Oriel College - beautiful buildings - I think Oxford deserves more attention for its beautiful architecture, which makes it a lovely place to study. Here is a picture of the SCR at one of the colleges. The SCR stands for Senior Common Room; it's a bit like the staff room of a school, but for all the tutors who teach at the college. It's a very old building. Upstairs is a library, downstairs there's a reception room with a huge fireplace, and also a large dining room with an enormous mahogany table. The building is in a quadrangle, the other three sides of which are student and tutor rooms. The colleges are very secure and safe.