All Topics  
University of Oxford

 

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

University of Oxford



 
 
The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University, or simply Oxford), located in the city of Oxford
Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
, England, is the oldest university
List of oldest universities in continuous operation

This is a list of the oldest extant universities in the world. To be listed on this page, an educational institution must satisfy the definition of a university at the time of founding; it must have been founded before 1500 or be the oldest university in a region; and it must have been operational without a significant interruption ever sin...
 in the English-speaking world. It is also regarded
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 as one of the world's leading academic institutions. The name is sometimes abbreviated as Oxon. in post-nominals
Post-nominal letters

Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials or post-nominal titles, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour....
 (from the Latin Oxoniensis), although Oxf is sometimes used in official publications.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'University of Oxford'
Start a new discussion about 'University of Oxford'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Recent Posts












Timeline

1096   First documented teaching at the University of Oxford

1214   University of Oxford receives its charter.

1264   Walter de Merton formally completes the foundation of the House of Scholars education in Malden and the University of Oxford.

1282   Hertford College is founded at the University of Oxford.

1341   The Queen's College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded.

1427   Lincoln College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded.

1437   foundation of All Souls College, University of Oxford.

1458   Foundation of Magdalen College, University of Oxford

1698   Humphrey Hody is appointed regius professor of Greek at Oxford.

1714   Worcester College, University of Oxford founded. Formerly Gloucester College, closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.







Encyclopedia


The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University, or simply Oxford), located in the city of Oxford
Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
, England, is the oldest university
List of oldest universities in continuous operation

This is a list of the oldest extant universities in the world. To be listed on this page, an educational institution must satisfy the definition of a university at the time of founding; it must have been founded before 1500 or be the oldest university in a region; and it must have been operational without a significant interruption ever sin...
 in the English-speaking world. It is also regarded
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 as one of the world's leading academic institutions. The name is sometimes abbreviated as Oxon. in post-nominals
Post-nominal letters

Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials or post-nominal titles, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour....
 (from the Latin Oxoniensis), although Oxf is sometimes used in official publications. The University has 38 independent colleges
Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 religious Permanent Private Halls , which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university....
, and 6 permanent private halls
Permanent Private Hall

A Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university — not as a constituent college, but able to present students for Oxford University degrees....
.

The university traces its roots back to at least the end of the 12th century, although the exact date of foundation remains unclear. After a dispute between students and townsfolk broke out in 1209, some of the academics at Oxford fled north-east to the town of Cambridge
Cambridge

The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is a College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 50 miles north of London....
, where the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
 was founded. The two universities have since had a long history of competition with each other
Oxbridge rivalry

The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, collectively known as Oxbridge, are the two List of oldest universities in continuous operation universities in UK....
.

The University of Oxford is a member of the Russell Group
Russell Group

The Russell Group is a collaboration of twenty Universities in the United Kingdom that receive two-thirds of universities' research grant and contract funding in the United Kingdom....
 of research-led British universities
British universities

Most universities in the United Kingdom can be classified into 6 main categories,*Ancient university - universities founded before the 19th century...
, the Coimbra Group
Coimbra Group

The Coimbra Group is a network of European universities that gathers 38 universities, some of which are among the oldest and most prestigious in Europe....
 (a network of leading European universities), the League of European Research Universities
League of European Research Universities

According to its mission statement, the League of European Research Universities is "a group of European research-intensive university committed to the values of high quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research."...
, International Alliance of Research Universities
International Alliance of Research Universities

The International Alliance of Research Universities was launched in January 2006 as a leading co-operative network of 10 leading, international research-intensive universities....
 and is also a core member of the Europaeum
Europaeum

The Europaeum is a loose organisation of ten leading European university. It was conceived of in 1990-1991 by George Weidenfeld and Sir Ronnie Grierson to support the ?advancement of education through the encouragement of European studies in the University of Oxford and other European institutions of higher education having links with Oxford?...
. Academically, Oxford is consistently ranked
Academic Ranking of World Universities

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University?s Institute of Higher Education and includes major institutes of higher education ranked according to a formula that took into account alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals , staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals , ?highly-cited researchers...
 in the world's top 10 universities. For more than a century, it has served as the home of the Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships....
, which brings highly accomplished students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as postgraduates.

History

Oucoacolourcopyrightkaihsutai
The expulsion of foreigners from the University of Paris
University of Paris

The historic University of Paris first appeared in the 12th century. In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous university . The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon....
 in 1167 caused many English scholars to return from France and settle in Oxford. The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to the scholars in 1188, and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland
Emo of Friesland

Emo of Friesland was a Frisians scholar, and the earliest foreign student studying at Oxford University whose name has survived. He began his studies at Oxford in 1190....
 arrived in 1190. The head of the University was named a chancellor
Chancellor

Chancellor or chancellour is an official title used in countries whose civilization has arisen directly or indirectly out of the Roman Empire....
 from 1201, and the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation in 1231. The students associated together, on the basis of geographical origins, into two “nations”, representing the North (including the Scots) and the South (including the Irish and the Welsh). In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of a college
Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 religious Permanent Private Halls , which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university....
 or hall
Permanent Private Hall

A Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university — not as a constituent college, but able to present students for Oxford University degrees....
 became customary in Oxford. Members of many religious order
Religious order

A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice....
s, including Dominicans
Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France....
, Franciscan
Franciscan

The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St....
s, Carmelites
Carmelites

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Roman Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, whence the order receives its name....
, and Augustinians, settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence, and maintained houses for students. At about the same time, private benefactors established colleges to serve as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest were John I de Balliol, father of the future King of Scots
John of Scotland

John de Balliol was Elective kingshiped King of the Scots from 1292 to 1296....
; Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England.Balliol is Oxford's most popular college, measured in terms of the number of applications for entry from prospective students....
 bears his name. Another founder, Walter de Merton
Walter de Merton

Walter de Merton was Bishop of Rochester and founder of Merton College, Oxford....
, a chancellor
Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom....
 of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester
Bishop of Rochester

The Bishop of Rochester, Kent is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the west of the County of Kent....
, devised a series of regulations for college life; Merton College
Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the Colleges of Oxford University of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III of England and later to Edward I of England, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to support it....
 thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford as well as at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
. Thereafter, an increasing number of students forsook living in halls and religious houses in favour of living at colleges.

