Opinion

Politics must not serve as a barrier to education

As this article goes to print, Oxford University is missing two of its offer-holders. In a haunting echo of the trials faced by approximately 78 Palestinian students last academic year, several of whom held places at Oxford, two Sudanese doctors are unable to begin master’s courses at the University this October. This comes after the High Court dismissed their legal challenge to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s ‘emergency brake’ visa policy, which also affects applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Myanmar.

University rankings can be misleading

As someone who also initially applied to St Andrews before withdrawing, and later accepted an offer from Oxford, St Andrews now being ranked first in the UK by The Sunday Times does not make me regret my choice because I understand what that ranking was primarily measuring. It does not focus on global academic reputation, research influence, international standing, or fully capture the breadth and scale of research.

A year abroad for all

There is something liberating about being somewhere where nobody knows your name, your college, or your subject. While abroad, I am no longer simply an Oxford student navigating the same routines of term-time life; I am an outsider, and, most importantly, a beginner again. The world suddenly feels much bigger than the few square miles I had grown accustomed to calling home.

The quiet guilt of upward social mobility at Oxford

Freshers’ formal. The first black-tie event I attended at Oxford. The golden glow of...

The Conservatives are on the brink of collapse

Recent local elections show the scale of the problems facing the Tories at the ballot box.

Hungary’s Holocaust distortion

Orban’s project of misinformation risks erasing his country’s dark past.

Interview: Lucy Worsley

"I don't think history always 'gets better'": the historian and presenter on queens, clothing and curation

Counter-terrorism measures threaten democracy

Recent abuses of regulation lay bare the extent of its politicisation.

The Difference Between a Burnt Roof and 250 Dead

Why tragedies outside the West don't seem to matter.

Make your voices heard in the European elections

An open letter to Oxford's students from the presidents of the university's societies for EU nationals.

Mooncups are the future

We must take sustainability as well as empowerment into account when discussing period poverty.

Emails, you’re breaking my heart

Why email inboxes are the spawn of Satan.

The real emergency

While there may or may not turn out to be a Plan B for Brexit, there is no Planet B for us.

Netanyahu’s immortal government

What Netanyahu's fifth election victory tells us about Israeli democracy

It’s 9:30 pm. The cathedral is on fire.

We must take drastic action against climate change to stop the burning down of human civilisation.

Have you heard of Al-Aqsa?

A thousand year-old religious site caught fire on Monday – not Notre Dame, another one.

Improving access is not enough

Our higher education system needs to be radically overhauled to create a fairer, more equal society.

TIG and the Lib Dems must join forces immediately

The Independent Group and the Liberal Democrats must form an alliance to prevent disaster for both parties and the country as a whole.

Take it and Run – Philanthropy, The Sacklers and You

Object to the Sacklers all you like - their donations are essential to preserving our cultural heritage, and offer them little in return

BBC Three’s Fleabag

“I’d just like my tits to be that much bigger — does that make me a terrible feminist?” Such forthright, fourth wall busting, hilarious, and...

It’s time to accept Brexit has failed

Without any meaningful agreement, leaving the EU presents an unacceptable risk.

Let’s get on with it

The petition to revoke Article 50 changes nothing; we must leave the EU as swiftly as possible.

Virtue or reality: defending the white saviour

Charity work may often have selfish motivations, but it still raises awareness and money for good causes.

Counselling should do more

At no point did anyone ask if trying to overcome sexual assault in under four hours seemed challenging. Quite quickly the object of the sessions shifted from overcoming the assault to merely addressing it, and this adjustment brought its own tensions with it. Repeatedly bringing upsetting memories to the forefront of my mind had consistent repercussions outside of my allotted counselling time, and we frequently needed the full 50 minutes just to explore the problem fully, let alone consider possible coping mechanism or how I was going to get better.

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