Sunday 12th October 2025
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On the look-out: Hilary 2017 in art

Sophie Jordan
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On the look-out: Hilary 2017 in art

Oxford may seem small, but the city is full enough of well-stocked and intriguing museums to keep any student’s eyes busy this Hilary. January will see the last weeks of the hugely successful exhibition of Islamic art, Power and Protection, at the Ashmolean, leaving its place for a year of events focused on the idea of innovation being brought to thought by artistic production.

January at Modern Art Oxford: Lubaina Himid, Invisible Strategies

After a year dedicated to celebrating the museum’s anniversary through the Kaleidoscope programme, which featured works by Kerry James Marshall, Marcel Broodthaers and Yoko Ono as well as a retrospective of the exhibitions set up in Rose Hill, Oxford’s modern art museum opens 2017 in a playful yet critical mood. From 21 January, Invisible Strategies will show some of the more rarely exposed paintings of the UK’s Black Arts Movement pioneer, artist Lubaina Himid. Himid’s work, covering a wide range of styles and techniques from painting to sculpture, offers a better informed and sometimes cynical view of the landmarks of black history and identities, examining stereotypes and prejudices in her graphically striking creations.

Lubaina Himid, Invisible Strategies will be open from 21 January to 30 April. Free entry.
What else to look out for in January: Desmond Shawe-Taylor’s talk in Merton for the Edgar Wind Society.
February at the Ashmolean: Degas to Picasso

Continuing on its wave of master exhibitions after the remaining four of Rembrandt’s five early Senses paintings were shown together for the first time in its rooms, the Ashmolean shifts to the modern period for three months of French avant-gardist exploration. David, Pissarro, Cezanne and Manet are just a couple of the famous names which will be hanging on the museum’s walls to complete this survey covering over a century of painting in France by artists from all over the world. This ambitious programme intends to reveal step by step the separation of the country’s well-established schools into a myriad of experimental trends and innovative series each developing a new concept of space, colour and texture. Supporting this aim, a chronological path is traced, taking the visitor from the fixed starting point of Delacroix’ Romanticism to abstraction à la Braque, via Duchamp, Dada and Parisian Impressionism.

Degas to Picasso: creating Modernism in France will be open from 10 February to 7 May. Free entry with a Bod card.
What else to look out for in February: the Oxford International Art Fair in the townhall.
March and April in London

No longer tied up in a small room under the dreaming spires by tutorial and essay deadlines, the spring vacation is the perfect time for any student to squeeze in a trip to the capital’s museums on the way home. Make it first into the British Museum for the opening of the American Dream exhibition, presenting the museum’s collection of transatlantic works from the pop 60s to today. Alongside the inevitable portraits by Andy Warhol, prints by Edward Ruscha and Robert Rauschenberg’s Sky Garden will all be on show to form a selection which promises to be eclectic, colourful and, in the British Museum’s fashion, simply quite large. Almost simultaneously in London, the Royal Academy’s America after the Fall will take a closer look at American art within the specific cultural and social context of the 30s. Marked just as much by the contemporary economic situation as the 60s were, this is a decade which saw the likes of Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper rise to create their most emblematic depictions of a disillusioned society.

The American Dream: pop to the present will be open from 9 March to 18 June. Student ticket: £13. America after the Fall: painting in the 1930s will be open from 25 February to 4 June. Student ticket: £8.
What else to look out for during the vac: David Hockney at Tate Britain, Australia’s Impressionists at the National Gallery, Jo Brocklehurst’s drawings of the punk scene at the House of Illustration.

Life divided: collections

Nicola Dwornik
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Life divided: collections

For:

There’s nothing more refreshing than returning to Oxford and being reminded how mediocre you are. That’s why I like collections.

I go home to relax after my ‘hectic’ term, leisurely read a stanza-or-two of Dante and think, fucking hell, perhaps I am a prophet of genius? Maybe all this hanging around intelligent people, reading clever books, and writing ‘thought-provoking’ essays has finally had an impact? Managing to answer two questions on this week’s episode of University Challenge confirms this self-diagnosis. My parents smile expectantly at each other—she’s definitely going to be in the team next year.

