Saturday 7th February 2026
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Reuters Institute report highlights growing AI impact on global journalism

Anisha Mohammed
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Reuters Institute report highlights growing AI impact on global journalism

A major new industry forecast from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford has charted the forces set to reshape global news media in 2026. The annual Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions report finds that fewer than four in ten senior news executives are confident about journalism’s prospects this year, as publishers grapple with declining search referrals and persistent audience trust challenges.

The report is based on a survey of senior editors, executives, and digital leaders from news organisations in more than 50 countries. It examines how developments in AI, platform distribution, and audience behaviour are shaping newsroom strategy.

One of the report’s central findings concerns the growing role of generative AI in how people receive their news. It states that “the rapid shift from search engines to AI-powered answer engines is expected to reduce traffic to publisher websites”, with many respondents predicting a decline in referrals from search over the next few years. The report adds that generative AI tools are increasingly “intervening between audiences and original journalism”.

Senior editors and executives who took part in the survey said these developments were likely to place additional pressure on existing business models. According to the report, many respondents believe that AI will “make it harder for news organisations to maintain direct relationships with audiences”.

These concerns are reflected in recent industry action. The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorised use of its journalism to train AI models. This case has become a focal point in debates about how generative AI systems source and monetise news content.

The report received financial support from the Google News Initiative (GNI), as disclosed by the Reuters Institute. Google has invested heavily in developing artificial intelligence technologies, including AI-powered search and generative tools. The Google News Initiative also supports other Reuters Institute research, including the annual Digital News Report, which examines news consumption and trust across global markets.

The survey in the report also found evidence of a shift towards personality-led news consumption, particularly among younger audiences. The report states that “journalism is increasingly consumed through individuals rather than institutions”, with survey respondents pointing to platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, newsletters, and podcasts as areas of growing engagement.

In response to the wider availability of AI-generated content, many survey participants reported that their organisations were prioritising journalism that is more difficult to replicate. According to the report, respondents plan to focus on “investigative journalism, analysis, and distinctive reporting”, while reducing investment in more routine content.

The report concludes that the news industry is experiencing “ongoing adjustment rather than a single moment of disruption”, with the impact of AI and platform change expected to vary across markets and organisations in 2026.

Preparing for A Russell Group University Interview in English as a Second Language

External Contributor
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Preparing for a Russell Group university interview when English is a second language can feel intimidating, but it is absolutely manageable with targeted preparation and an understanding of how the process works. With the right strategy, your language background can even become a strength in the interview room.

Understanding the Russell Group university interview
Russell Group university interviews are designed to test how you think, not how perfectly you speak. Tutors care far more about your ability to reason, respond to new ideas, and engage with unfamiliar material than about having a flawless accent or native-level fluency.

For applicants whose first language is not English, this has several implications. You are not expected to speak like a native, but you are expected to communicate clearly enough to show your academic potential and respond thoughtfully to questions.

Building the right kind of English

The English that matters in a university interview is academic, precise, and flexible rather than idiomatic or slang-heavy. Focusing on language that helps you explain your thinking step by step will serve you far better than memorising complicated phrases.

Useful strategies include:

  • Practise “thinking aloud”: narrate your reasoning as you solve problems, summarise arguments, or analyse a text, even when studying alone.
  • Build a small bank of functional phrases such as “I’m not sure, but I would start by…”, “Could I clarify the question?”, or “On the other hand, one might argue that…”.
  • Read opinion pieces and features on topics related to your subject, paying attention to how arguments are structured and signposted.

If you use online language courses, choose ones that emphasise academic discussion and critical thinking rather than purely transactional conversation. Look for courses or platforms that allow you to practise extended speaking turns, not just short exchanges.

Using online language courses effectively

Many applicants turn to online language courses without a clear plan, and then wonder why their interview English has not improved. To make these resources work for you, they need to be integrated into subject-specific and interview-style practice.

Try to:

  • Adapt general speaking exercises into academic ones: if a course asks you to describe your day, describe instead an article you have read or a problem you have solved.
  • Ask tutors or conversation partners to challenge you with unfamiliar questions and to push you to justify your opinions.
  • Record your practice sessions, then listen back to identify recurring errors or moments where you lose your train of thought.

