The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University, or simply Oxford) is a university in Oxford, England. It is the second oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although the exact date of its foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back as the 11th century. The University grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. In post-nominals, the University of Oxford was historically abbreviated as Oxon. (from the Latin Oxoniensis), although Oxf is nowadays used in official university publications.
After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge, where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient English universities have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to their cultural and practical associations, as a historic part of British society, they have a long history of rivalry with each other.
Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organized around weekly essay-based tutorials at self-governing colleges and halls, supported by lectures and laboratory classes organized by University faculties and departments. League tables consistently list Oxford as one of the UK's best universities, and Oxford consistently ranks in the world's top 10. For more than a century, it has served as the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, which brings students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as postgraduates or for a second bachelor's degree.
Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the Coimbra Group, the G5, the League of European Research Universities, and the International Alliance of Research Universities. It is also a core member of the Europaeum and forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of British universities.
History
The University of Oxford does not have a known date of foundation. Teaching at Oxford existed in some form in 1096, but it is unclear at what point a university came into being.
The expulsion of foreigners from the University of Paris in 1167 caused many English scholars to return from France and settle in Oxford. The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188, and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the University was named a chancellor from at least 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 or hall became customary in Oxford. Members of many religious orders, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, 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 such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, and John Balliol, father of a future King of Scots: Balliol College bears his name. Another founder, Walter de Merton, a chancellor of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester, devised a series of regulations for college life; Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford, as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students forsook living in halls and religious houses in favour of living in colleges.
The new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among University scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of the Greek language, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the Reformation and the breaking of ties with the Roman Catholic Church, Recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, settling especially at the university of Douai. The method of teaching at Oxford was transformed from the medieval Scholastic method to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues. In 1636, Chancellor William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, codified the university's statutes; these to a large extent remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the University Press, and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library, the main library of the university.
In 1605 Oxford was still a walled city, but several colleges had been built outside the city walls. (North is at the bottom on this map.)
The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause. From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.
An engraving of Christ Church, Oxford, 1742.
The mid nineteenth century saw the impact of the Oxford Movement (1833–1845), led among others by the future Cardinal Newman. The influence of the reformed model of German university reached Oxford via key scholars such as Benjamin Jowett and Max Müller.
Administrative reforms during the 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent, and the establishment of four women's colleges. Twentieth century Privy Council decisions (such as the abolition of compulsory daily worship, dissociation of the Regius professorship of Hebrew from clerical status, diversion of theological bequests to colleges to other purposes) loosened the link with traditional belief and practice. Although the University's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century to encompass scientific and medical studies.
The mid twentieth century saw many distinguished continental scholars, displaced by Nazism and Communism, relocating to Oxford.
The list of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to British politics, the sciences, medicine, and literature. More than forty Nobel laureates and more than fifty world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford.
Access
The University states that its admissions policies avoid bias against candidates of certain socio-economic or educational backgrounds. However, the fairness of Oxford admissions has attracted public controversy through episodes such as the Laura Spence Affair in 2000. Gaining places at Oxford and Cambridge remains a central focus for many private and selective state schools, and the lack of a social mix at the university representing society at large remains a point of controversy. Veiled accusations of racism, however, have been refuted by comparison of A-level results with successful applications. In 2007, the University refined its admissions procedure to take into account the academic performance of its applicants' schools.
Students who apply from state schools and colleges have a broadly comparable acceptance rate to those from independent schools (19% and 24% of applicants accepted respectively, 2010). However, most pupils who are accepted from state schools come from 'elite' grammar and selective schools, rather than comprehensives. More than half of applications come from the state sector, and the University of Oxford funds many initiatives to attract applicants from this sector, including the new UNIQ Summer Schools, Oxford Young Ambassadors, Target Schools, and the FE Access Initiative. Most colleges also run their own access schemes and initiatives.
The Ashmolean is the oldest museum in Britain.
In 2002, the University of Oxford commissioned a research project under the auspices of Professor Anthony Heath.Almost 2,000 applicants for admission participated in the project; about one third of them were admitted. The project found that, if anything, admissions tutors treat applicants from state schools more favourably than applicants from private schools with the same attainment.The research also suggested that this discounting was justified as private school students need higher grades at entry to do as well as their state school educated peers in final university examinations. Finally, the study found that applicants to arts subjects had an advantage in admission when they displayed high levels of cultural capital.
