Since then it has enlarged and expanded to support a community of students and researchers, both male and female, working in all the academic domains encompassed by the University of Cambridge.

The college is housed in a number of 19th- and 20th-century buildings at a main site adjacent to Fenner's, the Cambridge University Cricket Club ground, and between the City Centre and the railway station.

One of the first matriculants, Molly Thomas, recounted the experience of the first class of students in A London Girl of the 1880s, published under her married name, M.V.

In November 2019, Prince Andrew resigned as the honorary fellow of Hughes Hall amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

A short walk from the college is the Mill Road Cemetery where a number of the university's renowned historic figures, including astronomer James Challis, Isaac Newton's editor Percival Frost, and historian John Seeley are buried.

Hughes Hall is the nearest of the university's colleges to Cambridge railway station and to the main city centre arrival-departure point for long-distances coaches at Parkside.

The most direct access route from the college into the centre of Cambridge for cyclists and pedestrians is across Parker's Piece, an open park where the rules of football were first codified (1848).

Students and fellows of the college take part in research and study across the full spectrum of the University of Cambridge's fields of activity.

[15] The college's historic establishment in the 19th century with the purpose of supporting graduate study in education has continued and developed over time with a significant number of students each year taking courses in professional and applied fields, alongside those studying and carrying out research in more traditional Arts and Humanities subjects.

Hughes Hall has an active student sports calendar with college teams in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Rowing, Rugby, Squash, Table Tennis, and others.

The college's main performance space is the Pavilion Room which hosts a number of regular musical groups and organizations.

The Stradivari Trust, the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, and the college's Margaret Wileman Society use the space on a regular basis.

[citation needed] The women's first crew won blades for the first time after the demerger from Lucy Cavendish in the Lent Bumps 2019.