Deliberately seek out online language courses that offer small-group seminars or one-to-one tutorials, as these formats resemble the Russell group university learning style and help you become comfortable speaking under gentle pressure.

Handling nerves and communication challenges

Interview nerves are normal, and they can be intensified when you are speaking in a second language. The aim is not to eliminate anxiety, but to ensure it does not prevent you from showing your ability.

Practical approaches include:

  • Prepare honest, concise ways to talk about your language background if asked; acknowledging that English is your second language can defuse pressure to sound “perfect”.
  • Practise pausing before answering, giving yourself a few seconds to organise your thoughts; a short silence is far better than rushing into a confused answer.
  • Learn a few repair strategies such as “Could I rephrase that?” or “I think I misunderstood; may I check the question again?”.

Remember that tutors expect you to struggle at points, especially with challenging material. They are looking at how you respond to difficulty, not whether you avoid it altogether.

Subject-specific practice and cultural familiarity

Because university interviews are heavily subject-focused, preparation in your chosen field is as important as general language work. Reading widely, engaging critically with material, and practising explaining concepts aloud will all help you bridge any remaining language gaps.

To strengthen your preparation:

  • Read English-language books, articles, and papers related to your subject, and summarise their arguments verbally as if explaining to a tutor.
  • Practise “mini tutorials” with teachers, friends, or other applicants, using past interview questions and treating every discussion as an opportunity to refine both your ideas and your English.
  • Familiarise yourself with aspects of university academic and student life through student newspapers and profiles, so that references to colleges, terms, and traditions feel less alien in conversation.

Approaching your Russell Group university interview in this structured way allows you to turn the fact that English is your second language into evidence of resilience, adaptability, and intellectual commitment rather than a disadvantage.

Turning your second language into a strength

For many applicants, a university interview is the first time they have had to think aloud about complex ideas in a second language for an extended period, under pressure. It is easy to walk away from a practice interview convinced that every hesitation or grammatical slip will count against you. Yet the reality, as admissions tutors repeatedly emphasise, is that interviews are designed to probe your intellectual potential, not to reward polished performance for its own sake. Fluency matters only insofar as it allows you to show how you approach problems, respond to new information, and adjust your thinking when challenged.

Perhaps the most important mindset shift is to recognise that your linguistic background is part of what you bring to the university, rather than an obstacle you must hide. Navigating education in a second language already demonstrates resilience, adaptability, and a capacity for hard work – qualities that tutors know translate directly into life in an intensive academic environment. If you can walk into the interview room prepared to think aloud, willing to make and correct mistakes, and ready to treat the conversation as a miniature tutorial rather than an interrogation, you will have given yourself a genuine chance to be judged on what really counts: your ideas.

Above all, remember that every thoughtful pause, every brave attempt to articulate a complex idea, is a step towards the place you want to be – so trust your preparation, back yourself, and good luck.

New study finds weight gain can be rapid once injections stop

Lara Murrani
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New study finds weight gain can be rapid once injections stop

CW: weight loss.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford suggests that maintaining weight loss may be particularly challenging after discontinuing weight-loss medications such as Ozempic. The research, led by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, found that many individuals experience rapid weight gain once treatment is stopped. 

The study, published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), is a review and meta-analysis of 37 studies involving 9,341 adults who stopped weight management medicines after an average of 39 weeks of treatment. Participants were followed for an average of 32 weeks after discontinuation. 

Dr Sam West, the lead author, told Cherwell that the study “included any medication that has ever been licensed for weight loss. So this included older medications such as orlistat, the older GLP1 medications such as liraglutide and then newer GLP1 medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide”.

Across all weight-management drugs included in the review, weight increased by an average of 0.9 pounds per month after treatment stopped. At that rate, the researchers estimate people would return to their starting weight within 1.5 to 2 years after stopping the medication. For newer medicines such as Semaglutide and Tirzepatide, regain averaged 1.8 pounds per month, indicating a return to baseline by about 1.5 years. 

