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Members' Benefits
Founded in 1823, the Oxford Union has never been solely a debating society. Membership opens the Old Library and its reading rooms, the Members' Bar, full-sized snooker tables, high-quality pianos, discounts at businesses across the city, and reciprocal access to distinguished private clubs in Britain and across Europe.
This page sets out what your membership entitles you to and how to make use of it. Please carry your membership card whenever you visit as your card provides entry to our site.
On this page
Speaker Events and the Debating Chamber
Since 1823, the Union has invited leaders in every field, from politics and business to sport and the arts, to address its members in the Debating Chamber. Prime ministers, presidents, Nobel laureates, novelists and actors have all spoken from the despatch box, and members have questioned every one of them from the floor.
Admission to speaker events is included in your membership. Members put questions directly to the speaker during the event, and many speakers remain afterwards for photographs and conversation over a drink in the Members' Bar. Term cards are published before the start of each term and list every speaker, debate and social event.
View upcoming events →
The Debating Chamber, the largest purpose built debating chamber in Europe.
The Members' Bar
The Members' Bar is one of Oxford's quieter pleasures. Members gather here for a coffee between lectures, a light lunch, or a drink in the evening, and the beer garden remains among the largest outdoor seating areas in the centre of the city. Speakers also often join members for a drink before or after an event.
We serve a choice of baguettes and soups from 12:00 until 14:00, Monday to Friday. The Bar is one of the cheapest in Oxford.
Take the virtual tour →
The Members' Bar is one of the most affordable bars in Oxford.
The Snooker Room
The Snooker Room holds the only full-sized snooker tables in central Oxford. Tables may be used throughout the day in term time.
We regret that we cannot accept bookings by telephone.
The Library and Extra Study Spaces
Many of the Society's rooms are able to be used as extra study spaces by members when not in use. Borrowing, printing, and accessibility support are all set out on the Library page.
The Old Library
Built in 1857 as the Society's original debating chamber, the Old Library is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. The murals on its walls were painted by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, among them William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti when they were students here.
All members may borrow. For more details, please visit the Library page.
Visit the Library page →
Extra Study Areas
Beyond the Old Library we open further rooms to members who want somewhere quiet to read and work. The Goodman Library and Gladstone Room are the best known of them, and each room carries its own character and noise level.
Every room is listed on the Library page, with photographs and guidance on what to expect before you arrive.
See all study areas →The Piano Partnership with Kawai
Through our partnership with Kawai, renewed in June 2026, two instruments live in the Society's buildings: a Kawai DG-30 digital hybrid piano, which stands in the Macmillan Room, and a Kawai ES920, which travels to wherever it is needed, including the courtyard in summer.
The pianos can be heard at debate dinners, at drinks receptions, and at social events throughout the term, and whenever a piano is not in scheduled use any member is free to sit down and play it. Headphones are provided for those who would rather practise in silence. A high-quality piano is not something every college keeps for its members, and where one exists, time on it is often spoken for. Ours are available to you as a member of the Union, whatever you read.
Once each academic year we hold a Shigeru Kawai Concert, ordinarily in fifth week of Michaelmas Term, at which a visiting artist plays a concert-standard Shigeru Kawai grand brought in for the occasion. These instruments are hand-crafted in Japan by Master Piano Artisans. Kawai provide a concert grand again whenever we receive distinguished guests from the world of music who wish to perform, so members hear playing of a standard that is ordinarily reserved for the concert hall.
Read more about the instruments at kawai.co.uk →
The DG-30 in the Macmillan Room, open to members to play.
Reciprocal Clubs
The Union holds reciprocal arrangements with a number of the finest private members' clubs in Britain and across Europe. Members are received at each of them as guests of the Society, whether travelling for work, for study, or for pleasure.
Letters of Introduction for these clubs are valid for 90 days.
Arranging a visit
Please write to the General Office at enquiries@oxford-union.org before you travel, quoting your membership number and the approximate dates of your stay, and we will issue a Letter of Introduction. Several of our reciprocal clubs also offer accommodation, or discounted rates at local hotels, to visiting members. Please consult their websites for details.
The Union has also partnered with the Anglo-German Club and the Übersee-Club, both in Hamburg. Members may visit either club by prior request to its General Office.
Treasurer's Treats
Each term the Treasurer secures exclusive discounts and offers for members at businesses across Oxford, from restaurants and cafés to shops and services. The full list appears on the term card.
Please present your membership card at the point of purchase. If a listed discount is not honoured, please contact the Treasurer at treasurer@oxford-union.org and we will take it up on your behalf.
Your Membership Card
Your membership card is your proof of membership. Please carry it whenever you visit, and present it at speaker events, in the Members' Bar, in the Library, at any business offering a Treasurer's Treat, when voting in the Society's elections, and at our reciprocal clubs.
If you lose your card, please complete the replacement request form and the General Office will arrange a new one for you to collect.
Request a replacement card →Not yet a member?
Membership of the Oxford Union admits you to every facility described on this page, and to a termly programme of speakers, socials, and debates. We look forward to welcoming you soon.