Mature and part-time students are supported by the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education
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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, Middle Eastern and African Studies, 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, Earth and Marine Sciences, Economics, English, Law, Materials and Mineral Engineering, Modern Languages, Music, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology. Oxford came second to Cambridge in Geography, Archaeology, Classics, History, History of Art, Mathematics, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies. Oxford came second in General Engineering, and third in Fine Art, General Engineering and Physics; fourth place in Chemistry and Medicine; second place in Computer Science and IT.
In the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Oxford was ranked 10th in the world and second in Europe. In the 2010 QS World University Rankings Oxford University dropped a place to sixth in the world (while Cambridge University came first), falling from fifth (alongside Imperial College London) in the 2009 THE - QS World University Rankings (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings). It had been consistently in the top five since the rankings began in 2004. In 2009 it had been ranked second in the world for arts and humanities, third in life sciences and biomedicine, third in social sciences, and fifth in natural sciences. Oxford also came second in the world in terms of graduate employability. According to the 2011 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings – based on a survey of 13,388 academics over 131 countries which is the largest evaluation of academic reputation to date – Oxford belongs to the elite group of six universities touted as the 'globally recognised super brands' The other five universities are Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University.
Oxford is one of four UK universities that belong to the Coimbra Group, one of four UK universities that belong to the League of European Research Universities, and one of three UK universities that belong to both. It is the only UK university to belong to the Europaeum group.
Admission
Age
Oxford has no upper or lower limit on the age of those admitted as undergraduates. Historically, it was common for boys to become members of the university between the ages of fourteen and nineteen. Jeremy Bentham matriculated in 1761 at the age of thirteen, which was unusually young. At the present time, the usual age range of those admitted to study for first degrees begins at about seventeen, although the majority are eighteen or nineteen. Mature students, while not in great numbers in all colleges, are a higher proportion of those at Ruskin. In theory, much younger people can still be admitted to the university if they meet the entrance standard, and Ruth Lawrence matriculated at Oxford in 1983 at the age of twelve.
Procedure
The admission process for undergraduates is extremely competitive and is undertaken by the individual colleges, working with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place at the University whichever college they choose. Selection is based on achieved and predicted exam results; candidate-submitted written work; school references; interviews, which are held between applicants and college tutors; and, in some subjects, written admission tests prior to interview. Prospective students apply through the UCAS application system, in common with most British universities, but (along with applicants for Cambridge) 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 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 courses may make "open offers" to some candidates, which do not carry an attachment to a particular college until A Level results day in August. Since 2007 the colleges, faculties and departments have published 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 practise 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. Generally, students from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, as many factors besides academic performance are taken into account during the stringent admission procedure.
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.[46] 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 student admissions, 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.
Central governance
The university's formal head is the Chancellor (currently Lord Patten of Barnes), 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. The Chancellor is elected by the members of Convocation, a body comprising all graduates of the university, and holds office until death.
The Vice-Chancellor, currently Andrew Hamilton, 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, 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, who are elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student welfare and discipline, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. 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 Professorships 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.
The University of Oxford is a "public university" in the sense that it receives a large amount of public money from the government and from local authorities, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds.Central governance
Organisation
As a collegiate university, Oxford's structure can be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. The university is a federation: it comprises over forty self-governing colleges and halls, along with a central administration headed by the Vice-Chancellor. The academic departments are located centrally within this structure; they are not affiliated with any particular college. Departments provide facilities for teaching and research, determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students, perform research, and deliver lectures and seminars. Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates. The members of an academic department are spread around many colleges; though certain colleges do have subject alignments (e.g. Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), these are exceptions, 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 (each of which maintains a multi-discipline library for the use of its members).
Academic year
The academic year is divided into three terms, determined by Regulations. Michaelmas Term lasts from October to December; Hilary Term from January to March; and Trinity Term from April to June.
Within these terms, Council determines for each year eight-week periods called Full Terms, 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 holidays (known as the Christmas, Easter 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
Graduate studies
Graduate Studies Prospectus 2011-12
We hope that our prospectus will inspire you to choose one of the wide variety of graduate programmes that we have to offer and answer any questions you may have about how to apply.
As a graduate student at Oxford, you will join a diverse community of over 7,000 highly intelligent and committed fellow graduates, drawn from over 120 different countries. More than one third of our students are graduate students, who come here to benefit from Oxford’s world-class graduate training. Whether you want to join the next generation of academic researchers and teachers or build successful careers in other fields, Oxford’s outstanding academic staff and facilities will serve as a strong foundation.