The new learning of the Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onward. Among University scholars of the period were William Grocyn
William Grocyn

William Grocyn was an English scholar, a friend of Erasmus.He was born at Colerne, Wiltshire. Intended by his parents for the church, he was sent to Winchester College, and in 1465 was elected to a scholarship at New College, Oxford....
, who contributed to the revival of the Greek language
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, and John Colet
John Colet

John Colet was an England churchman and educational pioneer.Colet was an English scholar, Renaissance humanist, theologian, and Dean of St....
, the noted biblical scholar
Biblical Theology

Biblical theology is a discipline within Christian theology which studies the Bible from the perspective of understanding the progressive history of God revealing God's self to humanity following the The Fall of Man and throughout the Old Testament and New Testament....
. With the Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
 and the breaking of ties with the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
, the method of teaching at the university was transformed from the medieval Scholastic method
Scholasticism

Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Western Europe in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries....
 to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered loss of land and revenues. In 1636, Chancellor
Chancellor (education)

A Chancellor is the head of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as President or Rector.In most Commonwealth of Nations nations, the Chancellor is usually a Titular ruler non-resident head, often with a Pro-Chancellor as practical Chairman of the governing body ; the actual chief executive of a university is the V...
 William Laud
William Laud

Archbishop William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. He pursued a High Church course and opposed Radical Reformation of Puritanism....
, archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
, codified the university statutes; these to a large extent remained the university's governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the university press
Oxford University Press

Oxford University Press is a publisher and a department of the University of Oxford in England. It is the largest university press in the world, being larger than all the American university presses combined with Cambridge University Press....
, and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest library in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library....
, the main library of the university.
John Speed's Map of Oxford, 1605
The university was a centre of the Royalist
Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Roundheads for a Royalist supporter of Charles I of England during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert of the Rhine, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier....
 Party during the English Civil War
English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
 (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian
Roundhead

"Roundheads" was the nickname given to the Puritan supporters of Parliament of England during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they were the supporters of Oliver Cromwell against Charles I of England ....
 cause. Soldier-statesman Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English people Military history of the United Kingdom and Politics of England leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, chancellor of the university from 1650 to 1657, was responsible for preventing both Oxford and Cambridge from being closed down by the Puritan
Puritan

A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group pietism....
s, who viewed university education as dangerous to religious beliefs. From the mid-18th century onward, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.

Administrative reforms during the 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent
English Dissenters

English Dissenters were English people Christians who separated from the Church of England. They opposed State interference in religious matters, and founded their own communities in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries....
, and the establishment of four colleges for women. Women have been eligible to be full members of the university and have been entitled to take degrees since 7 October 1920. Although Oxford's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century and now attaches equal importance to scientific
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 and medical
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 studies.

The list of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to British politics
Politics of the United Kingdom

The politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland takes place in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the British monarchy is head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the United Kingdom is the head of government....
, the sciences, medicine, and literature. More than forty Nobel laureates and more than fifty world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford.

Organisation

As a collegiate university
Collegiate university

A collegiate university is a university whose functions are divided between the central administration of the university and a number of constituent colleges....
, Oxford's structure can be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. The university is essentially a federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
: it comprises over forty self-governing colleges
Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 religious Permanent Private Halls , which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university....
 and halls
Permanent Private Hall

A Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university — not as a constituent college, but able to present students for Oxford University degrees....
, along with a central administration headed by the Vice-Chancellor
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford

File:HenryLiddell.jpgFile:JohnHood20050317 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpgThe following people have been Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford:* 1230 – Elyas de Daneis...
. The academic departments are located centrally within this structure; they are not affiliated to any particular college. The departments perform research, provide facilities for teaching and research, organise lectures and seminars, and determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students. Colleges then organise the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates. The members of an academic department are spread around many colleges; though certain colleges do have subject strengths (e.g. Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), they are the exception, and most colleges will have a broad mix of academics and students from a diverse range of subjects. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels: by the central university (the Bodleian), by the departments (individual departmental libraries, such as the English Faculty Library), and by colleges (all of which maintain a multi-discipline library for the use of their members).
Sheldonian Theatre Oxford

Central governance

The university's formal head is the Chancellor
List of Chancellors of the University of Oxford

Chancellor s of the University of Oxford include::1224 Robert Grosseteste :1231 Ralph Cole :1231 Ralph de Maidstone:1231 Richard Batchden:1233 Ralph Cole :1238 Simon de Bovill:1239 John de Rygater:1240 Richard of Chichester:1240 Ralph de Heyham:1244 Simon de Bovill:1246 Gilbert de Biham:1252 Ralph de Sempringham:1255 William de Lodelawe:1256...
 (currently Lord Patten), though as with most British universities, the Chancellor is a titular figure, rather than someone involved with the day-to-day running of the university. Elected by the members of Convocation
Convocation

A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.In some Universities for example, the term "convocation" refers specifically to the entirety of the alumni of the university, which function as one of the university's representative bodies....
, a body comprising all graduates of the university, the Chancellor holds office until death.

The Vice-Chancellor
List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford

File:HenryLiddell.jpgFile:JohnHood20050317 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpgThe following people have been Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford:* 1230 – Elyas de Daneis...
, currently Dr John Hood
John Hood

John Hood has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 5 October 2004. He is the first Vice-Chancellor to be elected from outside Oxford's academic body, and the first to have addressed the scholars' congregation via a webcast.....
, is the de facto head of the University. Five Pro-Vice-Chancellors have specific responsibilities for Education; Research; Planning and Resources; Development and External Affairs; and Personnel and Equal Opportunities. The University Council is the executive policy-forming body, which consists of the Vice-Chancellor as well as heads of departments and other members elected by Congregation, in addition to observers from the Student Union. Congregation
Congregation (university)

A congregation is a formal meeting of senior members of a university, especially in the United Kingdom.Examples include the Regent House in the University of Cambridge, and the House of Congregation and the Ancient House of Congregation in the University of Oxford....
, the ‘parliament of the dons’, comprises over 3,700 members of the University’s academic and administrative staff, and has ultimate responsibility for legislative matters: it discusses and pronounces on policies proposed by the University Council. Oxford and Cambridge (which is similarly structured) are unique for this democratic form of governance.

Two university proctors
Proctor

Proctor, an English variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory....
, who are elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, supervise undergraduate discipline. The collection of University Professors is called the Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford. They are particularly influential in the running of the graduate programmes within the University. Examples of Statutory Professors are the Chichele Professorship
Chichele Professorship

The Chichele Professorships are statutory professorships at the University of Oxford named in honour of Henry Chichele , an Archbishop of Canterbury and founder of All Souls College, Oxford....
s and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy. The various academic faculties, departments, and institutes are organised into four divisions, each with their own Head and elected board. They are the Humanities Division; the Social Sciences Division; the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division; and the Medical Sciences Division.

Colleges

There are 38 colleges of the University of Oxford
Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 religious Permanent Private Halls , which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university....
 and 6 Permanent Private Hall
Permanent Private Hall

A Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university — not as a constituent college, but able to present students for Oxford University degrees....
s, each with its own internal structure and activities. All students, and most academic staff, are affiliated with a college. The heads of Oxford colleges are known by various titles, according to the college, including warden, provost, principal, president, rector, master or dean. The colleges join together as the Conference of Colleges to discuss policy and to deal with the central University administration. Teaching members of the colleges (fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons (though the term is rarely used by members of the university itself). In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon the departments.

Teaching and degrees

Undergraduate teaching is centred upon the tutorial, where 1-4 students spend an hour with an academic discussing their week’s work, usually an essay (arts) or problem sheet (sciences). Students usually have around two tutorials a week, and can be taught by academics at any other college - not just their own - as expertise and personnel requires. These tutorials are complemented by lectures, classes and seminars, which are organised on a departmental basis. Graduate students undertaking taught degrees are usually instructed through classes and seminars, though naturally there is more focus upon individual research.

