Colleges within universities in the United Kingdom halls" of Durham, are separate corporations, while the colleges of other universities, the "maintained colleges" of Durham, and the "societies of the university" at Oxford are parts of their parent universities and do not have independent corporate existence. In the past, many of what are now British universities with their own degree-awarding powers were colleges which had their degrees awarded by either a federal university (such as Cardiff University) or validated by another university (for example many of the post-1992 universities). Colleges that had (or have) courses validated by a university are not normally considered to be colleges of that
Colleges of the University of Otago colleges described below. The most central halls, situated beside the university's oldest buildings, are St Margaret's College, noted for a strong academic lean, and University College (Unicol), which is the largest college, housing approximately 550 residents during the academic year. The colleges can exhibit distinctive features: Aquinas College, being amongst the smallest and farthest from the university centre, has developed a "family-like and informal atmosphere". Toroa College, formerly an international house, was almost exclusively filled by international students during this period, developing an environment with social and support aspects tailored to those special needs. The residential colleges select students based