Magdalen ranked 1st in the Norrington Table this year, whilst Merton, the previous holders of the top slot, fell to 14th place, ending a decade’s domination.

Magdalen ranked 1st in the Norrington Table this year, whilst Merton, the previous holders of the top slot, fell to 14th place, ending a decade’s domination.

The table, which ranks colleges by allocating points for each degree class, has been published each year by the University since 2005.

Before then graduate students unofficially compiled the list for The Times newspaper. Data Protection legislation in 2004 gave students the right to keep their degree class confidential, making public lists inaccurate.

Brasenose joined Magdalen at the top of the table, continuing its impressive rise shooting up 12 places 22nd in 2010 to 10th last year. New college retained third place, the same rank as last year.

Oriel gained 18 ranks, while Keble continued its rise, reaching the top ten only two years after coming 28th. Other successful Colleges included St Catherine’s, Balliol and Lincoln, all at least 10 positions higher. 

This year’s table marks the first time in a decade that Merton are not among the top ten.Recent graduate Alanna Cole-Baker commented, “At first I was a bit disappointed only getting a 2:1. But when I realised I had played a vital role in salvaging the reputation of my college – in ensuring the word “Merton” no longer conjures up images of twitchy people crying in libraries.

“And in guaranteeing that Mertonians of the future will be far more likely to get laid than we ever were I felt a great, glowing sense of pride. It’s just really nice to know you’ve been able to give something back.”

Chris McCabe, the Academic Affairs officer for Merton JCR was keen to downplay the significance of the change, “Life in Merton doesn’t revolve around the Norrington table. We play sport and go out as much as the next college.”

He remained optimistic: “hopefully next year we will back on form.”The table is not without opposition. In 1993  a Fellow of Merton, J. R. Lucas, condemned the rankings, “they divert attention from the valuable to the merely assessable.” 

The small sample size of the table has also led to criticism. The University notes that the rankings are of “limited statistical significance” because of the small number of students at each college.

Oxford statistician John Bithell found that older and wealthier colleges tend to do better academically, noting that each year at least 5 or 6 of the top colleges in the Norrington table will be from the top 10 wealthiest Colleges.

The ranking system receives as much attention as it receives criticism. Some applicants on popular forum thestudentroom.co.uk pour over the details of the table. One Balliol PPEist posted his analysis, “Given the pattern Balliol then Merton went through, I’m calling Magdalen having an absolute shocker in about 2015/2016.”

The celebrated annual Oxonmoot festival was held at LMH last weekend. The event, now in its 38th incarnation, attracted over 200 guests from across the globe and was organised by the Tolkien Society to celebrate the Oxford Professor’s works.

The three-day event is traditionally held on the weekend that falls closest to September the 22nd, the joint birthday of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. This year’s moot, which also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit, featured a wide range of activities including discussions of the fantasy world, a themed quiz and an exhibition of fan art.The weekend is more than a purely academic event.

Helen Armstrong, Chairman of the Tolkien Association, said: “Oxonmoot has become a time of fellowship, with people often coming from overseas to meet people they rarely see, or brand new people who share their interests”.

Alongside the talks and exhibitions there was time for socialising in Oxford’s pubs and even a tongue in cheek theatrical homage to the mythical epic The Silmarillion which featured “a cast of thousands all played by four guys and two wigs, and even a penguin”.

A lot has changed since the event’s origins back in 1974. Oxonmoot started as a small meeting of friends in the Welsh Pony on George Street, a building currently occupied by Eurobar. The meeting was immediately successful, and quickly blossomed into an annual event attended by hundreds of people.

The city of Oxford is a fitting location for the celebration and, along with the university itself, played an important role in the development of Tolkien’s works. The academic spent almost his entire career at the university, writing fan favourites such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings whilst lecturing as Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, where he worked until his retirement.

Armstrong argues that the backing he received from the Oxford academic community was crucial to the success of his books as “the fact that he had a great deal of support and encouragement from colleagues in Oxford, particularly CS Lewis, was very helpful to him.”

