TEACHING
QUALITY
University of Oxford
1
st=
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
91.5%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
98.9%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
11th=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
2nd
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
6th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
University Offices,
Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JD View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
contact the university
University Profile
The margins are only ever slight but this year’s dead heat between Oxford and Cambridge at the top of our league table – the first since 1993 – really does reflect reality most accurately.
Attempts to separate the two institutions are pretty meaningless as both are so far ahead of all other multi-faculty institutions in Britain as to be in a league of their own, and are consistently ranked among the top in the world in every international ranking.
Among our eight league table performance measures, Oxford has a significantly higher spend on student services and facilities but this is the only one of our measures where Oxford is well ahead.
A higher proportion of firsts and 2:1s awarded and slightly more generous staffing levels are the other two areas where Oxford comes out on top. Cambridge leads in four of the indicators, with one – covering completion rates – a dead heat.
In terms of reputation and international standing, there is nothing to choose between the two universities institutionally, although at individual subject level there remain important differences worth
Oxford is the oldest and probably the most famous university in the English-speaking world. The introduction of £9,000 fees had predictably little impact on the demand for places. There were still fewer than six applicants to the place – a much more favourable ratio than at some other leading universities – but 99% of successful candidates achieve at least three As at A-level, or their equivalent.
Some subjects now demand two A* grades and another A at A-level. The university is still struggling to broaden its intake and shake off allegations of social elitism and the latest social indicators suggest Cambridge is making more of an impression in this area. Oxford manages to recruit just 57.4% of its students from state schools, comfortably the smallest proportion of any university, while 63% of Cambridge’s students are now state educated.
However, the long-term growth in demand for places is due, at least partly, to more systematic attempts to get the message through to teenagers that Oxford is open to all who can meet the exacting entrance requirements. Student visits to comprehensive schools have been supplemented by summer schools, recruitment fairs and colleges’ own initiatives, as well as tireless public statements of intent by the university.
For all the university’s efforts to shed itsBrideshead Revisited stereotype, however, official figures still show just one student in nine comes from a working-class home, despite the introduction of generous financial support that will be extended in 2014.
The university expects 15% of its undergraduates to receive some support, with fee waivers bringing the effective rate for students from the poorest homes down to £3,500 in their first year and £6,000 subsequently.
In addition, there will be bursaries of between £500 and £3,300 for students whose parental income is less than £42,600, funded partly by Europe’s biggest-ever donation for student support from alumnus Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman. The university spends £7m a year centrally on bursaries with the individual colleges adding more on top.
Applications must be made by mid October – a month earlier if you wish to be interviewed overseas. There are written tests for some subjects and you may be asked to submit samples of work.
Selection is in the hands of the 30 undergraduate colleges, which vary considerably in their approach to this issue and others. Sound advice on academic strengths and social factors is essential for applicants to give themselves the best chance of winning a place and finding a setting in which they can thrive – the atmosphere and subject mix vary considerably from college to college.
A minority of candidates opt to go straight into the admissions pool without expressing a preference for a particular college. However, the choice of college is particularly important for arts and social science students, whose world-famous individual or small group tuition is based in college.
Science and technology are taught mainly in central facilities. All subjects operate on eight-week terms and assess students entirely on final examinations – a system some find too pressurised. Nevertheless, Oxford remains one of the top universities for student satisfaction.
The development of a new campus on the site of the Radcliffe Infirmary represents the first fruit of the Oxford Thinking fundraising campaign, which passed its £1.25bn target in 2012. Oxford’s biggest capital development for more than a century will provide more student accommodation for neighbouring Somerville College, a new Mathematical Institute building and a new building for the humanities.
In the Science Area, existing buildings will be refurbished and modernised. Among the many current projects is an £11m Middle East Centre, due to open in 2014.
There was never much doubt about the strength of Oxford’s research, but the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise found more than 70% of it to be world-leading or internationally excellent. Oxford entered more academics for assessment than any other university – twice as many as some research-based universities of similar size.
There were good results in all areas, but the university was pre-eminent in several medical specialisms, as well as statistics, development studies, education and French. Oxford also attracts the largest amount of research income among UK universities.
The social, cultural and sporting opportunities fill in any spare time students may have between completing their rigorous academic assignments. The Oxford Union and various political societies have forged many a political career, while the Iffley Road sports complex this year celebrated the 60thanniversary of Sir Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile, the cinder track a distant memory now in facilities fit for the 21stcentury.
Attempts to separate the two institutions are pretty meaningless as both are so far ahead of all other multi-faculty institutions in Britain as to be in a league of their own, and are consistently ranked among the top in the world in every international ranking.
Among our eight league table performance measures, Oxford has a significantly higher spend on student services and facilities but this is the only one of our measures where Oxford is well ahead.
A higher proportion of firsts and 2:1s awarded and slightly more generous staffing levels are the other two areas where Oxford comes out on top. Cambridge leads in four of the indicators, with one – covering completion rates – a dead heat.
