University of Oxford

Overview

The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is also regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. The University of Oxford has 39 independent Colleges and Halls.
The University of Oxford 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 the University of Oxford fled north-east to the town of Cambridge, where the University of Cambridge was founded. The two universities have since had a long history of competition with each other.
The University of Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities), the League of European Research Universities, and is also a core member of the Europaeum. Academically, Oxford is consistently ranked in the world's top 10 universities. For more than a century, it has served as the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, which brings highly accomplished students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as postgraduates.

Ranking

In the subject tables of the Times Good University Guide 2008, the University of Oxford is ranked as the top university in the UK with Cambridge as the second.[36] Oxford is ranked first in Politics, Physiological Sciences, English, Fine Art, Business Studies, Materials technology, Middle Eastern and African Studies, Music, Philosophy, and also Education and Linguistics which it shares first with Cambridge. The University of Oxford comes second after Cambridge in a further seventeen subjects. The University of Oxford then takes three third-places and an equal-third, as well as a fourth, fifth, and equal-sixth place in one subject each.[37]
In the subject tables of the Times Good University Guide 2008, the University of Oxford is ranked as the top university in the UK with Cambridge as the second. The University of Oxford is ranked first in Politics, Physiological Sciences, English, Fine Art, Business Studies, Materials technology, Middle Eastern and African Studies, Music, Philosophy, and also Education and Linguistics which it shares first with Cambridge. The University of 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.

Famous Alumni

25 British Prime Ministers have attended the University of Oxford (including Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair). At least 25 other international leaders have been educated at the University of Oxford. This number includes King Harald V of Norway, King Abdullah II of Jordan, three Prime Ministers of Australia two Prime Ministers of India, and Bill Clinton, the first American President to attend the University of Oxford. The Burmese democracy activist and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was a student of St Hugh's College. Including Aung San Suu Kyi,
In addition 47 Nobel prize winners have studied or taught at the University of Oxford.

Services for International Students

The University of Oxford 's university community is truly international. Students currently come from 138 countries around the world and study a wide range of subjects. They make up one third of our student body, including 14 percent of our full-time undergraduate students and 63 percent of our full-time postgraduates.
The International Office
The International Office provides a wide range of services to the University of Oxford applicants and students. Its main functions are:
Providing advice to the University of Oxford’s international students, on everything from general enquiries about studying at the University of Oxford through visas and immigration to living in the U.K. Administering scholarships for overseas students and for study abroad and exchange programmes. Coordinating undergraduate admissions interviews conducted internationally. At the start of each academic year, the International Office runs an annual orientation programme for international students, to help introduce them to life at the University of Oxford and in the U.K.
The International Office is part of the student administration of the university and is located in Wellington Square

Accommodation

All University of Oxford colleges provide accommodation for undergraduates in their first year and many can offer accommodation throughout your course. Overseas graduate students will usually be offered college accommodation in their first year. There is also some University of Oxford accommodation for graduate students and those with families. All colleges are for men and women.

Campus

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 7 religious Permanent Private Halls (PPHs), which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university. All teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the University of Oxford must belong to one of the colleges or PPHs. These colleges are not only houses of residence, but have substantial responsibility for the teaching of undergraduates. Generally tutorials (the main method of teaching in the University of Oxford) and classes are the responsibility of colleges, while lectures, examinations, laboratories and the central library are run by the the University of Oxford.
A typical college consists of a hall for dining, a chapel, a library, a college bar, senior, middle (postgraduate) and junior common rooms, rooms for 200-400 undergraduates as well as lodgings for the head of the college and other dons. College buildings range from the medieval to very modern buildings, but most are made up of interlinked quadrangles (courtyards), with one or more large wooden gates controlling entry from the outside

Health centre

There is a full range of on-campus health facilities with doctors, nurses and dentists. All students have full access to the health centre and all health care fees are fully covered by the National Health Service for full time students.

Location

Oxford is in South East England. It has a population of 150,000 which is about 90 minutes from London.
Buildings in Oxford reflect every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera, the hub of the city. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of the University of Oxford buildings.
URL: www.oxford.ac.uk