The review suggests that the regain following the discontinuation of medication occurred more rapidly than after ending behavioural weight loss programmes, such as exercise or dieting, by approximately 0.7 pounds per month. While behavioural support alongside medication was associated with greater weight loss during treatment, it did not slow the rate of regain afterwards.

Dr Sam West, said the results “sound a cautionary note for short-term use without a more comprehensive approach to weight management”, adding this “isn’t a failing of the medicines” but “obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition”. Senior author Associate Professor Koutoukidis then suggested one reason for faster regain may be that people using drugs “don’t need to consciously practise changing their diet to lose weight”, so they may not develop strategies that help maintain weight loss once treatment ends.

The analysis also raises questions about how these drugs are used in practice. The team noted that an estimated nine in ten people currently using weight loss medicines in the UK are purchasing them privately, often without the clinical oversight and behavioural support that the NHS usually prescribes. Professor Susan Jebb, a joint senior author, said that the findings “underscore the need for a more holistic and long term approach to weight management”, alongside greater emphasis on prevention of weight gain.

Dr West told Cherwell: “The findings can allow patients and practitioners to make fully informed decisions about what treatments is best for weight management. The new medications are very effective in helping people lose weight but people need to be aware of the rapid weight regain after they stop taking the medication.”

A love letter to authenticity

Abigail Christie
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A love letter to authenticity

Mirrors often occupy an uneasy place within the collective consciousness. A reflected replica of this world, not quite false, but not entirely real either. The liminal ambiguity lends itself well to folklore, legends, and myth; regaled tales of wandering eyes and flickering lights. Yet the most unsettling thing about a mirror is perhaps not the murky unknown that slinks in the shadows. It is more the fear that the face we see reflected back at us is, indeed, our own: unaltered, unedited, and unfiltered. Raw and candid – your authentic self.

Having spent the better half of my teenage years obsessively fixating on my appearance, I now feel a stranger to any semblance of authenticity in my twenties. The vanity in my bedroom can certainly attest to this. Resembling an ambitious Victorian apothecary, every crook and crevice is crammed with antidotes to the inevitable. Anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, and anti-frizz; serum for plumper lips, a concoction for brighter eyes, or cream for a smoother complexion. These promises I took as gospel, neatly arranging the tiny bottles in votive style around my mirror, in some delirious hope that these offerings would change what I see looking back at me.

But these insecurities bleed, and sharks can smell blood in the water. It doesn’t take long for social media algorithms to catch on. Endless pages of influencers preach ‘self-care’ with a siren-like hypnosis that sucks me in. Each clamouring for your attention through the screen, showcasing the newest, shiniest cosmetic product on the market. All of them brandish their version of the crème de la crème of the industry, a colourful rotation of more than 1000 ‘must have’ products – and you simply must have it. Can you afford the price of beauty? They implicitly ask. No answer is required, their profits will speak for you.

Yet the notion of ‘self-care’, and all the images of tender softness it conjures, is entirely misleading. A trending buzzword that hides the authenticity it should champion – being content with your appearance doesn’t necessarily work for a brand image. Beauty becomes defined by what sells out first and the buyer’s market is saturated with our feelings of inadequacy, broken down and churned out into capitalist fodder. So chasing the consumerist high of the wholly unattainable can only end in disappointment. Inevitably, the only winners in this rat race are the companies that prey and profit off manufactured insecurities. If we’re not starving, how will they eat?

But, the knowledge that we’re lambs to the slaughter doesn’t really do much for self-confidence, and being aware of capitalist ploys certainly does not heal a festering wound. However, the resentment I felt on behalf of my teenage self towards this breed of influencer has become to feel misplaced. Although complicit in a system that is rigged to exploit insecurity, under the surface, they are perhaps no different to me. We are together stuck in this rut; discontent with our appearance, wishing to look like another. Draining your bank to fill the pockets of another avaricious corporation will not change the feelings that burn inside.

Despite these revelations, my reflection has not changed and my vanity table remains the same, so I will not pretend there is some magic cure-all remedy for this. But a labour of love has begun to take place; to be content with what I see in the mirror, I first have to mend the despair I have felt from within. This kind of metamorphosis is one I can gladly yield to – a transformation I will greet like an old friend.