The university itself is responsible for conducting examinations and conferring degrees. The passing of two sets of examinations is a prerequisite for a first degree. The first set of examinations, called either Honour Moderations (‘Mods’ and ‘Honour Mods’) or Preliminary Examinations (‘Prelims’), are usually held at the end of the first year (after two terms for those studying Law, Experimental Psychology or Psychology, Philosophy and Physiology or after five terms in the case of Classics). The second set of examinations, the Final Honour School (‘Finals’), is held at the end of the undergraduate course. Successful candidates receive first-, upper or lower second-, or third-class honours based on their performance in Finals. Research degrees at the master's and doctoral level are conferred in all subjects studied at graduate level at the university.

Tom Quad, Christ Church 2004 01 21

Academic year

The academic year is divided into three terms
Academic term

An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called 'terms', 'semesters', academic quarter , or 'trimesters', depending on the institution and the country....
, determined by Regulations. Michaelmas Term
Michaelmas term

Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following United Kingdom and Ireland universities:*University of Cambridge...
 lasts from October to December; Hilary Term
Hilary term

Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's and Dublin University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of Hilary of Poitiers of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term....
 from January to March; and Trinity Term
Trinity term

Trinity term is the name of the third and final term of Oxford University's and Dublin University's academic year. It runs from about mid April to about the end of June and is named after Trinity Sunday, which falls eight weeks after Easter, in May or June....
 from April to June.

Within these terms, Council determines for each year eight-week periods called Full Term
Full Term

Full Term in the universities of University of Oxford and University of Cambridge refers to the eight weeks within the longer academic term during which lectures are given and students are required to be in residence....
s, during which undergraduate teaching takes place. These terms are shorter than those of many other British universities. Undergraduates are also expected to prepare heavily in the three vacations (known as the Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
, Easter
Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
 and Long Vacations).

Internally at least, the dates in the term are often referred to by a number in reference to the start of each full term, thus the first week of any full term is called "1st week" and the last is "8th week". The numbering of the weeks continues up to the end of the term, and begins again with negative numbering from the beginning of the succeeding term, through "minus first week" and "noughth week", which precedes "1st week". Weeks begin on a Sunday. Undergraduates must be in residence from Thursday of 0th week.

Finances

In 2005/06 the University had income of £609m, and the colleges £237m (of which £41m is a flow-through from the University). For the University, key sources were HEFCE (£166m) and research grants (£213m). For the colleges, the largest single source was endowments and interest (£82m) and residential charges (£47m). While the University has the larger operating budget, the colleges have a far larger aggregate endowment, at around £2.7bn compared to the University's £900m.

Admission


Procedure


The admission process for undergraduates is undertaken by the individual colleges, working with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place at the University regardless of whether they are accepted by their preferred college. Selection is based on achieved and predicted exam results; candidate-submitted written work; interviews, which are held between applicants and college tutors; and, in some subjects, written admission tests prior to interview. Personal statements and school references are also considered. Prospective students apply through the UCAS
UCAS

UCAS is a clearing house for applications to almost all full-time undergraduate academic degree at British universities and colleges....
 application system, in common with all British universities, but (along with applicants for Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
) must observe an earlier deadline. Because of the high volume of applications and the direct involvement of the faculty in admissions, students are not permitted to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year, with the exception of applicants for Organ Scholarships
Organ scholar

An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at an institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and administrative experience....
 and those applying to read for a second undergraduate degree.

The decentralised, college-based nature of the admissions procedure necessitates a number of mechanisms to ensure that the best students are offered admission to the University, regardless of whether the college they originally applied to can accommodate them. As such, colleges can 'pool' candidates to other colleges, whereby candidates can be interviewed at and/or offered admission to another college. Some applicants are also awarded an 'open offer', which does not carry an attachment to a particular college until A Level results day in August. The colleges have recently signed up to what they call a 'common framework' outlining the principles and procedures they observe.

Undergraduate and graduate students may name preferred colleges in their applications. For undergraduate students, an increasing number of departments practice college reallocation to ensure that the ratio between potential students and subject places available at all colleges are as uniform as possible. Students who named colleges which are over-subscribed are reallocated to under-subscribed colleges for their subjects. For the Department of Physics, college reallocation is done on a random basis after a shortlist of candidates is drawn up and before candidates are invited for interviews at the university. As a result of this, the college eventually offering a candidate a place to read a subject may not be the one he/she originally applied to.

For graduate students, many colleges express a preference for candidates who will be undertaking research in an area of interest of one of its fellows. St Hugh's College, for example, states that it accepts graduate students in most subjects, principally those in the fields of interest of the Fellows of the college. Perhaps as a consequence of this, it is not uncommon for a graduate student to be a member of his/her supervisor's college, although this is not an official university requirement. For graduate students, admission is first handled by the relevant department, and then by a college.
Oxf Uni Mus Nh

Access

Despite the University's claims that its admissions policies avoid bias against candidates of certain socioeconomic or educational backgrounds, the fairness of Oxford admissions have continued to attract considerable public controversy through episodes such as the Laura Spence Affair
Laura Spence Affair

The Laura Spence Affair was a United Kingdom political controversy in 2000, ignited after the failure of high-flying state school pupil Laura Spence to secure a place at the University of Oxford....
 in 2000. Oxbridge entrance remains a central focus for many private and selective-state schools, and the lack of a more representative social mix at the university remains a point of national controversy. In 2007, the University refined its admissions procedure to take into account the academic performance of applicants' schools. A study showed that "[a] student in a state school is as likely to go on to a leading university as a student from the independent sector who gets two grades lower at A-level".

Students who apply from state school
State school

State school is an expression used in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to distinguish schools provided by the government from private school....
s and colleges have a comparable acceptance rate to those from independent school
Independent school

An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the investment yield of an financial endowment....
s (25% and 32% of applicants accepted respectively, 2006). However, most pupils who are accepted from state schools come from "elite" grammar and selective schools, rather than comprehensives
Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a secondary school and State school for children from the age of 11 to at least 16 that does not select children on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude....
. About half of applications come from the state sector, and the University of Oxford funds many initiatives to attract applicants from this sector, including the Oxford Access Scheme, Target Schools, and the FE Access Initiative. Most colleges also run their own access schemes and initiatives.
Ashmolean
Mature and part-time students are supported by the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education
Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

Oxford University Department for Continuing Education is a department within the University of Oxford that caters mainly for part-time and mature students....
.

Scholarships and financial support

There are many opportunities for students at Oxford to receive financial help during their studies. The Oxford Opportunity Bursaries, introduced in 2006, are university-wide means-based bursaries available to any British undergraduate. With a total possible grant of £10,235 over a 3-year degree, it is the most generous bursary
Bursary

A bursary is strictly an office for a bursar and his or her staff in a school or college.In modern English usage, the term has become synonymous with "bursary award", a Money award made by an institution to an individual or a group to assist the development of their education or research, intended to cover course related costs such as books...
 scheme offered by any British university. In addition, individual colleges also offer bursaries and funds to help their students. For graduate study, there are many scholarships attached to the University, available to students from all sorts of backgrounds, from the famous Rhodes Scholarships to the new Weidenfeld Scholarships. In October 2007, it was announced that Oxford would be launching a fund-raising campaign with a goal in excess of £1 billion. Of the money raised, approximately one quarter is expected to go towards student financial support.