Women's education
The University passed a Statute in 1875 allowing its delegates to create preliminary and final examinations at roughly undergraduate level. The first four women's' colleges were established thanks to the activism of the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women (AEW). Lady Margaret Hall (1878) was followed by Somerville College in 1879; the first 21 students from Somerville and LMH attended lectures in rooms above an Oxford baker's shop. The first two colleges for women were followed by St Hugh's (1886), St Hilda's (1893) and St Anne's College (1952). Oxford was long considered a bastion of male privilege, and it was not until 7 October 1920 that women became eligible for admission as full members of the university and were given the right to take degrees . In 1927 a quota of female students was instituted by the University's dons, a ruling not abolished until 1957. However, until the 1970s all Oxford colleges were for men or women only, so that the number of women was effectively limited by the capacity of the women's colleges to admit students. It was not until 1959 that the women's colleges were given full collegiate status.
In 1974, five previously all-male colleges became co-educational. In 2008, St Hilda's became the last of the women's colleges to admit men also, so that all of the Oxford colleges are now co-educational. By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female; the ratio is now about 48:52 in men's favour.
The detective novel "Gaudy Night" by Dorothy Sayers – herself one of the first women to get an academic degree at Oxford – takes place in a (fictional) women's college at Oxford, and the issue of Women's education is central to its plot.
Teaching and degrees
Undergraduate teaching is centered on the tutorial, where 1–4 students spend an hour with an academic discussing their week’s work, usually an essay (humanities, most social sciences, some mathematical, physical, and life sciences) or problem sheet (most mathematical, physical, and life sciences, and some social sciences). Students usually have one or 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 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, Theology, Philosophy and Theology, 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. An upper second is the most usual result, and a first is generally prerequisite for graduate study. A "double first" reflects first class results in both Honour Mods. and Finals. Research degrees at the master's and doctoral level are conferred in all subjects studied at graduate level at the university. As a matter of tradition, bachelor's degree graduates are eligible, after seven years from matriculation and without additional study, to purchase for a nominal fee an upgrade of their bachelor's degree to a "MA" or Master of Arts. All MAs were members of Convocation and until 1913 all resident members of Convocation were members of Congregation. MAs, as members of Convocation, elected the Chancellor and Professor of Poetry, but recently Convocation has been widened to consist of all graduates.
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 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 Rhodes Scholarships to the new Weidenfeld Scholarships.
Students successful in early examinations are rewarded by their colleges with scholarships and exhibitions, 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, available 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 until 1866 membership of the church was a requirement to receive the BA degree from Oxford, and "dissenters" were only permitted to receive the MA in 1871. Knowledge of Ancient Greek was required until 1920, and Latin until 1960. Women were admitted to degrees in 192
xford has more than 100 libraries, nearly 40 of which make up the Bodleian library system. Oxford's central research library is the Bodleian, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602. With over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, it is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library. It is a legal deposit 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, the Old Schools Quadrangle, the Clarendon Building, and the New Bodleian Building. A tunnel underneath Broad Street connects the buildings. There are plans to build a new book depository in Osney Mead, and to remodel the New Bodleian building[65] to better showcase the library’s various treasures (which include a Shakespeare First Folio and a Gutenberg Bible) as well as temporary exhibitions. Several other libraries, such as the Bodleian Law Library, Indian Institute Library, Radcliffe Science Library and the Oriental Institute Library, also fall within the Bodleian’s remit.
As well as the Bodleian, there are a number of other specialised libraries in Oxford, such as the Sackler Library 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, though with such a huge collection, this is an ongoing task. Oxford University Library Services, 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.
Oxford maintains a number of museums and galleries in addition to its libraries. The Ashmolean Museum, 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, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and Picasso, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead, the Parian Marble and the Alfred Jewel. It also contains "The Messiah", a pristine Stradivarius violin, regarded by some as one of the finest examples in existence. The Ashmolean reopened in November 2009, after a £49m redevelopment, doubling the display space as well as providing new facilities.
The Museum of Natural History holds the University’s anatomical and natural history specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road, in the University’s Science Area.[71][72] Among its collection are the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops, and the most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world. It also hosts the Simonyi Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science, currently held by Marcus du Sautoy.
Autumn in the Walled Garden of the Botanic Garden.
Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum, 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 is housed on Broad St in the world’s oldest-surviving purpose-built museum building.[73] It contains 15,000 artifacts, from antiquity to the 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science. In the Faculty of Music on St Aldate's is the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, a collection mostly comprising of instruments from Western classical music, from the medieval period onwards.