Now, when I glimpse the crinkle around my Dad’s eyes as he laughs, and the curve of my Mum’s smile, I suddenly cannot bear the thought of not looking just like them. My face, as I see it now, is a tapestry of all those who love me. And if I pull at the threads, will the whole thing unravel? This uncertainty is enough to sate my curiosity. So, now, when I scrutinise my appearance in the mirror, I do not just see my own reflection staring back. I see the laugh lines that have formed from years of joking with my sister, I see the creases on my forehead from a lifetime of pulling faces with my parents, and, above all, I see myself.

Oxford congestion charge records 31,000 fines within two months

Oskar Doepke
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Oxford congestion charge records 31,000 fines within two months

Oxfordshire County Council has issued 31,588 fines to motorists who failed to pay Oxford’s temporary congestion charge as of January 7th, a Council spokesperson told Cherwell. 

Introduced on 29th October last year, the scheme requires drivers without a permit or day pass to pay a £5 fee to enter Oxford through six charging locations. Motorists who do not comply are fined £70, reduced to £35 if the fine is paid within 14 days. Enforcement began 10th December, after a six-week grace period. 

The temporary congestion charge – which aims to reduce traffic and reinvest in the county’s bus service – has already raised £728,825 from 135,297 total payments, including £22,085 in fines. Despite the high number of fines, Oxfordshire County told Cherwell that “there is no cause for concern”, as enforcement costs were included in the scheme’s financial model. 

Nevertheless, the leader of the Conservative opposition group, Councillor Liam Walker, said the number of fines and money raised “doesn’t tell the story the county council might want it to”. He said the scheme looks “less like a transport solution and more like a tax on those who rely on their cars”. 

Likewise, Pete White – an Oxford resident who organises the ‘Anti-Traffic Filters and Congestion Charge Oxford’ group – told Cherwell: “From the perspective of many Oxford residents, the congestion charge has very little to do with climate action or clean air, and a great deal to do with revenue generation.

“The scale of fines is telling. Tens of thousands of penalties don’t indicate success; they indicate widespread non-compliance and disengagement.”

White added that “a clear majority” of Oxford residents oppose the congestion charge. During the council’s initial public consultation, nearly 74% of respondents said the scheme would have a negative impact, while separate petitions opposing the charge’s implementation reached 13,500 and 2,500 signatures, respectively. Another organisation, Open Roads for Oxford, is attempting to initiate a judicial review against the congestion charge. 

Responding to criticism, Councillor Andrew Grant, who is the Cabinet Member for Transport Management, told Cherwell: “As with any new scheme, there’s a bedding-in period as residents, visitors, and businesses adjust to the temporary congestion charge. We are monitoring the scheme’s impacts carefully and are reporting monthly on the data available to us.”

Grant added that the scheme’s free park and ride – which allows drivers to park outside Oxford and travel by bus for free – “is proving extremely popular”, with 179,000 more journeys in its first two months than in the same period last year. The temporary offer – which has been extended to March – has given Oxfordshire “more choice and convenience when it comes to bus travel and accessing the city, including major hospital sites”, Grant told Cherwell. 

Further, Grant said the “fantastic take-up” in bus ridership will lead to cleaner air, reduced traffic, and safer streets. 

The Oxford temporary congestion charge scheme is set to run until August, when Botley Road reopens. The scheme will then be replaced by a traffic filter trial, where motorists without a permit will be charged £70 for driving on the same six roads. 

New year, same me?

Freya Robson
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New year, same me?

We’ve all been there: gathered around on New Year’s Eve, each exchanging resolutions, describing the person that we wish to miraculously transform into the next morning. But by the time mid-January rolls around, that inspired figure full of hope from just weeks earlier has seemingly vanished. The idea of having resolutions, let alone keeping them, becomes almost laughable. Whether it be exercise, relaxation, or the oh-so-naïve ‘Dry January’, the idea of resolution-making is one that has become a redundant activity (even if we forget this by next New Year’s). However, whilst most have no chance of maintaining such deranged promises, the academic rigour of Oxford makes students even more likely to give up on resolutions before feeling their benefit.