Tolkien elected to be buried in Oxford, and his grave in Wolvercote Cemetery is the scene of a pilgrimage at the end of Oxonmoot to pay respects to the author.

Joe Rolleston, a second year historian, was outraged at perceived favouritism towards the author, questioning “why don’t we have a Stephanie Meyer festival as well?”

Projects at Corpus Christi, Wadham and Pembroke have all caused unexpected delays forcing students to be moved elsewhere temporarily and forcing some colleges to slash rents by up to half.

In Wadham, building works, which are two weeks behind schedule, and fire safety problems have meant that seven students are unable to move into their rooms. Although no work has been done to those rooms, the construction of a new graduate centre is blocking access.

The college’s Accommodation Manager, Jo-Ann Wheble, told Cherwell, “We have seven students who we are temporarily accommodating in other staircases in the College because our new garden terrace, which also provides access to their allocated staircase, is not yet complete. We have communicated with the students about the issue prior to their arrival and anticipate that they will move into their allocated rooms within the next few weeks.”

In an email to the college, Wadham’s domestic bursar, Frances Lloyd, stated, “We recognize that the completion of the building work in the next few weeks will cause unavoidable disruption to students, as does all building work, and we encourage all those affected to make use of the college or other libraries during working hours.”

Charlie Davies, Housing Officer for Wadham Student Union, said, “Obviously for those seven students that have been moved it has been a problem.

“However, for the vast majority of students it isn’t really a problem. Building work is noisy, but it’s only going to be for a short period of time and fortunately it does not clash with any significant exams.”

At Pembroke, delays to the New Build, which incorporates the first intra-college bridge since Hertford’s Bridge of Sighs in 1913, have resulted in some students being moved to temporary accommodation. In an email to the college, Pembroke’s Bursar, John Church, noted, “Unfortunately, notwithstanding day and night working over the last three weeks, the contractor, Kingerlee, have not completed all the works within the agreed time scales.

“In view of this, and taking account of the need for ongoing work whilst students are in residence, it has been agreed that all rents in the New Build will be reduced by 50% from now until further notice.”

Laurence Hutton-Smith, a Maths student at Pembroke, commented, “When I arrived, my room still wasn’t entirely built, so I was moved into temporary accommodation also in the New Build. The room I’m in at the moment is very nice itself, but there’s clearly a lot left to be done. Even in the corridor I’ve been moved to other rooms are still being worked on, and construction work is loud and disruptive. I think people were generally quite shocked at just how much more needs to be done in certain areas. Despite this I am pleased by how college have handled the situation.”

At Corpus, some students who had planned to live in Kybald Twychen, a semi-detached house near to the college, have had to be moved to alternative rooms. The house, which is usually a popular choice due to its location across the road from Corpus’ main site, now has a hole in the roof and rotten beams. Due to safety concerns about the roof the college have moved students out.

Students who were intending to live there have either been offered private accommodation or half-price rent for accommodation on Banbury Road. On-site accommodation has been found for freshers. Repairs are due to be completed on Kybald Twychen after Michaelmas, when students will move back in.

Corpus accommodation officer Samuel Roberts told Cherwell, “One of the college’s oldest properties was found to be in danger of the roof collapsing. Quite correctly the college have decided to move everybody out of this building to conduct emergency repairs.”

“However, some students are having to move to Banbury Road, though they are being offered reduced rent for this inconvenience. In order to keep Freshers on site, some others have been shuffled around, though this affects only one undergraduate who has in fact received an en-suite room.” Corpus Christi College declined to comment on the current state of their accommodation.

St Aldate’s Tavern, which has been closed since last year, has reopened after a £150,000 renovation project.

Located on St Aldate’s, the pub’s new atmosphere is described by owners as “shabby chic”. The venue has been renovated before, but Clive Watson, representing the tavern, said, “This refurbishment is different from others as we have focused on linking ourselves to the local community.”