Students successful in early examinations are rewarded by their colleges with scholarship
Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a Student financial aid award for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award....
s and exhibitions
Exhibition (scholarship)

At the universities of University of Dublin, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, and at Westminster School and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit....
, normally the result of a long-standing endowment, although when tuition fees were first abolished, the amounts of money available became purely nominal. Scholars, and exhibitioners in some colleges, are entitled to wear a more voluminous undergraduate gown; "commoners" (originally those who had to pay for their "commons", or food and lodging) being restricted to a short, sleeveless garment. The term "scholar" in relation to Oxbridge, therefore, had a specific meaning as well as the more general meaning of someone of outstanding academic ability. In previous times, there were "noblemen commoners" and "gentlemen commoners", but these ranks were abolished in the 19th century. "Closed" scholarships, which were accessible only to candidates who fitted specific conditions such as coming from specific schools, exist now only in name.

From the inception of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
 to 1866 one had to belong to that church to receive the BA degree
Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin language Artium Baccalaureus, is an Undergraduate education bachelor's degree awarded for either a course or a program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
 from Oxford, and "dissenters" were only permitted to receive the MA in 1871. Knowledge of Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 was required until 1920, and Latin until 1960. Women were admitted to degrees in 1920.

Collections


Libraries

Oxford's central research library is the Bodleian
Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest library in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library....
, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602. With over 8 million volumes housed on of shelving, it is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library
British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is one of the world's largest List of Research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, Sound recording, patents, databases, maps, stamps, Printmaking, drawings and much mor...
. It is a legal deposit
Legal deposit

Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a Library. The requirement was originally limited to books and journals, but with the advance of technology many countries amended the law to include voice recordings, movies, maps and even internet sites....
 library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the UK. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year. Its main central site consists of the Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Camera

The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the Palladian architecture#English Palladian revival and built in 1737?1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library....
, the Old Schools Quadrangle, the Clarendon Building
Clarendon Building

The Clarendon Building is a landmark Grade I listed building in Oxford, England, owned by the University of Oxford. It was built between 1711 and 1713 to house the Oxford University Press....
, and the New Bodleian Building. A tunnel underneath Broad Street
Broad Street, Oxford

Broad Street is a wide street in Oxford, England. It is famous for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50....
 connects the buildings. There are plans to build a new book depository in Osney Mead, and to remodel the New Bodleian building to better showcase the library’s various treasures (which include a Shakespeare First Folio
First Folio

Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
 and a Gutenberg Bible
Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible is a printed version of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in the fifteenth century....
) as well as temporary exhibitions. Several other libraries, such as the Radcliffe Science Library
Radcliffe Science Library

The Radcliffe Science Library is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford, England.Being officially part of the Bodleian Library, although with a completely separate building, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to receive a copy of all United Kingdom scientif...
 and the Oriental Institute Library, also fall within the Bodleian Group’s remit.

As well as the Bodleian, there are a number of other specialised libraries in Oxford, such as the Sackler Library
Sackler Library

The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the Classics, art history, and Archaeology works belonging to the University of Oxford, England....
 which holds classical collections. In addition, most academic departments maintain their own library, as do all colleges. The University’s entire collection is catalogued by the Oxford Libraries Information System
OLIS

OLIS, the Oxford Libraries Information System, is an online union catalog of books held by the libraries of the University of Oxford, England, which include the Bodleian Library....
, though with such a huge collection, this is an ongoing task. Oxford University Library Services
Oxford University Library Services

Oxford University Library Services oversees libraries at the University of Oxford, England.There are around a hundred libraries holding about 11 million volumes in total....
, the head of which is Bodley’s Librarian, is the governing administrative body responsible for libraries in Oxford. The Bodleian is currently engaged in a mass-digitisation project with Google
Google

Google Inc. is an United States public company, earning revenue from AdWords related to its Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Apps, Orkut, and YouTube services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the Google Search Appliance....
.
See also: :Category:Libraries in Oxford
Pitt Rivers M2

Museums

Oxford maintains a number of museums and galleries in addition to its libraries. The Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum. Its first building is sometimes attributed to Christopher Wren, though there is no good evidence for this claim, and was built in 1678?1683 to house the collection or cabinet of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677....
, founded in 1683, is the oldest museum in the UK, and the oldest university museum in the world. It holds significant collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo
Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer....
, Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italy polymath, being a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, Painting, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
, Turner
J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner Royal Academy was an English Romanticism Landscape art, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism....
, and Picasso
Pablo Picasso

Pablo Diego Jos? Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Mar?a de los Remedios Cipriano de la Sant?sima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso was a Spanish people Painting, drawing, and Sculpture....
, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead
Scorpion Macehead

The Scorpion mace head refers to a decorated ancient Egyptian mace head found by United Kingdom archeologists James E. Quibell and Frederick W....
, the Parian Marble
Parian Chronicle

The Parian Marble is a ancient Greece chronology, covering the years from 1581 BC to 264 BC. Found on the island of P?ros in two sections, and sold in Smyrna to an agent for Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, this inscription was deciphered by John Selden and published among the Arundel Marbles, Marmora Arundelliana nos....
 and the Alfred Jewel
Alfred Jewel

The Alfred Jewel is an Anglo-Saxon art dating from the late 9th century, first discovered in 1693.The Alfred Jewel was made in the reign of Alfred the Great and is inscribed "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN", meaning "Alfred ordered me made"....
. It also contains "The Messiah
Messiah Stradivarius

The Messiah-Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona.The Messiah, sobriquet Le Messie, remained in the Stradivarius workshop until his death in 1737....
", a pristine Stradivarius violin, regarded by some as one of the finest examples in existence. The Ashmolean is scheduled to complete a £49m redevelopment in 2009, doubling the display space as well as providing new facilities.

The Museum of Natural History
Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England....
 holds the University’s anatomical and natural history specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road
Parks Road

Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England. It runs north-south between the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end and the junction with Broad Street, Oxford, Holywell Street and Catte Street to the south....
, in the University’s Science Area
Science Area, Oxford

The Science Area in Oxford, England is where most of the science departments at Oxford University are located.The main part of the Science Area is located to the south of the University Parks and to the north of South Parks Road, bounded by Parks Road to the west....
. Among its collection are the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. The famous species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture around the world....
 and triceratops
Triceratops

Triceratops is an extinct genus of herbivore Ceratopsidae dinosaur which lived during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period , around 68 to 65 mya in what is now North America....
, and the most complete remains of a dodo
Dodo

The dodo was a flightless bird Endemism to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to Columbidae, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit and nesting on the ground....
 found anywhere in the world. It also hosts the Simonyi
Charles Simonyi

Charles Simonyi is a Hungary computer software executive who, as head of Microsoft's application software group, oversaw the creation of Microsoft Office....
 Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science, currently held by Marcus du Sautoy
Marcus du Sautoy

Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Formerly a Fellow#Academic use of All Souls College, and Wadham College, he is now a Fellow of New College Oxford....
.