Between last-minute tutorial essay writing and mad rushes between lectures on opposite sides of the city, Oxford really does not leave its students much time for healthy habit-making. Granted, the idea of “not having time” is simply a matter of priorities, but with so much academic pressure it would feel ridiculous to focus our limited energy on small acts of self-improvement rather than our work; I struggle to believe that any tutor would accept an incomplete essay because you simply had to do that online guided meditation. The intellectually challenging environment which we are constantly surrounded by at Oxford is just incompatible with resolutions. How can we aspire to keep healthy habits when 24/7 libraries populate the city and pulling an all-nighter to finish a piece of work is as much an Oxford tradition as matriculation?

This is not to say that welfare is lacking at Oxford, because support for student wellbeing is abundant, reaching a crescendo when the horror of Week Five Blues rolls around. Yet resolutions are supposed to be a preventative method of bettering ourselves, rather than a reactive response to what is going wrong. Instead of dedicating time to our own pursuits of self-improvement, we choose to drown in a crushing workload, using welfare resources as the life ring keeping us afloat.

Even the setup of Oxford life gives us no chance of being well-equipped for resolution keeping. It becomes incredibly easy to fall into laziness when a scout is cleaning your room each week and every meal is catered for. The entire Oxford lifestyle is built so that we as students don’t have to concern ourselves with household tasks in order to maximise working potential, making our lives easier but stunting our ability to take care of ourselves. Every college comes with its own micro-community, a safe haven that seems isolated from the real world, equipped with all the resources you could ever need – making it easy to never leave. But what comes with that sense of familiarity is a lack of drive, meaning that pursuing any kind of self-improvement becomes hopeless.

However, a lack of drive is not necessarily what Oxford students are associated with; some may object to this pessimistic perspective on the promising prospects that a New Year brings. Surely as driven students we can defy the odds and dedicate ourselves to healthy habit-making as well? But as we all well know, dedication and intelligence don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with common sense. Quantum mechanics students using WikiHow to cook pasta; scholars of 19th Century Gothic literature forgetting to separate their laundry and wondering why all of their white t-shirts are mysteriously pale pink. These quirks of Oxford students are plentiful, demonstrating clearly that basic life skills do not correlate with intellect – so what chance do we have to keep any resolutions? 

So whilst Oxford students may have met their match when faced with the prospect of resolution-keeping, there is still hope. Resolutions are not restricted to the 31st December, so we can always wake up and try again. Yes, we may fail countless times in this process, and no, we won’t magically wake up one morning as the perfected version of ourselves which we envision.  But the course of self-improvement never did run smooth, as Shakespeare (should have) said, so be kind to yourself this January – your resolutions might be broken, but may your spirit never be!

Navigating Oxford’s social media footprint

Emma Heagney
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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, you’d be hard-pressed to find a corner of the Internet not touched by an Oxford University college. But, in a sea of similar profiles, it isn’t easy for colleges to stand out.

For a year, I managed my college’s access page on Instagram. This would be fun, I thought. But when I tried to make an infographic explaining student life, I quickly found that not all college profiles are made equal, and engagement is not a given.

Being an unofficial profile, the outreach staff had no involvement in the Instagram page, which meant I was alone in my research. Part of the reason I got the role was because I understood the need for an access page: I was the first from my school to go to Oxbridge and from a very deprived area. I didn’t expect to suddenly have to know all of the information I was barred from accessing myself – like formal etiquette, for instance. I went from being the target of access initiatives to being expected to share this information with the children I was once one of, as if a few terms here taught me a lifetime of experience.

But would it be unethical for someone without this background to take on this online persona? Would it be seen as patronising? Out of touch? In my opinion, yes. It would be unethical, and for good reason. So, the issue of my lack of knowledge persisted. A potential solution would be to ensure that students in charge of representing the college online are properly trained and supported by staff. The difference between college-run and student-run social media (as the two rarely mix) is often palpable, and the latter could learn a lot from the former. 

But the lack of training is not the only issue that plagues student-run pages. First, the quick turnover of student pages often creates inconsistency in aesthetics and long gaps between posts, affecting how well posts perform. This may be no problem for college Entz and society pages, but access posts, which are designed to reach a wider audience, are significantly affected.

