The decision to use the system on this unprecedented scale was an innovation by Sir Andrew Derbyshire, the project architect behind the original university.

[6][7] Block A is part of the main college nucleus, being the north-west and north-east sides of a small quadrangle, with the administrative offices and JCR on the south-east.

Block D was added a few years later on a different floor plan with comparatively small individual rooms, but a large central kitchen and eating area.

[9] E, F, G and H Blocks are situated across the other side of University Road from the rest of the college, adjacent to Heslington Church field.

Originally only two of these blocks belonged to Derwent, the other two were part of Langwith, prior to that college's move to the new East Campus, and collectively they were often referred to as "Derwith," and more contemporaneously as "Extension.

Eden's Court comprises eight houses, each of nine or ten rooms with similar layout to those of Halifax College.

Eden's Court was not always affiliated to Derwent and its residents, mostly mature students, belonged to a range of colleges.

[8] Derwent College is home to the university's Politics,[11] Education,[12] English and Related Literature,[13] and School of PPE departments.

The Graduate Common Room Committee is responsible for representing the interests of Derwent students, organising events, and welfare provision.

Taking up the whole area in and around the college, it is normally held on the first Monday after exams and has several rooms of music, bars and food, and open air activities.

These include an annual 'Take Me Out' in February, a Burns Night and St Andrews Day Ceilidh open to both the JCR and SCR, a Winter Formal (usually in a local hotel or the Railway Museum) and a 'Summer Soiree,' which involves canapes on the lawns of Heslington Hall followed by the annual Derwent Awards Ceremony inside D Bar.