Oxford Botanic Garden in Autumn 2004
Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum
Pitt Rivers Museum

The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeology and anthropology collections of the University of Oxford. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed through that building....
, founded in 1884, which displays the University’s archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items. It recently built a new research annexe; its staff have been involved with the teaching of anthropology at Oxford since its foundation, when as part of his donation General Augustus Pitt Rivers stipulated that the University establish a lectureship in anthropology.

The Museum of the History of Science
Museum of the History of Science, Oxford

The Museum of the History of Science, located in Broad Street, Oxford, Oxford, is home to an unrivalled collection of scientific instruments from medieval times to the 17th century....
 is housed on Broad St in the world’s oldest-surviving purpose-built museum building. It contains 15,000 artifacts, from antiquity to the 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science
History of science

Science is a body of empirical knowledge, theory, and Procedural knowledge knowledge about the Nature, produced by a global community of researchers making use of scientific methods, which emphasize the observation, experimentation and scientific explanation of real world phenomenon....
. In the Faculty of Music on St Aldate's
St Aldate's, Oxford

St Aldate's is a street in central Oxford, England. It is named after Aldate. It runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax, Oxford....
 is the Bate Collection
Bate Collection

The Bate Collection of Musical Instruments is a collection of historic musical instruments, mainly for Western classical music, from the medieval period onwards....
 of Musical Instruments, a collection mostly comprising of instruments from Western classical music, from the medieval period onwards. The Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in the UK, and the third-oldest scientific garden in the world. It contains representatives from over 90% of the world’s higher plant families. Christ Church Picture Gallery
Christ Church Picture Gallery

Christ Church Picture Gallery is a picture gallery at Christ Church, Oxford, Oxford, England. The gallery holds an important collection of about 200 Old Master paintings and nearly 2,000 drawings....
 holds a collection of over 200 old master
Old Master

"Old Master" is a term for a European painting of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such a painter. An "old master print" is an original printmaking made by an artist in the same period....
 paintings.
See also: :Category:Museums in Oxford


Reputation

In the subject tables of the Times Good University Guide 2008, Oxford is ranked as the top university in the UK with Cambridge as the second. Oxford is ranked first in Politics, Physiological Sciences, English, Fine Art, Business Studies
Business

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
, Materials technology, Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
ern and African Studies
African studies

African studies is the study of Africa, and can encompass such fields as social development and economic development, politics, history, culture, sociology, anthropology or linguistics....
, Music, Philosophy, and also Education and Linguistics which it shares first with Cambridge. Oxford comes second after Cambridge in a further seventeen subjects. The University then takes three third-places and an equal-third, as well as a fourth, fifth, and equal-sixth place in one subject each.

In the Guardian's subject tables for institutions in tariff-band 6 (universities whose prospective students are expected to score 400 or more tariff points) Oxford took first place for Anatomy and Physiology, Anthropology, Biosciences, Business and Management Studies
Management

Management in business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leadership or directing, and Control an organization or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal....
, Earth and Marine Sciences
Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics, including marine organisms and ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemi...
, Economics
Economics

File:Ballard Farmers' Market - vegetables.jpgEconomics is the Social sciences that studies the Production theory basics, Distribution , and Consumption of Good and Service ....
, English, Law, Materials and Mineral Engineering, Modern Languages
Modern language

A modern language is any human language that is currently in use.The term is used in a language education context to distinguish between languages such as French language and German language, which are spoken by millions of people and are learned for their usefulness as tools of communication or lingua franca, and classical languages such...
, Music, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology. Oxford came second to Cambridge in Geography, Archaeology, Classics, History, History of Art
History of art

The history of art usually refers to the history of the visual arts of painting, sculpture and architecture as well as architecture. It is the history of one of the fine arts, others of which are the performing arts and literary arts....
, Mathematics, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies
Religious studies

Religious studies, or Religious education, is the academia field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religion beliefs, behaviors, and institutions....
. Oxford came second in General Engineering, and third in Fine Art, General Engineering and Physics; fourth place in Chemistry and Medicine; sixth place in Computer Science and IT.

According to the 2008 THES - QS World University Rankings
THES - QS World University Rankings

The THE - QS World University Rankings is an annual publication that ranks the "Top 200 World Universities", and is published by Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds ....
 Oxford is rated 4th in the world, behind Harvard, Yale and Cambridge, making it the 2nd best university in Europe.

Oxford is one of four UK universities that belong to the Coimbra Group
Coimbra Group

The Coimbra Group is a network of European universities that gathers 38 universities, some of which are among the oldest and most prestigious in Europe....
, one of four UK universities that belong to the League of European Research Universities
League of European Research Universities

According to its mission statement, the League of European Research Universities is "a group of European research-intensive university committed to the values of high quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research."...
, and one of three UK universities that belong to both. It is the only UK university to belong to the Europaeum
Europaeum

The Europaeum is a loose organisation of ten leading European university. It was conceived of in 1990-1991 by George Weidenfeld and Sir Ronnie Grierson to support the ?advancement of education through the encouragement of European studies in the University of Oxford and other European institutions of higher education having links with Oxford?...
 group.

League table rankings

UK University Rankings
League tables of British universities

League tables of British universities which rank the performances of universities in the United Kingdom on a number of criteria, have been published every year by The Times newspaper and several other newspapers since October 1992....
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993
Times Good University Guide 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd
Guardian University Guide 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd         
Sunday Times University Guide  2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd     
Daily Telegraph   2nd    4th 4th         
Independent / Complete 1st 2nd               
FT       2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd     


World Universities
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
THES - QS World University Rankings
THES - QS World University Rankings

The THE - QS World University Rankings is an annual publication that ranks the "Top 200 World Universities", and is published by Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds ....
4th =2nd 3rd 4th 5th N/A
Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University?s Institute of Higher Education and includes major institutes of higher education ranked according to a formula that took into account alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals , staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals , ?highly-cited researchers...
10th 10th 10th 10th 8th 9th


Notable alumni and academics


There are many famous Oxonians, as alumni of the University are known:

25 British Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the head of government Her Majesty's Government....
 have attended Oxford (including William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Liberal Party statesman and four times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ....
, Herbert Asquith
H. H. Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Queen's Counsel served as the Liberal Party Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916....
, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Fellow of the Royal Society was a British people politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955....
, Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, Order of Merit, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, Order of the Garter, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was one of the most prominent British politicians of the later half of the 20th century....
, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Fellow of the Royal Society was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990....
 and Tony Blair
Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007....
). At least 25 other international leaders have been educated at Oxford. This number includes King Harald V of Norway
Harald V of Norway

}|-||}Harald V is the King of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V of Norway on 17 January 1991....
, King Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II of Jordan

Abdullah II bin al-Hussein is the current List of Kings of Jordan of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father Hussein of Jordan....
, three Prime Ministers of Australia (John Gorton
John Gorton

Sir John Grey Gorton, Order of St Michael and St George, Order of Australia, Order of the Companions of Honour , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia....
, Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser, Order of Australia, Order of the Companions of Honour is an Australian Liberal Party of Australia politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia....
 and Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee Hawke, Order of Australia was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia and longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
) two Prime Ministers of India (Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh is the 17th and current Prime Minister of India of the Republic of India. He also serves as the Ministry of Finance , succeeding P....
 and Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977and for a fourth term from 1980 until her Assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, a total of fifteen years....
) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party , a centre-left List of political parties in Pakistan. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim world, having twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan ....
 of Pakistan, Norman Washington Manley (Prime Minister of Jamaica), Eric Williams
Eric Williams

Eric Eustace Williams was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago of Trinidad and Tobago. He served from 1956 until his death in 1981. He was also a noted Caribbean historian....
 (Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1962-1981) and noted Historian) and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
, the first President of the United States to attend Oxford (he attended as a Rhodes Scholar). . The Burmese democracy activist and Nobel Laureate
List of Nobel laureates

The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institute, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in the fields of Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiolo...
 Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi Companion of the Order of Australia ; born 19 June 1945 in Rangoon, is a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, and a noted prisoner of conscience and advocate of nonviolence resistance....
 was a student of St Hugh's College. Including Aung San Suu Kyi, 47 Nobel prize
Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
 winners have studied or taught at Oxford.

