Is Oxford the UK’s top university?

Oxford is the second-oldest university in the world by most reckonings. It is certainly the oldest in the anglosphere. The world rankings consistently put it in the top ten out of thousands of universities in the world. The United Kingdom’s rankings often have it at Number 1 position but sometimes Number 2 or 3.

It is the university that educated Manmohan Singh and Indira Gandhi. Most prime ministers of the UK studied there including the last 6! The King of Norway and the King of the Belgians, the King of Bhutan and the Emperor of Japan are all Oxonians. Other world leaders graduated from Oxford, such as Liaqat Ali Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Bill Clinton, the Prime Minister of Thailand and others.

Oxford is world famous for its fabulous architecture. Its stones have absorbed centuries of youth. It is the setting for countless novels and films.

It was hard to define a university before one had ever existed. There was advanced education for adults in Oxford since the 12th century AD. Is that a university? The word university was only first used in 1231.

There were monasteries full of Christian monks who were the professors and most of the students. The monks took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They lived as brothers and devoted themselves to prayer and charitable work. Education was one of those charitable endeavours. Literacy in England was around 10%. Monks and priests were among that 10% who could read and write.

There were monasteries for different orders of monks: Capuchins, Benedictines, Franciscans and suchlike. They were all groups of Catholic Christians with slightly different rules about what time they prayed, what habit (uniform) they wore and whether they had to be bearded or shave their heads etc… High status monks were addressed by the Latin title dominus (‘master’). That is why Oxford professors are colloquially known as ‘dons’ to this day.

The language of the university was Latin. That is because Christians in Western Europe worshipped in the Latin language. The Church had total control of education. Latin was therefore the international language of education in Western Europe. This meant that Oxford could employ a professor from Poland or buy a book from Croatia, because Latin was the shared academic language. English was felt to be an unimportant peasant language and was hardly ever written.

Most of the students became monks or priests. But some did not and upon graduation became lawyers, civil servants, accountants, doctors, architects, engineers and so forth.

In the 1530s King Henry VIII outlawed Catholicism and adopted a new form of Christianity. He established the Church of England. All Englishmen were required to be Anglicans i.e. adherents of this church. But not all obeyed the law. Oxford University only admitted students who swore that they believed in the Church of England (C of E).

Dons were required to be Church of England priests. The C of E allows its priests to marry. However, Oxford dons were usually not permitted to wed. If a don wished to take a wife, he left the college with its blessing. They would put him in charge of a church somewhere else in the country and this job would come with a large house for him and his bride to fill with babies.

The monasteries that had provided the education in Oxford were turned into colleges. Oxford is a federal system where the colleges are the states and the university the central government.

1871 was a year of major change with a law passed called the University Test Act. The university started to admit students of all religious denominations. Moreover, dons were no longer required to be celibate.

In 1874 Oxford admitted its first non-white student. Christian Cole was a black man from Sierra Leone. Mr. Cole was a celebrity within the university. He later qualified as a barrister and moved to Zanzibar.

In 1878 Oxford admitted women for the first time. It was not the first university in the realm to allow female students. Women were in a tiny minority at first. Females are now 52% of the university.

Today Oxford University is very ethnically diverse. It is 40% non-white as opposed to the UK as whole being only 20% non-white. The biggest non-British nationalities are American, German and Chinese. Over 10% of students at Oxford University are Americans and 10% are Chinese citizens. About 5% of Oxford University students are Indians and more are British Indians. Around 10% of Oxford University students are Muslim.

Oxford is regarded by many as strongly liberal. It has a very visible gay community. There are a lot of transsexual people. The political centre of gravity is very much on the left.

There are 39 colleges and 26,000 students. Some colleges have as few as 50 people studying there, and one has 1,000 students. Most colleges accept undergraduates and postgraduates. A few are postgraduates only. Most colleges offer most subjects. Most colleges are affiliated with the Church of England. But this is vestigial. Students are never required to attend chapel. There are mosques in Oxford.

Oxford offers all major subjects except architecture, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy. Almost any language you can think of is available.

Oxford accepts only 15% of applicants, though this varies widely according to subject. Medicine, law and economics only admit about 5% of applicants. For subjects like philosophy, it is 40%.

Bachelor’s degrees take 3 or 4 years, depending on the subject. Master’s degrees are 1 or 2 years. A doctorate in Oxford is uniquely called a D.Phil. and not a PhD. This takes 4+ years.

American universities are far better funded than Oxford. The US has a bigger tradition of donating to alma mater. Oxford faces significant fiscal headwinds. The junior dons lament that they are underpaid. They are demonstrating and going on strike. Property is very expensive in Oxford. An academic at the University of Durham told me she turned down a job offer at Oxford because the city is too costly. Durham is rated about 10th out of the UK’s 140 universities. But she prefers to live there because it is affordable.

International tuition fees are mostly between GBP 20,000 and GBP 30,000 per annum, depending on the subject. The most expensive course is the one-year MBA costing an eye-watering GBP 79,000.

The university has a glorious reputation for academic excellence. It is home to world-famous professors. Their publications are regarded as invaluable all across the globe.

As the most historic university in the world after Bologna, Oxford unsurprisingly has a world-renowned history faculty. It has over 100 dons, making it the largest history factory on the globe.

The university provides tutorials in small groups: about three undergraduates with a don for a one-hour session. There are lectures too. There are laboratory sessions for scientists, of course.

The City of Oxford is home to 200,000 people and sits astride the River Thames 75 km from London. It is a very pricey city because it is so renowned for the university, its architecture, its superb schools, its excellent hospitals, its many parks, its sports facilities and the splendid countryside that surrounds it. The city is only 50 km from Heathrow, which is the United Kingdom’s busiest airport.

Note that the city also contains Oxford Brookes University, which is NOT part of Oxford University. Oxford Brookes is a totally separate university which happens to be in the same city.

There is a way to study at Oxford University without paying a penny for fees or living costs. Around 100 Rhodes scholarships are awarded every year. Indians are eligible for them. You must already have a degree from any university in the world in any discipline and be under 26 on the date you apply. The Rhodes Trust pays all the fees for the Rhodes Scholars and gives them money to live off. This is a grant and not a loan. A Rhodes Scholar receives this for 3 years.

Cecil Rhodes established the scholarships in his will when he died in 1902. He said the scholarships are for those who will be leaders in future. The criteria are academic excellence, but also communal involvement. Is the candidate engaged in politics and charity work, and does he or she play sports? They would rather have someone who is an excellent student who is involved in his or her community than someone who is academically absolutely outstanding but is not involved in the community. Only 1.5% of applicants receive scholarships.

A BA takes 3 years at Oxford but if you already have a degree in something else it is only 2 years. If you hold a 3-year Rhodes Scholarship you can get a BA in 2 years or maybe do it in the full 3 years if you prefer. There are Master’s degrees that take 1 or 2 years.

Rhodes Scholars may study beyond 3 years in Oxford, but the money runs out after 3 years. They must self-fund for the 4th or subsequent years.