Secondly, the resources available to students are often much less than pages with college support or management. I could not tell you the amount of times I stalked the Pembroke College access page, admiring the beautiful clips compiled into semi-viral reels. I had a degree to balance, and there was no way I could dedicate this much time to filming, editing, promoting, and monitoring. Likewise, camera equipment and even Canva Pro were far out of budget for our JCR. These financial disparities also exist between colleges with vastly differing endowments.

Consequently, engagement suffers. Do prospective applicants know about these pages? Do they even care? During one open day, I did everything I could to advertise the access Instagram, from etching the handle on chalkboards to talking directly to students. The response? No one had heard of it, much less followed it. I understand this completely – coming from a school where academic success was not exactly great for social status, following a bunch of Oxford pages was probably a bit (dare I say) cringe. In the end, the follower-base remained the same: entirely students of my college.

Is meme-ification the way to go? It seems to gain the most attention right now, to the extent that the current government is posting Keir Starmer sigma edits. Brasenose JCR’s TikTok page is one of the rare examples of a student-run page actually achieving success, pairing trending audios with open day footage and student life, and averaging thousands of views. Their approach certainly works, with accessible, relatable memes that do not bombard the unfamiliar viewer with Oxford lingo. However, the perhaps lightning-in-a-bottle success of Brasenose JCR may not translate to other colleges, especially for those whose social media reps do not want to affect their digital footprint for the future.

Oxford’s reputation precedes itself, and for this reason the University is perhaps less reliant on social media than other higher education institutions. Yet, Oxford is faced with a unique problem: so many colleges yields so many social media profiles. While the University’s central social media thrives on platforms like LinkedIn, individual college pages, especially those which are student-run, may not be able to compete with the funding and time poured into their official counterparts.

Oxford University Press issues apology for book published 20 years ago

Maya Heuer-Evans
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Oxford University Press issues apology for book published 20 years ago

The Indian division of Oxford University Press (OUP) has apologised for statements made in the book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India, published in 2003. The work, written by American historian James Laine, examined the history of Shivaji Shahaji Bhosale, a 17th century regional sovereign whose legacy has particular cultural and political significance in the state of Maharashtra and is widely celebrated by Hindu nationalists.

Udayanraje Bhosale, an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and descendant of Shivaji, filed a complaint in 2005 against Sayeed Manzar Khan, the then Managing Director of OUP India, over the book’s misrepresentation of his ancestor. The criminal defamation proceedings against the latter and three others were quashed by the High Court’s Kolhapur bench last December in favour of a public apology.

This apology, issued 6th January in two Indian newspapers on Khan’s behalf, “acknowledged that some statements regarding Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at page nos. 31, 33, 34 and 93 of the book were unverified”. “We sincerely regret publishing those statements”, it continued, apologising to “Shrimant Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bohsale and the public at large, for any distress and anguish caused to him”.

Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India was subject to widespread criticism upon publication, with a passage on page 93 that alluded to Shivaji’s parentage seen as having disrespected the memory of his mother Jijabai. The book was banned by Maharashtra in 2004, and withdrawn from circulation later that year. The same year, officials from the state sought to arrest Laine, and more than 150 protestors from the Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha activist group, targeted the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune for what they saw as its complicity in his research. 

The ban on the book was lifted by the Bombay High Court in 2007, and this decision confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2010. But this is not the first time that Shivaji’s legacy has caused controversy in the context of mounting Hindu-Muslim tensions in India: in 1993 there were calls for the author of an article printed in the Illustrated Weekly of India to be publicly flogged for misrepresenting the ruler. 

An OUP spokesperson told Cherwell: “The title in question was published for a brief period more than two decades ago in India. In response to concerns about the title’s content which were raised at the time, we took prompt steps to recall the title and withdraw it from circulation.

“Our products and services support education and research across the world. We always seek to consider cultural sensitivities and context carefully to ensure that our products can be read and enjoyed by as many people worldwide as possible.”

James Laine was contacted for comment.

How does an Oxford student read for fun?

Ben O'Brien
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How does an Oxford student read for fun?