In terms of reputation and international standing, there is nothing to choose between the two universities institutionally, although at individual subject level there remain important differences worth
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exploring depending on your choice of degree.Oxford is the oldest and probably the most famous university in the English-speaking world. The introduction of £9,000 fees had predictably little impact on the demand for places. There were still fewer than six applicants to the place – a much more favourable ratio than at some other leading universities – but 99% of successful candidates achieve at least three As at A-level, or their equivalent.
However, the long-term growth in demand for places is due, at least partly, to more systematic attempts to get the message through to teenagers that Oxford is open to all who can meet the exacting entrance requirements. Student visits to comprehensive schools have been supplemented by summer schools, recruitment fairs and colleges’ own initiatives, as well as tireless public statements of intent by the university.
For all the university’s efforts to shed itsBrideshead Revisited stereotype, however, official figures still show just one student in nine comes from a working-class home, despite the introduction of generous financial support that will be extended in 2014.
The university expects 15% of its undergraduates to receive some support, with fee waivers bringing the effective rate for students from the poorest homes down to £3,500 in their first year and £6,000 subsequently.
In addition, there will be bursaries of between £500 and £3,300 for students whose parental income is less than £42,600, funded partly by Europe’s biggest-ever donation for student support from alumnus Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman. The university spends £7m a year centrally on bursaries with the individual colleges adding more on top.
Applications must be made by mid October – a month earlier if you wish to be interviewed overseas. There are written tests for some subjects and you may be asked to submit samples of work.
Selection is in the hands of the 30 undergraduate colleges, which vary considerably in their approach to this issue and others. Sound advice on academic strengths and social factors is essential for applicants to give themselves the best chance of winning a place and finding a setting in which they can thrive – the atmosphere and subject mix vary considerably from college to college.
A minority of candidates opt to go straight into the admissions pool without expressing a preference for a particular college. However, the choice of college is particularly important for arts and social science students, whose world-famous individual or small group tuition is based in college.
Science and technology are taught mainly in central facilities. All subjects operate on eight-week terms and assess students entirely on final examinations – a system some find too pressurised. Nevertheless, Oxford remains one of the top universities for student satisfaction.
The development of a new campus on the site of the Radcliffe Infirmary represents the first fruit of the Oxford Thinking fundraising campaign, which passed its £1.25bn target in 2012. Oxford’s biggest capital development for more than a century will provide more student accommodation for neighbouring Somerville College, a new Mathematical Institute building and a new building for the humanities.
In the Science Area, existing buildings will be refurbished and modernised. Among the many current projects is an £11m Middle East Centre, due to open in 2014.
There was never much doubt about the strength of Oxford’s research, but the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise found more than 70% of it to be world-leading or internationally excellent. Oxford entered more academics for assessment than any other university – twice as many as some research-based universities of similar size.
There were good results in all areas, but the university was pre-eminent in several medical specialisms, as well as statistics, development studies, education and French. Oxford also attracts the largest amount of research income among UK universities.
The social, cultural and sporting opportunities fill in any spare time students may have between completing their rigorous academic assignments. The Oxford Union and various political societies have forged many a political career, while the Iffley Road sports complex this year celebrated the 60thanniversary of Sir Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile, the cinder track a distant memory now in facilities fit for the 21stcentury.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
1= (2)
Student experience
85.4
11th=
Research quality
44.3
2nd
Ucas entry points
580
2nd
Graduate prospects
82.6
6th
Firsts and 2:1s
91.5
1st
Completion rate
98.9
1st=
Student-staff ratio
11:1
3rd
Services/facilities spend (£)
3,506
1st
World ranking
-
5= (6)
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
11,525
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
5,225
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
7,305
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
1,620
Applications/places
17,780/3,225
Applications/places ratio
5.5:1
STUDENT CITIES
Louis Trup, students’ union president
You are assigned college parents, so when you get here you are integrated with students in all year groups.
Living somewhere so beautiful means that you’re constantly getting held up by tourists on the way to lectures.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (placement year)
£1,800
Fees (overseas year)
£1,350
Fees (international)
£14,415-£21,220
Fees (international, medical)
£16,545-£29,225
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£25,974
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
UK/EU students with household income up to £16K, a bursary of £4,500 a year; £16K–£42.6K, bursary on sliding scale £3,500–£500 a year. In addition Moritz–Heyman scholarships for students with household income below £16K and other conditions, £3,000 a year fee waiver.
>
Wide range of departmental and College awards. International students also pay College fees of £6,725 (£2,765 for clinical medicine years).
SPORT
Sports points/rank
1855.5, 13th
Sport website
Student satisfaction
95.4%
91.2%
90.5%
89.5%
88.5%
88.4%
88.0%
87.8%
87.0%
86.7%
86.5%
85.8%
85.7%
85.6%
84.6%
84.6%
84.6%
84.2%
82.6%
82.5%
81.6%
81.3%
81.1%
75.2%
73.7%