Saturday 20th June 2026

Opinion

Oxford’s prestigious reputation deserves scrutiny

I was very close to rejecting Oxford for Exeter. While this is not why I eventually accepted my offer, I couldn’t stop thinking about the prestige the name ‘Oxford’...

Who gets to build the future: On tech bros

While scrolling through social media, a video appeared on my feed titled “Remember who...

Gender is what you make of it

If you ever dare to become an audacious transsexual like me, you may have...

I will not be misquoted into silence 

Arwa Elrayess responds to recent national media coverage.

Oxford is making you childish

With rooms cleaned, meals made, and jobs banned, Oxford students fail to experience true independence. Is it any wonder we're so childish?

Is lifetime membership a perk or a problem?

I couldn’t help but notice the sea of grey-haired, geriatric, white, men (mostly), who somehow still had the right to vote at the Oxford Union.

AI applications will quietly revive nepo hiring

When AI makes it impossible to tell what is real, recruiters will return to what (or who) they know. Is this a new age of nepotism?

In defence of the internship spreadsheet

It’s easy to criticise “internship culture”, with its nerves and competition, but it’s worth asking why it’s so contagious.

Lawyers are weird. Mods are (partly) to blame

Mods makes every law student irritable, isolated, and disillusioned with their subject. We should move them to Trinity for everyone's sanity.

British students simply can’t afford postgraduate study at Oxford

Zero kroner. That’s exactly how much EU students pay for masters study at the University of Copenhagen. It’s not been the best start to...

New year, same me?

Whether it be exercise, relaxation, or the oh-so-naïve ‘Dry January’, the idea of resolution-making is one that has become redundant.

Navigating Oxford’s social media footprint

How do colleges maintain a social media presence when competing with 40 others? From access Instagrams to society Facebook groups to JCR-run TikTok pages,...

Who cares about college politics?

I’ve found myself part of a small core of my JCR who still care about JCR politics – those who fulfill a minimum requirement of simply turning up to things. Needless to say, the bar is low.

Criticisms of Oxford slang aren’t really about language

Sub fusc, college marriages, BOPs, sconcing, Prelims, the Bod: Oxford boasts a unique catalogue of words and phrases. Some would critique them as elitist...

Why you should talk to your scout more

Quite apart from our academic work, students at Oxford University lead a life very different to that of students at other institutions, a fact...

Livin’ la vida Lidl

Though I still have reservations about milk from Lidl – I swear it tastes different – and the eggs from Aldi look to me dull and pale, I can put aside these quibbles as I admit to the allure of a £1 bag of courgettes. All this to say: Oxford’s city centre needs a discount supermarket.

There’s nothing wrong with a regional accent

Accent bias remains deeply embedded in academic institutions, where a hierarchy of accent prestige continues to shape perceptions.

Distance does make the heart grow fonder

Three months into my year studying abroad, I am reminded why I chose Oxford University in the first place.

We must separate Church and University

Financially, culturally, and quasi-judicially, the Church of England remains part of the furniture in both the city and the University.

It’s time we woke up to the failures of the NUS

The Cambridge SU's disaffiliation is a reminder that the National Union of Students is not fit for purpose

What Britain needs is meritocratic elitism

Want to tackle the issue of social mobility? Look to primary and secondary education, not Oxford University

International student levies won’t level up higher education

International students, who already pay triple what their domestic peers do, are being treated as convenient cash cows.

Oriel’s Rhodes exhibition is not enough

The exhibition's portrayal of Rhodes’ actions and the Rhodes Must Fall movement are trivialising and disrespectful.

This is Oxford’s real free speech problem

The Vice-Chancellor's Sheldonian Series reveals a university that does not want to listen to what its students have to say.

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