Over the course of this Christmas vacation, I was mostly reading Karl Ove Knausgaard. Not his slightly weird-sounding recent stuff (see: The Wolves of Eternity), but rather his six-volume international best-seller, My Struggle. It’d long been on my radar, mainly because I seem no longer able to engage with actual fiction – and Knausgaard’s mega-hit is one of the classics of autofiction. So I got the first three volumes, put my folder labelled ‘THESIS’ away, and settled down on the sofa to enjoy Karl’s struggle.

While I very much liked what I read,  I didn’t like what happened to my brain as term time came back around. Gradually, the old mental tics crept back in. Instead of reading the words on the page, I found my mind wandering. As Karl was talking about his father’s seemingly pathological inability to say anything nice to him, or about his embarrassingly misshapen penis, my thoughts returned to my work. ‘Shouldn’t I be dedicating all of my mental energy to my degree?’, I asked myself. Could reading about Karl’s penis and his relationship with his father possibly contribute something towards my next thesis chapter? And if not, shouldn’t I just put the book down and do something more constructive with my time? I hate these kinds of thoughts, so much so that I spend nearly as much time thinking about how annoying they are as I do actually having them. Yet every time a new term comes around, I find it almost impossible to stop them.

No doubt, my inability to stop my mind wandering is partly a symptom of our social-media-laden, doom-scrolling age. No matter which book is in front of me, I’m almost always reading in twenty-second bursts, and I’m constantly thinking about what else I could be looking at if I only picked up my phone. In other words, even if I was working on my thesis, I’d probably be thinking about something else. But my struggle with non-academic reading is also an example of what Oxford itself can do to you. The problem is less my concentration than my feeling guilty at reading anything that doesn’t directly contribute to me getting a better result in my degree. And it’s hard to make the guilt go away. In our imposter-syndrome-inducing bubble, it’s easy to think you have no choice but to give up any non-academic pastimes. The constant pressure of weekly deadlines, the desire to show that you deserve the place you worked so hard to get – it often seems like the only option is to dedicate 100% of your time to your degree. Any time I don’t do so, I end up feeling like I’m doing something wrong.

Of course, something must have gone very wrong if university messes up the one of the pastimes you might think it was designed to facilitate above all else – namely, the reading of books. But in a way, my messed up reading habits are just another example of the instrumentalisation of higher education that has been going on for a long time. University league tables, eye-watering amounts of student debt, the closing down of degrees that don’t ‘increase earning potential’  – all this makes it hard to escape the feeling that higher education has become less an opportunity for intellectual pursuits of all kinds and more a product to be purchased in return for earning a certain amount of money once you leave. In this context, Oxford can feel less like a place of intellectual freedom than of maximising future earnings. Karl’s struggle might be engrossing reading, but if it’s not going to be financially beneficial, it seems like I’m supposed to set it aside.

If this all sounds extreme, and maybe even a little bit mad, then that’s because it is. The idea that I’m not allowed to continue reading for fun during term time is no saner than the idea that I shouldn’t see my friends. More to the point, it’s no doubt counterproductive in the long run – the irony being that I’d probably do better in my degree if I was less obsessed with doing well in it. So this term, my last Hilary at Oxford, I’ve decided to try and fight the guilt. I’ve brought Karl’s books with me, and they’re staring at me from the shelf on the other side of my room as I write. I’m trying to tell myself that it must be possible to find a happy medium when it comes to my reading habits – that it’s not fatal to my degree and my job prospects to allow myself some guilt-free reading time every evening. This might be easier said than done, but I’m determined to give it a go. For Karl and for me, I’m curious to see how it goes.

Not on the tour: An unconventional journey through Oxford

Elouise Wills
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Not on the tour: An unconventional journey through Oxford

I remember being taken on a tour of Oxford as part of my post-offer visit day early in 2023. A first-year Classics student (who coincidentally was assigned as my college parent a few months later) took us through Gloucester Green, past Waterstones and Blackwells, round the RadCam, and down High Street to look out over the river Cherwell from Magdalen Bridge. My 18-year-old self was enthralled by the beauty and the sheer size of the buildings, and all I could think to ask my tour guide was how he managed to not get lost, what it was like to live in Oxford, and where I could borrow my course books. With all the uncertain knowledge of someone in their second term, he assured me that I would be just fine. He told me about the infamous ‘Tescalator’, the importance of meal deals, his favourite libraries, and the best pubs near our college. He gave me an insight into what lies beyond the normal Oxford tour organised by colleges and diluted down into historical anecdotes, notable alumni, and impressive architecture. 

