Magdalene JCR spent up to 21 times more on their ents budget than Clare, and Caius spent over £50,000 on sport societies, Varsity can reveal.

A survey conducted on JCR budgets displayed vast differences in how much money JCRs receive, and what it is being spent on.

Of JCR funding contributed towards College ents, Magdalene had the biggest budget, with over £6,500 going towards ents. This was in stark contrast to Clare, who only put £302.96 towards college bops in the 2023/2024 academic year.

One Clare student criticised their bop spending, stating: “Naturally, Clare Cellars is the best college bar. Clare Jazz, queer nights, pub quizzes, birthday bashes – that’s all brilliant. But what people from other colleges don’t seem to realise is that ‘Clare bops’ basically don’t exist”.

One Magdalene student commended their college’s bop spending, telling Varsity that “Bops are an integral Magdalene tradition; they’re a great chance for inter-year integration and are an important way for students to kick-start the term, and celebrate after a long eight weeks. Many of my best university memories are the product of the ABBA-equipped DJ, the text wall, and, crucially, the limitless buckets of bop juice provided by our JCR”.

Wolfson has a shared budget between their JCR and MCR events, but spends £8,500 on ents across the two bodies. On top of this, the Wolfson Students’ Association also puts £6,400 towards the ‘Wolfson Howler’, a 15-year running stand-up comedy night held in Wolfson College, which boasts “fresh acts from local up-and-coming student comedians and a professional headliner off the London circuit”.

Among the JCRs whose budgets finance sports clubs and societies, the total spent by JCRs in 2023/2024 differed from £50,023.55 at Caius to £5,250 at Girton. Of Caius’ figure, £20,778.11 went towards the Caius Boat Club, with badminton receiving the second largest amount at £3,938.07.

This pattern is consistent across other colleges, with Jesus College’s badminton club receiving £3,000, while at Christ’s badminton are given £2,095 – the second largest amount of all sports and societies at the College.

Downing spent £20,342.00 on sports societies, but also put a further £3,000 towards a sports day swap with Lincoln College Oxford, which included football, mixed netball, rounders, ultimate frisbee, and a “nice meal” in the city.

There are also multiple food-based societies across colleges. Jesus has a Steak Society that was provisionally allocated £150 a year, but had its funding removed by the Treasurer before they received it. Meanwhile, Trinity Hall’s Dumpling Society receives £100 a year, and £50 went towards the Alternative Protein Society at Clare last year.

Robinson’s ‘inflatable society’ received £220 in the budget last year, but was hit by a crackdown on “scam societies” by the College’s JCR, due to concerns it did not actually exist. In an attempt to crack down on frivolous societies, the JCR passed a motion which forced societies to prove their existence, preventing them from “using RCSA funding without publicly announcing their events, or their existence at any stage beyond their creation in an open meeting”.

RCSA President Alex Myall said at the time that the policy was aimed to stop “people [from] bullshitting and sending out emails” without actually wanting people to join them.

A spokesperson for the RCSA told Varsity that: “The issue of society publicity was resolved in Lent 2024 with all Robinson Societies understanding that they must advertise themselves to all members of the College. The RCSA has never identified individual societies as ‘scam societies’”.

Pembroke allocates almost £4,500 of £31,000 managed by the JCP to welfare support for students, which includes £700 towards yoga sessions, £525 to STI tests at bops, and £50 on visiting dogs in exam terms.

One Pembroke student told Varsity: “Having attended yoga sessions subsidised by the JPC, I have always found them to be a wonderful way to switch off from the stress of term for an hour. It seems to me that such efforts to foster a sense of community and look after our wellbeing are well worth the money”.

A spokesperson for Pembroke JCR said “Pembroke Junior Parlour Committee is proud to offer a consistently high and variegated welfare budget provision, which we use to fund a range of resources and activities to ensure all of our undergraduates feel safe and supported in their college environment.”

Peterhouse is currently overspending their JCR budget, owing £5,263.4 in debt to the College. Meanwhile Caius is currently in a surplus, having carried over £5,643.17 from last year’s budget.

Homerton is the only College with a sabbatical role for their president, and spends £38,700 on salaries and accommodation for them, along with any other staff that the HUS depend on. This figure is larger than the entire JCR budget of 14 other colleges, over quadrupling the amount JCRs at colleges such as Churchill, Peterhouse, and St Catharine’s receive.

Of colleges approached for data on their JCR budgets, 13 disclosed a completed budget, 11 disclosed partially complete information, and four did not disclose any. Some figures from colleges are from last year and some are projected spends. Caius’ JCR budget included surplus from their previous year.

All parties were contacted for comment.