Oxford has also produced at least 12 saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
s, and 86 Archbishops of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
, including the current incumbent Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams

Rowan Douglas Williams is an Anglican Communion bishop and theologian. He is the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003....
 (who studied at Wadham College and was later a Canon Professor at Christ Church
Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church , is one of the largest Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford....
). Another religious figure was Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi

Shogh? Effend? Rabb?n? , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bah?'? Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957....
, one of the appointed leaders of the Baha'i Faith
Bahá'í Faith

The 'Bah?'? Faith' is a monotheism religion founded by Bah?'u'll?h in nineteenth-century Persian Empire#Persia and Europe , emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind....
. Some fifty Olympic medal winners have academic connections with the university, including Sir Matthew Pinsent
Matthew Pinsent

Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent Order of the British Empire is an English Sport rowing champion, four-time Olympic Games gold medallist and broadcaster....
, quadruple gold medallist rower. T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British people soldier renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18....
 was a student at Jesus College
Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had a financial endowment of ?119m....
, while other illustrious members have ranged from the explorer, courtier, and man of letters Sir Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh, was a famed English writer, poet, soldier, courtier and explorer.Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne....
 (who attended Oriel College
Oriel College

Oriel College, located in Oriel Square, Oxford, is the fifth oldest of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
, though left without taking a degree) to the media magnate Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch, Order of Australia, Order of St. Gregory the Great , usually known as Rupert Murdoch, is an Australian-born International Mass media business magnate....
. The founder of Methodism
Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by John Wesley and his younger brother Charles Wesley that sought to keep Methodism as a Revivalism movement within the Church of England....
, John Wesley
John Wesley

John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and Christian Christian theologian who founded the Arminianism Methodism. The Wesley Methodist Movement began when Wesley took over open-air preaching started by George Whitefield at Hanham, Kingswood, and Bristol....
, studied at Christ Church and was elected a fellow of Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford

Lincoln College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College, Oxford and, lying on Turl Street as it is, is the second oldest of the three Turl Street Colleges ....
.

Amongst the long list of writers associated with Oxford are Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho...
, Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll , was an England author, mathematics, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer....
, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963....
, Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish people playwright, Irish poetry and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest Celebrity of his day....
, C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as Jack, was an academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist....
, J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Order of the British Empire was an English people English literature, poetry, Philology, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion....
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene

Henry Graham Greene Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour was an English writer best known as a novelist, but who also produced short stories, plays, screenplays, travel writing and criticism....
, Phillip Pullman, Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth , born June 20, 1952 is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist....
 and Plum Sykes
Plum Sykes

Victoria "Plum" Sykes is a united Kingdom-born fashion-writer, novelist and New York City socialite. "Plum" was a childhood nickname ....
, the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major England Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among the finest Lyric poetry in the English language....
, John Donne
John Donne

John Donne was an England Literature in English#Jacobean literature poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period....
, A. E. Housman
A. E. Housman

Alfred Edward Housman , usually known as A. E. Housman, was an England classics and poet, best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad....
, W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden who signed his works W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century....
, and Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin

Philip Arthur Larkin, Order of the Companions of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature , was a UK poet, novelist and jazz critic....
, and Poets Laureate
Poet Laureate

A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events....
 Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton

Thomas Warton was an England literary historian and critic, as well as a poet. From 1785 through 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England....
, Henry James Pye
Henry James Pye

Henry James Pye was an England poet. Pye was Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. He was the first poet laureate to receive a fixed salary of ?27 instead of the historic tierce of Canary wine ....
, Robert Southey
Robert Southey

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic poetry school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843....
, Robert Bridges
Robert Bridges

Robert Seymour Bridges, Order of Merit , was an English poet, and poet laureate from 1913 to 1930....
, Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis

Cecil Day-Lewis Order of British Empire was an Ireland-born poet, as well as Poet Laureate for United Kingdom between 1968 to 1972, and, under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake, a mystery writer....
, Sir John Betjeman
John Betjeman

Sir John Betjeman, Order of the British Empire was an English poet, writer and Broadcasting who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack"....
, and Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion

Andrew Motion, Royal Society of Literature, is an England poet, novelist and biographer, who is the current Poet Laureate in the United Kingdom....
.

Some contemporary scientists include Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy is a British Theoretical physics....
, Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins

Clinton Richard Dawkins, Royal Society#Fellowship, Royal Society of Literature is a United Kingdom ethology, evolutionary biology and popular science author....
 and Nobel prize-winner Anthony James Leggett
Anthony James Leggett

Sir Anthony James Leggett, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society, , is John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign....
, and Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee

Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, Order of Merit, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of Arts is an English people computer scientist and MIT professor credited with inventing the World Wide Web....
, co-inventor of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a very large set of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a Web browser, one can view Web pages that may contain writing, s, videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them using hyperlinks....
.

Actors Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant

Hugh John Mungo Grant is a British people actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary C?sar. His movies have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide....
, Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale

Kathryn "Kate" Bailey Beckinsale is an England actress, known for her roles in the films Pearl Harbor , Underworld , Van Helsing , The Aviator , Underworld: Evolution and Click ....
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore Order of the British Empire was an English people actor, comedian and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s and became famous as half of the hugely popular television double-act he formed with Peter Cook....
, Michael Palin
Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, Order of the British Empire is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his Travel documentary....
, and Terry Jones
Terry Jones

Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Wales comedian, screenwriter and actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator and TV documentary host....
 were undergraduates at the University, as were Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck is an Academy Award-winning Germany Film director and screenwriter....
 and film-maker Ken Loach
Ken Loach

Kenneth Loach , commonly known as Ken Loach, is an English film director and television director director. He is known for his naturalistic, social realism directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness and Labor rights ....
. Sportspeople who have attended the university include Imran Khan.

More complete information on famous senior and junior members of the University can be found in the individual college
Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 religious Permanent Private Halls , which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university....
 articles (an individual may be associated with two or more colleges, as an undergraduate, postgraduate, and/or member of staff).

