for College policies, finances and administration. It meets under the chairmanship of the Principal and is advised by a range of Standing Committees. Subject to the oversight of the Standing Committees, the day-to-day running of the College is entrusted to the College Officers and senior staff.
St Hilda’s College seeks to be a friendly and well-regulated academic community. Key College policies are listed below, with additional policies related to employment, conduct and College life available in the Student or Staff Handbooks.
All College members are expected to abide by College policies, which are kept under review and updated by various Standing Committees on behalf of the Governing Body. Where the College does not have a specific policy, we adhere to University of Oxford policies and guidance.
- Supplementary Royal Charter (July 2007)
- St Hilda’s College Statutes (as at 8 March 2017)
- St Hilda’s College By-Laws (last amended 11 October 2023)
- Handbooks and Guidance
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Important and useful information about all aspects of life as a student at St Hilda's.
Tutors' Guide, timetables and useful documentation.
HR resources, branding guides and College information.
- College policies
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Conflicts of Interest
Data Protection and Privacy
Equality
Harassment
- Harassment policy and procedure
- Harassment flow chart (student-student) (pdf)
- Harassment flow chart (student-staff) (pdf)
- Sexual harassment policy
Health and Safety
Information Security
Prevent Duty
The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA) creates a statutory duty for specified public authorities to 'have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism'. The College follows University of Oxford guidance on the implementation of the Prevent Duty.
Safeguarding
- Safeguarding Policy (pdf)
Other College policies and procedures
- Annual Accounts and Reports
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Annual Accounts and Reports
Recent Annual Accounts and Reports can be found on the links below. An archive of reports is also available on the University of Oxford website.
- Freedom of information
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Freedom of Information
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), St Hilda's College is required to make information in its possession about its activities available to the public, including our Statutes and By-Laws. We also publish information about our Data Protection and terms of use.
We will respond to individual requests for information from members of the public. Such requests must be made in writing (including email) and be addressed to the College’s Information Officer, who is the Bursar of the College. Please note that under certain circumstances the College may be prevented from making requested information available. You will be advised if this is the case. The College reserves the right to make charges for such requests in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
- Freedom of speech
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Freedom of speech
Free speech is the lifeblood of a university
It enables the pursuit of knowledge. It helps us approach truth. It allows students, teachers and researchers to become better acquainted with the variety of beliefs, theories and opinions in the world. Recognising the vital importance of free expression for the life of the mind, a university may make rules concerning the conduct of debate but should never prevent speech that is lawful.
Inevitably, this will mean that members of the University are confronted with views that some find unsettling, extreme or offensive. The University must therefore foster freedom of expression within a framework of robust civility. Not all theories deserve equal respect. A university values expertise and intellectual achievement as well as openness. But, within the bounds set by law, all voices or views which any member of our community considers relevant should be given the chance of a hearing. Wherever possible, they should also be exposed to evidence, questioning and argument. As an integral part of this commitment to freedom of expression, we will take steps to ensure that all such exchanges happen peacefully. With appropriate regulation of the time, place and manner of events, neither speakers nor listeners should have any reasonable grounds to feel intimidated or censored.
It is this understanding of the central importance and specific roles of free speech in a university that underlies the detailed procedures of the University of Oxford.
- University of Oxford and St Hilda's College
- Privacy notices
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Privacy notices
St Hilda's College is committed to handling personal data in a fair and transparent way. As part of this commitment, we publish information about how your data is processed in documents referred to as Privacy Notices or Privacy Policies. There are different privacy notices to explain how data is captured and processed for different audiences.
The following privacy notices were updated in May 2024 for formatting and consistency. Please contact the Data Protection Officer to access earlier versions, if necessary.
- Privacy Notice - Alumnae, donors and supporters (pdf)
- Privacy Notice - Conferences, events and commercial activities (pdf)
- Privacy Notice - Staff applicants, postholders and SCR members (pdf)
- Privacy Notice - Student applicants, offer holders and current students (pdf)
- Privacy Notice - Website users (pdf)
- Data sharing table.pdf
- Cookies Statement.pdf
Records of Processing Activities (ROPA)
These tables explain how long personal data is retained.
- ROPA - Alumnae and donors.pdf
- ROPA - Archives.pdf
- ROPA - Conferences and events.pdf
- ROPA - Finance commercial and related administration.pdf
- ROPA - IT Functions.pdf
- ROPA - Security including CCTV.pdf
- ROPA - Staff office holders and senior members.pdf
- ROPA - Student applicants.pdf
- ROPA - Student data.pdf