Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image Description: Oxford High Street circa 2019 In the old days, before the plague, Oxford was a different place. The students of the University lived a blameless life, in some ways unchanged for hundreds of years. Many a fresher has asked me what it was like in those halcyon days. As a Classicist, I supposedly […]
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Image Description: Clothing rail with hanging clothes illustrated under the Bridge of Sighs So it’s Third week (already?) and you’ve either exhausted the top tier outfits you collected over summer ready to show off at your suitably distanced events or you never quite thought about styling yourself and now you’re surrounded by Oxford’s finest fashion […]
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Image Description: Two Bubbles separating two groups of individuals 1. THE ARRIVAL The day had come – after a year of personal statement revisions, nervous interview mumbling, pointless revision, and finally, the A-Levels fiasco, you are here. You are an Oxford student, following in the footsteps of famous and universally beloved alumni like Charlies Xavier, Nigella Lawson […]
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Image Description: Statue facing upwards at Bodleian Libraries Put quite simply, Freshers’ Week 2020 for me was… intense. So much more intense than what I was expecting. And not just academically. Having been in lockdown since March and not having any work for the past 7 months (on top of the A-Level results day fiasco), […]
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Somerville College has been accused of inaction after it responded to a party of approximately 35-40 students, held on Monday in its Vaughan accommodation building, by cancelling a single online club night. This follows Somerville Principal Jan Royall, who is co-chair of the Michaelmas Coordination Group, telling the Oxford Student last week that “…if a […]
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“I’m very, very glad that it has finally been sorted out”. These were the words of Boris Johnson on Wednesday, speaking to a group of students at a school in Leicestershire. Yet, it turns out (come on, someone at least pretend to be surprised) that this is complete and utter rubbish. 1900 state schools in […]
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The University of Oxford has today released an official statement on the controversy surrounding this year’s admissions, specifically the handling of UK A-Level results, after a significant number (40%) of grades were downgraded by Ofqual, and many Oxford offer-holders missed their target grades. The University has stated that “over half of students who missed their […]
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Image description: A person with a packing box on their head. Looking up ‘What to take to university’ on Google can be pretty overwhelming. From lists of only 15 items that seem to assume that university accommodation is a hotel, to articles implying that you should bring the entirety of IKEA, it all seems very […]
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For those of you who know me, it may seem a little strange to read an Economics and Management subject review, by a student unable to submit essays on-time or even attend classes. Yet, I find myself at home and writing at 4 am. First-year teaching finished at the end of Hilary; both my mind […]
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Upon arriving at Oxford, I was initially tentative about dipping my toe into the water of the LGBTQ+ ‘scene’, as it were. As a closeted and very awkward fresher, I assumed that I would continue down the path which I had precariously followed for the previous years of my adolescence, i.e. attempting to deflect all […]
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Image Description: two people at the Biological Society stall at the Freshers’ Fair. All I remember of my Freshers’ Fair two years ago was how hot Exams Schools was, and how so many people kept trying to make small talk with me, neither of which agreed with (what is still) the worst hangover of […]
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Image Description: Photo of the Radcliffe Camera Bleary eyed and bawling, a new group of students will find themselves thrust into the confusion and terror of Oxford University this October. Having passed through the group stages and achieved their offer, they’ll realise with dismay that the real contest begins now: the relentless pursuit of relevance […]
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Image credit: Manish Binukrishnan It’s nearly half a year since the Oxford published its first Annual Admissions Report, which made headlines in University and national circles for the disparities in the demographics of students admitted as undergraduates to Oxford. Less than a month after the report’s publication, a community of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic […]
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Image Credit: Photo © Jonathan Billinger (cc-by-sa/2.0) What better way is there to immerse yourself in science during your degree than by joining a student society? Here in Oxford there are a multitude of societies dealing with a myriad of different subject areas. Joining a society enables you to make friends with likeminded people, attend […]
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Image Credit: Jaredd Craig Walking into the Fresher’s fair can feel like one of the most overwhelming aspects of the Freshers week experience. With limited time and endless enthusiastic stall-holders vying for your attention (“What do you mean, you’re ‘just not really into Ultimate Frisbee’?”), finding societies relevant to your interests is a challenging feat. […]
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It’s the end of week one. You have completed your first essay for the term, you’re sleep deprived but you agreed to go to that club night at Fever someone in your JCR managed to sell you a ticket to. Your second tutorial is in two days, and you don’t have time to go […]
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In the next few weeks, students will be pouring into Oxford and settling into their colleges in anticipation of a busy term ahead. But before term starts, there’s all the excitement of Freshers’ week to enjoy – exploring a new city, meeting other people, and embracing Oxford’s social scene. Staying out late into the night […]
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Dear Freshers, Mammoth reading lists govern the life of most Oxford students’ lives. They dictate your evening plans, your library adventures and your closest friends will inevitably be those whose reading lists are comparable to yours. However, I’m asking you right now to do the unthinkable – forget these all-powerful lists for a while, because […]
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Emma. It’s the day after your nineteenth birthday, you’re moving to university and you’re terrified. You’re a home bird at heart, you’ve got a brilliant group of friends in your hometown and you’d quite happily let that long summer after A-levels go on forever. Oxford is a place of the unknown in every sense, it’s […]
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