However, Watson was keen to stress that the Tavern is “not a gastropub”, and that the “city tavern style” will be maintained.

One new customer described the Tavern as a “destination pub”, and the new interior as “cosy”. The pub is owned by Merton College. However, not all Mertonians were positive: one Merton undergraduate commented, “I’ve never even heard of St Aldate’s Tavern… I wouldn’t expect any one at Merton to have heard of it either.”

The construction by Oxford University of new four- and five-storey flats for graduate students
on land overlooking Port Meadow has met with fresh opposition.

Despite the council having received no objections in February when planning permission for the Castle Mill site was first sought, groups of residents and local organisations have expressed concern at what they fear will be “lasting damage” to famous views of the city.

“Suggestions that there was a lack of consultation over these buildings are unfair,” said a spokeswoman for the University. ‘The University consulted extensively about the Castle Mill accommodation plans with local councillors, local residents, the City and County councils, and allotment holders, through meetings, public events, display boards, plans and views.’

‘Outline planning approval already existed for a building on this site not much lower than the current buildings, and the University secured planning approval for this particular project through the usual rigorous processes.”

In a recent statement a spokeswoman for Oxford City Council mirrored the University’s comments, “When planning applications are submitted, there is a consultation period for the public to submit their objections. For this application no objections were received by the council raising concerns about the impact of the development on views from Port Meadow.”

However, Sir Fergus Millar, former Oxford University professor of ancient history, claimed, ‘Port Meadow has been preserved as public land for the people of Oxford for more than 1,000 years. Until recently it has been protected as open grazing land, which is not overlooked by large buildings, in which anyone can walk peacefully without their views being obstructed by obtrusive development. But now anyone walking on the meadow will see to the south four large blocks of five to six storeys under constructionIt is scandalous. Oxford University ought to be ashamed of itself.”

Three PPEists are eschewing conventional methods of revision and choosing instead to sing about their studies. Brasenose third years Eylon Aslan-Levy and Tommy Peto, and Balliol student Ramin Sabi are in the process of preparing for their coming exams by writing a musical centred around their philosophy topics.

The comedy John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice: The Musical!, originally conceived as a joke, follows Professor John Rawls on an all-singing, all-dancing romp through 2,500 years of political philosophy. Eylon Levy described the production as “a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek, camp and intellectually profound addition to the musical theatre canon”, as well as a primary source of revision for the three finalists.

Brasenose Political Theory tutor, Ian Carrol, argued that the musical will ensure academic success. He said, “While operetta may strike some as an unusual revision technique, recent Brasenose College Norrington success means that students at other colleges could be expected to follow suit as early as next year. A sequel, covering ‘Anarchy, State, and Utopia,’ would be particularly well received.”

Ramin Sabi said, “In terms of the time taken from our revision to work on this – you can’t put a price on fun! Except for certain failure in any collections that have no connection to political philosophy.” Tommy Peto expressed other concerns, adding, “I am worried that my street cred wouldn’t be able to handle it, particularly given it’s already at a low ebb.”

As what may be the world’s first feature-length musical about political philosophy, “John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice: The Musical!” tracks the journey of John Rawls as he travels back through time to converse (in song) with a selection of political philosophers, including Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill. However, the journey is not as smooth as he hoped: as he pursues his love interest, the beautiful student Fairness, through history, he must escape the evil designs of his libertarian arch-nemesis, Robert Nozick.

The ultimate question, answered through comic lyricism and wit, is whether Rawls will achieve his goal of defining Justice as Fairness.

An Australian Senator who compared legalising gay marriage to allowing polygamy and bestiality withdrew at the last minute from a speaking engagement last week at St Hugh’s.

Cory Bernardi, who was forced to resign as parliamentary secretary to the opposition party leader owing to his statements, was scheduled to speak at the European Young Conservative Freedom Summit but cancelled at the last moment, claiming, ‘I contacted the organisers yesterday to say that my attendance at their conference had become a distraction.”