Affiliates and other institutions

Well-known organisations and institutions officially connected with the University include:
Unichurchoxford20040124copyrightkaihsutai
Worc College   Mkung Personal

Departments

See: :Category:Departments of the University of Oxford


Clubs and societies

  • Oxford Atheist Society
    Oxford Atheist Society

    The Oxford Atheist Society is a student society for members of the University of Oxford who describe themselves as Atheism. The society aims to introduce and promote the idea of atheism in the university and elsewhere....
  • Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club
    Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club

    The Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club is the boxing club of the University of Oxford, England, located in Oxford. The club was founded in 1881....
  • Oxford University Student Union
    Oxford University Student Union

    The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford, representing the interests of its members to the university and the outside world....
  • Oxford Union Society (debating society)
  • Oxford University Dramatic Society
    Oxford University Dramatic Society

    The Oxford University Dramatic Society is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England....
  • Oxford University Cricket Club
    Oxford University Cricket Club

    Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England....
     - Cricket team whose matches are accorded First Class Status. Participates in The University Match
    The University Match (cricket)

    The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club....
  • Oxford University Boat Club
    Oxford University Boat Club

    The Oxford University Boat Club is the Sport rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....
     (rowing club participating in the Boat Race
    The Boat Race

    The Boat Race, also known as the University Boat Race and The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club....
    )
  • Oxford University RFC
    Oxford University RFC

    The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. They contest The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University R.U.F.C....
     (rugby club participating in the Varsity Match
    The Varsity Match

    The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of University of Oxford and University of Cambridge in England....
    )
  • Oxford University A.F.C.
    Oxford University A.F.C.

    Oxford University Association Football Club is an England football club representing the University of Oxford....
     (association football club)
  • Oxford University Newman Society
    Oxford University Newman Society

    For Newman Centers around North America see Newman Centre.The Oxford University Newman Society is Oxford University's oldest Roman Catholic organisation....
     (Catholic speaker and debating society)
  • Oxford University Conservative Association
    Oxford University Conservative Association

    The Oxford University Conservative Association is a student political organisation founded in 1924 whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford....
  • Oxford University Labour Club
    Oxford University Labour Club

    Oxford University Labour Club was founded in 1919 to provide a voice for Labour Party values and for socialism at Oxford University, England....
  • Oxford University Ski and Snowboard Club (Governing club of The Varsity Trip
    Varsity Trip

    The Varsity Trip is the official annual Oxford and Cambridge Ski and Snowboard trip. It was started as the facilitator of the University Sporting Blue Skiing Races between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in 1922; at this time skiing was an expensive sport and it was almost exclusively attended by the racers and their...
    )
  • Oxford University Psychology Society
    Oxford University Psychology Society

    Oxford University Psychology Society is a student-run society that hosts relevant speakers, social events and careers events for members of Oxford University....
  • Bullingdon Club
    Bullingdon Club

    The Bullingdon Club is a socially exclusive student dining club at Oxford University, without any permanent rooms, infamous for its members' wealth and destructive binges....
See also:
Category:Oxford student societies
Category:Oxford student sports clubs

Media

  • Oxford University Press
    Oxford University Press

    Oxford University Press is a publisher and a department of the University of Oxford in England. It is the largest university press in the world, being larger than all the American university presses combined with Cambridge University Press....
     (world's largest university press)
  • Oxide Radio
    Oxide radio

    Oxide Radio is a student radio station run by members of Oxford University and Oxford Brookes. It was established in 2001 and as Altered Radio made brief forays onto FM in 2004 and 2005 before complications regarding FM licensing and funding forced it onto internet-only broadcast....
     (Student radio
    Campus radio

    Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the station is based....
     station)
  • Isis
    Isis magazine

    Isis is the longest-running independent student magazine in England. It was established at University of Oxford in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell , it was finally acquired by the latter's parent company, OSPL, in the late 1990s....
     (Student publication)
  • Cherwell
    Cherwell (newspaper)

    Cherwell newspaper is a student newspaper published by and for students of Oxford University. First published in 1920, it has had an online edition since 1996....
     (Student publication)
  • The Oxford Student
    The Oxford Student

    The Oxford Student is a newspaper produced by and for members of the University of Oxford; it is sometimes abbreviated to The OxStu. The paper was established in 1992 by the Oxford University Student Union as an alternative to Cherwell newspaper....
     (Student publication)
  • The Triple Helix Oxford
    The Triple Helix

    The Triple Helix, Inc. is a completely student-run 501 non-profit organization with over 1000 student staff from across the world. The organization operates on a chapter-based system with 28 total chapters around the world, including 19 chapters in the United States and 9 more at universities in Europe, Asia, and Australia....
     (Student publication)
  • The Oxonian Review of Books (Graduate student publication)
  • Journal of the Oxford University History Society
    Journal of the Oxford University History Society

    The Journal of the Oxford University History Society The Journal of the Oxford University History Society is the on line peer-reviewed journal associated with the Oxford University History society ....
     (academic journal)


Buildings and parks

  • Sheldonian Theatre
    Sheldonian Theatre

    The Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford....
  • Tom Tower
    Tom Tower

    Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named for its bell, Great Tom. It is over the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford in Tom Quad, on St Aldate's....
  • Radcliffe Camera
    Radcliffe Camera

    The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the Palladian architecture#English Palladian revival and built in 1737?1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library....
  • University Church of St Mary the Virgin
    University Church of St Mary the Virgin

    The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew....
  • Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
    Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

    Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which includes the City of Oxford, England, and the surrounding countryside as far north as Banbury....
  • Oxford University Parks
  • Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum
    University of Oxford Botanic Garden

    University of Oxford Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain, and the third oldest scientific garden in the world, was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research....
  • Rhodes Trust, the centre of the Rhodes Scholarship
    Rhodes Scholarship

    The Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships....


See also:
Category:Buildings and structures in Oxford
Category:Churches in Oxford
Category:Parks and open spaces in Oxford

Other institutions

There are other higher and further education
Further education

Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities ....
 institutions in Oxford, including various independent "colleges", not associated with the University. These include Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University

Oxford Brookes University is a university in Oxford, England....
; Ruskin College, Oxford
Ruskin College, Oxford

Ruskin College is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is named after the essayist and social critic John Ruskin and specialises in providing educational opportunities for adults with few or no qualifications....
 - an adult education
Adult education

Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university....
 college - which, although not part of the University of Oxford, has close links with it; and the former Lady Spencer Churchill teaching college (now the Wheatley campus of Oxford Brookes
Oxford Brookes University

Oxford Brookes University is a university in Oxford, England....
).

The University of Oxford is an Educational Alliance Partner of the Meade 4M Community
Meade 4M Community

Meade 4M Community is the world's first factory-sponsored astronomical society supported by an alliance of astronomy and space exploration organizations and enthusiasts, with a worldwide membership....
 which supports the University's 'Project Jetwatch' program.

