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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where they established the University of Cambridge in 1209. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge.

The University of Oxford is made up of 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 semi-autonomous colleges, four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are departments of the university, without their own royal charter), and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions. Each college is a self-governing institution within the university, controlling its own membership and having its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. The university does not have a main campus, but its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion.

Oxford operates the Ashmolean Museum, the world's oldest university museum; Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total consolidated income of £2.92 billion, of which £789 million was from research grants and contracts.

Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world. As of October 2022,^[update] 73 Nobel Prize laureates, 4 Fields Medalists, and 6 Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, while its alumni have won 160 Olympic medals. Oxford is the home of numerous scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes. (Full article...)

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The history of Brasenose College starts in 1509 when the college was founded on the site of Brasenose Hall by Richard Sutton and Bishop William Smyth. Its name is believed to derive from a bronze knocker (replica pictured) on the hall's door. The library and chapel were completed in the mid-seventeenth century, despite continuing financial problems. Under William Cleaver (Principal 1785–1809), the college began to be populated by gentlemen, its income doubled and academic success was considerable. New Quad was built between 1886 and 1911. Under Edward Hartopp Cradock Brasenose's academic record waned but it excelled at cricket and rowing; the reverse occurred under Charles Buller Heberden. Brasenose lost 115 men in the First World War and Lord Curzon's post-War reforms were successfully instituted. Sporting achievements again came at the cost of falling academic standards and finances. The 1970s saw the admission of women beginning in 1974, more post-graduate attendees and fewer domestic staff. Law and Philosophy, Politics and Economics were strong subjects under Principals Barry Nicholas and Herbert Hart) and the fellowship of Vernon Bogdanor. (Full article...)

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Sir John Stainer (1840–1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today (except for The Crucifixion, was very popular during his lifetime. Stainer became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral when aged ten and was appointed to the position of organist at St Michael's College, Tenbury at the age of sixteen. In 1860 he became organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, studying for his BA degree alongside his duties and later obtaining his doctorate. He improved the Magdalen choir and was highly regarded as an organist. The Vice-Chancellor, Francis Jeune, appointed Stainer in 1861 to the prestigious post of University Organist at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. He had considerable influence on sacred music in Oxford and his reputation spread beyond the confines of the city. In 1872 he was appointed organist at St Paul's Cathedral. When he retired due to his poor eyesight and deteriorating health, he returned to Oxford to become Professor of Music at the university. His work as choir trainer and organist set standards for Anglican church music that are still influential. (Full article...)

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Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. It stands to the east of the city centre next to the River Cherwell, which is crossed by Magdalen Bridge. Its extensive grounds include a deer park and meadows alongside the river. By tradition, the college choir (which consists of 12 students from the college and 16 boys from Magdalen College School) sings madrigals from the top of Magdalen Tower at 6am on May Morning. The tower, built between 1492 and 1509, is a landmark at the east of the city. The President is the chemist David Clary. There are about 400 undergraduates and 185 postgraduates. Former students include the politicians William Hague and George Osborne (appointed Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively in 2010), the poets Oscar Wilde and John Betjeman, the judges Lord Denning and Lord Browne-Wilkinson and the editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop. The Fellows of Magdalen include the holders of the four Waynflete Professorships; the novelist and Christian writer C. S. Lewis was a fellow for nearly 30 years. (Full article...)

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Credit: Rob Brewer

The tower of Nuffield College contains the college's library. It was the first tower built in Oxford for 200 years and is about 150 feet (46m) tall, including the flèche on top.

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Did you know

Articles from Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives about the university and people associated with it:

... that the Indian Institute (pictured) in central Oxford was founded by Sir Monier Monier-Williams in 1883 to provide training for the Indian Civil Service?
... that sports car racer, yachtsman and rower Robert Hichens was also the most highly decorated officer of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War?
... that Daniel Ernst Jablonski in the 1690s tried to bring about a union between Lutheran and Calvinist Protestants?
... that the English historian Sir Raymond Carr was knighted for services to History in the New Year Honours List, 1987?
... that John Percival, when headmaster of Rugby School, gained the nickname "Percival of the knees" because he was concerned about "impurity" and insisted that boys secure their football shorts below the knee with elastic?