He added, “I had intended to talk about Australia and the Commonwealth, but that message would be lost, and I don’t want to drag an unrelated issue into this important conference.”

Bernardi, who came under criticism earlier this year for making “anti-Muslim” statements, has not apologised for the speech he made in Parliament in which he stated, “The next step [to legalising gay marriage] is having three people that love each other be able to enter into a permanent union endorsed by society, or four people. There are even some creepy people out there, who say that it’s OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals.”

Prior to Bernardi’s withdrawal from the conference, the organiser of the summit and chairman of Conservative Future, Ben Howlett, asserted, “As someone who has attended dozens of pride marches across the UK, I condemn his comments.”

Bernardi withdrew from the engagement the next day via a statement issued by summit organisers.

St Hugh’s JCR Vice President, Andrew Wilson told Cherwell the JCR Committee were “very happy that Mr Bernardi took the correct decision and did not address the EYC Freedom Summit after he expressed some frankly unacceptable opinions about homosexual marriage.”

OUSU President David Townsend agreed, saying, “Oxford is better off without the Senator’s presence, as his ability to contribute to intelligent debate is undermined by his inability to distinguish between on the one hand, two loving human beings committing to share their lives together, and on the other, a man having sex with a sheep.”

Simone Webb, President of Oxford University LGBTQsoc, said that although they “would have offered support to any students who felt threatened or upset by [Bernardi’s] comments”, they would not have protested the speaking engagement as the society is “non-political”.

She added, “On a personal level, I do not object to St Hugh’s allowing homophobic speakers; bad arguments, such as those which use the slippery slope fallacy, should be aired so they can be rejected.”

St Hugh’s LGBTQ rep Michael Holloway told Cherwell he “brought the issue to the attention of our JCR committee on Monday” and although he declined to comment on the behaviour of the college, he stated, “The LGBTQ community within college is very strong, and we do not condone the comments made by Mr Bernardi.”

This is not the first time a conference or speaker has caused controversy in Oxford in recent years. After last year’s protests and  petition sparked by Exeter hosting a conference of a reportedly anti-gay Christian group, the college reviewed its vetting measures for conference events and donated the proceeds from that conference to an LGBTQ charity. 

Owen Alun John, the LMH student who was first to raise concerns over Exeter’s conference, claimed, “Oxford still lacks a university-wide policy excluding hate preachers from its premises. As long as this continues, individuals like Mr. Bernardi will keep on coming.

“Oxford should stop running itself like some kind of lads’ holiday, where what happens in the vacation stays in the vacation. If colleges continue selling out to homophobes, hate groups and religious extremists, this is the business of every student whose education they were established to provide.”

Oxford Conservative Association were quick to distance themselves from Bernardi with President George Mawhinney stating, “His comments were rightly condemned by the Party and Conservative Future. The views of this Australian politician do not reflect the Association’s in any way.”St Hugh’s were unavailable for comment when contacted.

Mark Thompson, former Director General of the BBC, will deliver a series of lectures this November in his role as Humanitas Visiting Professor, before crossing the Atlantic to take up the reins of the New York Times.

Thompson will deliver his lectures at St Peter’s College, focusing on the importance of language in modern political debate. He will also take part in a symposium with Andrew Marr, David Willetts, Polly Toynbee and Gus O’Donnell, to discuss the ways in which language shapes and influences political discourse.

Thompson enthused, ‘These lectures spring from an abiding interest in language and argument but also from my more than three decades as a journalist and public service broadcaster wrestling with the challenge of how best to help the public understand and engage with the big policy questions of the day.’

He emphasised his attachment to the university, adding, ‘As an Oxford humanities graduate, it means a great deal to me to be asked to become the university’s first visiting professor of rhetoric and public persuasion.’

One PPE fresher said, “This news just reinforces my excitement at coming to Oxford. It has a worldwide brand that is able to draw big names in a way no other UK university can.”

One third year English student disagreed, complaining, “This is just another boring gimmick from a university that sometimes seems keener on attracting celebrities than true academic heavyweights.”