However, as I drafted this article, I realised that all tours are fundamentally flawed. However detailed and student-focused they may be, tours are something you experience before you know a place. They are therefore utterly incapable of expressing what it is like to love and to leave Oxford. So, as I prepare to face a fourth, far quieter year, I have decided to write my Oxford exploration as a love letter to the places which have been shaped by my favourite people. 

There is no better place to start than by honouring the bond of college spouses, and therefore the first stop on our ‘Not on the tour’ tour shall be the OURFC audience stands. I firmly believe that women’s rugby at Oxford (and in general) is chronically under-watched – and I’m not just saying this as a self-proclaimed ‘ultimate college WAG’. Our women’s Blues team are incredibly talented, and although I have managed to go over two years without remembering a single rule, I enjoy attempting to re-learn them each term, huddled up in those stands every other week. There is nothing quite like screaming at the top of your lungs and hearing the entire crowd gasp as your wife tackles player after player until the game is called and she rushes off, covered in mud and blood, to hug her adoring fans (myself and our flatmates).

With the mention of my wonderful flatmates, let us now be whisked off to the other side of town, deep into the heart of Jericho. It has been our tradition since first-year Hilary to start each term with a trip to The Gardeners Arms, with its incredibly funny barmen, gorgeous fairylights, outdoor heating, and the best Baileys hot chocolates in the world. It’s the perfect place to play cards, drink, yap, and brace yourself for incoming collections and the chaos of our 8-week terms. In truth, I cannot imagine my life in Oxford without the buzz of conversation and holiday catch-ups in that outdoor seating area, or without the people who made it feel so magical in the first place.

In Trinity of my first year, I learnt the importance of expanding my Oxford experience. Although I had taken part in several extracurriculars before, it wasn’t until my third production with the Jesus College Shakespeare Project that I truly felt at home beyond Worcester. Therefore, the third stop on our tour is the Habbakuk Room at Jesus College. Exceedingly hot and with a few odd stains, it is far from being a must-see spot. And yet, I know it will be one of the places I miss most. To me, it represents the importance of finding a hobby you love, and like-minded people who make Oxford’s everyday pressures feel manageable.

One particular theatre friend of mine also added greatly to my third-year experience, thanks to our weekly walks around Port Meadow. This will likely be a spot that most students already consider fundamental to a good tour, but I still believe it deserves a mention here, along with its highlights  – namely The Perch and Godstow Abbey. Through our weekly walks last term, I was able to escape the bustling city and discuss with an equally scared third year what life might be like after Oxford. Port Meadow is more than a pretty field, and yet this was not something I could sense when I walked around it obsessively in my first term.

Inevitably, though, a large percentage of my Oxford memories are linked to studying, and so stops six and seven on our tour are the two places which have continuously reminded me that I do in fact enjoy my degree: the alcoves in the Art, Archaeology and Ancient World library, and the handling room on the top floor of the Classics faculty. It has been incredibly important to me both to find a study spot that I actually enjoy being in (and can drag friends along to) and to find fun, unusual ways to engage with my degree which feel more interactive and exciting than every-day reading and essay-writing. I highly recommend all classics students to enquire about attending a handling session, and for students of other subjects, I would just advise that you ask around and find new ways to engage. Indeed, no essay has ever stood out to me quite as much as the friends I studied with, or the physical ways I have been able to interact with the ancient world.

With five terms left to go, it feels as though this send off is slightly premature, and yet this sense of liminality is inevitable for those of us who stick around long enough to see friends move on. Though this cannot yet be a full goodbye, I have at least aimed through this ‘Not on the tour’ tour to bid a tentative farewell to the specific way I have experienced Oxford thus far.

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