Oxford in literature and other media

Oxford University is the setting for numerous works of fiction. Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales referred to a "Clerk [student] of Oxenford": "For him was levere have at his beddes heed/ Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed,/ of Aristotle and his philosophie/ Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie". As of 1989, 533 Oxford-based novels had been identified, and the number continues to rise. Famous literary works range from Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited

Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945....
, by Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho...
, to the trilogy His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy literature by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass ....
 by Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman Order of the British Empire is an England novelist. He is the best-selling author of His Dark Materials , and a number of other books....
, which features an alternate-reality version of the University. Sir Humphrey Appleby, GCB, KBE, MVO, MA (Oxon) attended the fictional Baillie College in Yes Minister
Yes Minister

Yes Minister is a satire British sitcom written by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and BBC Radio between 1980 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series....
, and the Complete Yes Minister book's introduction, dated Sept. 2019 was written from the equally fictitious Hacker College, presumably named for Sir James (or Lady) Hacker, Minister for Administrative Affairs in Yes Minister
Yes Minister

Yes Minister is a satire British sitcom written by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and BBC Radio between 1980 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series....
 and Prime Minister in Yes, Prime Minister, MP for Birmingham South-East. The mention of Oxford is also in The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel by the United States author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published on April 10, 1925, it is set in Long Island's North Shore and New York City during the summer of 1922....
. The character the story revolves around, Jay Gatsby or James Gatz, has supposedly attended Oxford for 5 months. Gatsby: "It was in nineteen-nineteen. I only stayed five months. That's why I can't really call myself an Oxford man."

See also

Also associated with the University:

  • Academic dress of the University of Oxford
    Academic dress of the University of Oxford

    The University of Oxford has a long tradition of academic dress, and a visitor to Oxford during term will see academic dress worn on a regular basis....
  • Oxbridge Scarf Colours
  • Gaudy Celebrations
    Gaudy

    Gaudy or Gaudie is a term used typical to reflect student life in a number of the ancient universities in the United Kingdom. It is generally believed to relate to the traditional student song, De Brevitate Vitae , which is commonly known as the Gaudeamus by virtue of its first line....
  • Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)
    Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)

    Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950....
  • Commemoration Ball
    Commemoration ball

    A Commemoration ball or Commem. ball is a formal Ball held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in the 9th week of Trinity Term, the week after the end of the last Full Term of the academic year, which known as "Commemoration Week"....
    s
  • Encaenia
    Encaenia

    Encaenia is an academic ceremony usually performed at colleges or universities. It generally occurs some time near the annual ceremony for the general conference of degrees to students....
  • May Morning Celebration
  • Boat races: Eights Week
    Eights Week

    Summer Eights is a bumps race that constitutes University of Oxford's main intercollegiate Sport rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May every year, from the Wednesday to the Saturday of the fifth week of Trinity term....
     and Torpids
    Torpids

    Torpids is one of two bumps race held at Oxford University yearly, the other being Eights Week. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1200 participants in total....
    , and the annual Boat Race against Cambridge University
    University of Cambridge

    The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
  • Formal Hall
  • Gaisford Prize
    Gaisford Prize

    The Gaisford Prize is a prize in the University of Oxford, founded in 1855 in memory of Thomas Gaisford . For most of its history, the prize was awarded for Ancient Greek Verse and Prose....
  • Punting
  • Town and gown
    Town and gown

    Town and gown are two distinct communities of a college town; "town" being the non-academic population and "gown" Metonymy being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University of St Andrews, though also in more modern university towns such as University of...
  • Oxbridge rivalry
    Oxbridge rivalry

    The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, collectively known as Oxbridge, are the two List of oldest universities in continuous operation universities in UK....
  • Serial comma
    Serial comma

    The serial comma is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction that precedes the last item in a list of three or more items....
     - also known as the Oxford Comma
  • Oxford '-er'
  • Oxford bags
    Oxford bags

    Oxford bags were a loose-fitting baggy form of trousers favoured by members of the University of Oxford, especially undergraduates, in England during the early 20th century from the 1920s to around the 1950s....
  • Oxford University Police
    Oxford University Police

    The Oxford University Police, or Oxford University Constables , was the private police force of the University of Oxford between 1829 and 2003. They carried warrant cards and were empowered to act as police officers within the University precincts and within areas of Oxford within four miles of any University building....
  • Isis (magazine)
  • The Language Report


Further reading

  • Annan, Noel, The Dons: Mentors, Eccentrics and Geniuses HarperCollins
    HarperCollins

    HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company....
     (London, 1999)
  • Batson, Judy G., Oxford in Fiction, Garland (New York, 1989).
  • Betjeman, John, An Oxford University Chest
    An Oxford University Chest

    An Oxford University Chest is a book about the University of Oxford, written by the poet Sir John Betjeman and first published by John Miles in London in 1938....
    , Miles (London, 1938).
  • Brooke, Christopher and Roger Highfield, Oxford and Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press

    Cambridge University Press is a printer and publisher granted a Royal Letters Patent by Henry VIII of England in 1534. It is the world's oldest continually operating book publisher....
     (Cambridge, 1988).
  • Casson, Hugh, Hugh Casson's Oxford, Phaidon (London, 1988).
  • Catto, Jeremy (ed.), The History of the University of Oxford, Oxford University Press
    Oxford University Press

    Oxford University Press is a publisher and a department of the University of Oxford in England. It is the largest university press in the world, being larger than all the American university presses combined with Cambridge University Press....
     (Oxford, 1994).
  • Clark, Andrew (ed.), , Methuen & C. (London, 1891).
  • De-la-Noy, Michael, Exploring Oxford, Headline (London, 1991).
  • Dougill, John, Oxford in English Literature, University of Michigan
    University of Michigan

    The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan is a public university research university located in the state of Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, which also includes two regional campuses in University of Michigan-Flint and University of Michigan-Dearborn....
     Press (Ann Arbor, 1998).
  • Feiler, Bruce, Looking for Class: Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge, Perennial (New York, 2004).
  • Fraser, Antonia (ed.), Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse, Penguin (London, 1983).
  • Kenny, Anthony & Kenny, Robert, Can Oxford be Improved?, Imprint Academic (Exeter, 2007)
  • Knight, William (ed.), , Blackwell (New York, 1911).
  • Pursglove, Glyn and Alistair Ricketts (eds.), Oxford in Verse, Perpetua (Oxford, 1999).
  • Hibbert, Christopher, The Encyclopaedia of Oxford, Macmillan (Basingstoke, 1988).
  • Horan, David, Cities of the Imagination: Oxford, Signal (Oxford, 2002).
  • Miles, Jebb, The Colleges of Oxford, Constable (London, 1992).
  • Morris, Jan, Oxford, Faber and Faber/OUP (London, 1965/2001).
  • Morris, Jan, The Oxford Book of Oxford, Oxford University Press (Oxford, 2002).
  • Pursglove, G. and A. Ricketts (eds.), Oxford in Verse, Perpetua (Oxford, 1999).
  • Seccombe, Thomas and H. Scott (eds.), In Praise of Oxford (2 vols.), Constable (London, 1912).
  • Snow, Peter, Oxford Observed, John Murray
    John Murray (publisher)

    John Murray was a United Kingdom publishing house, renowned for the roster of authors it has published in its history, including Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Darwin....
     (London, 1991).
  • Tames, Richard, A Traveller's History of Oxford, Interlink (New York, 2002).
  • Thomas, Edward, Oxford, Black (London, 1902).
  • Tyack, Geoffrey, Blue Guide: Oxford and Cambridge, Black (New York, 2004).
  • Tyack, Geoffrey, Oxford: An Architectural Guide, Oxford Univ. Press (Oxford, 1998).


External links