Having admired from afar the dreamy spines of my vacation reading, it’s Hilary. Gliding into my room I throw my brogues onto the floor, flick my hair back, look into the mirror and think, goddamn, when did I start to look as good as my brain feels? I radiate this flawed positivism until I’m quite light-headed.

Then I sit a collection.

My hand, first perplexed by the concept of writing, shakes as my brain adjusts its focus. Man sees pen, not cursor. Failing to recall which period Botticelli actually belonged to, I plump for the ‘High’ Renaissance, knowing full well that I will later force myself to vigorously defend any lack of knowledge to my tutor through relentless optimism.

Then, after frantically trying to locate some evidence, and finding nothing to support anything except chronic vacation laziness, my time is up. It’s a shame—just when I was beginning to convince myself that I could write using coherent sentences.

I conclude by punching a treasury tag through the pages of pure shit I’ve managed to produce in three hours. A task that seems herculean, and pointless.

But I like collections, I really do—they remind me that I’m stupid. “Welcome back to Oxford,” they say. “Actually do some work this term, please.”

Against:

I hate collections. They’re reminiscent of those pointless ‘end of unit exams’ we were forced to take at school.

Those superfluous assessments that only a handful of students actually decided to revise for during the holidays, instead of investing their time in valuable pursuits such as seeing how many Lindt Father Christmases you can consume before horrendously vomiting.

Having spent a holiday wading through Baileys instead of reading lists, I come back to Oxford. I spend the first few days of term seemingly perfectly ‘busy’, yet not really doing anything. My friends and I gather cordially in the JCR.

It is the night before collections; cold air clings to the grassy lawn and darkness pervades through windows. Glum faces, a lack of plum puddings, and promises to meet in the bar tomorrow evening, whatever happens. We may as well be gathering around a wireless waiting for war to break out.

I decide to break the silence: “Oh gosh, collections tomorrow! Who’s actually done anything?” Everyone quickly exchanges glances. Murmurs of “not much”, “I’m screwed” and the like shuffle about the room. We all lean back slightly, smile, and relax a little. What was the worrying for? Why were we all panicking? It’s all going to be okay. Tomorrow we’re all going to sit an inconsequential exam, and, hopefully, ‘Oxford fail’ together—aka get a dodgy 2:i.

I go to bed, all is calm.

But, not before long I realise that I have been fooled. I have been deceived by the plastercast smiles of my very own compatriots. How did I ever begin to forget that they have either perfected the art of covering up how much work they’ve done, since their year nine physics assessment days, or are just those plain annoying bastards who don’t even have to try?

Sighing, I drag myself out of bed, look at my watch, and make myself a coffee—I have 9 hours to fix this, then I’m done.

Protesters gather outside court to battle Iffley Open House eviction

Jack Hunter
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Protesters gather outside court to battle Iffley Open House eviction

Around 50 demonstrators gathered outside Oxford Crown Court this morning to protest an eviction order against a group of squatters currently using a building owned by Wadham College.

Students, along with local residents and members of the group Iffley Open House, showed their support for an appeal from the group to use the currently empty building as a temporary homeless shelter.

It follows a possession order filed by the current leaseholders of the ground floor of the building – The Midcounties Cooperative – to have the squatters evicted.

The case was adjourned for seven days, after a request to the judge by the Midcounties Cooperative. A spokesperson for the group told Cherwell that they were attempting to find “an amicable solution” to the situation.

It is understood that a meeting was later held between senior officials at Wadham and representatives of the Midcounties Coop, as the various parties seek “a consensus” on the issue.

Yesterday, Wadham said that it had met with members of Iffley Open House as it seeks to “establish a constructive dialogue with all of the interested parties”.

Demonstrators at the protest held a banner reading “People need homes, empty spaces need people” and cheered when the suspension of the case was announced.

A member of Iffley Open House, Miranda Shaw, said: “This project has already made a huge difference to the people who have been living in the building. With this adjournment, it can now continue to provide a safe and secure space that is vital for people’s physical and mental health.

“With extreme cold weather and snow expected this weekend, it is one more week of warmth, one more week of rest, one more week in which fewer people will be risking exposure and injury in sub-zero temperatures. And, hopefully, one more week in which the Midcounties Cooperative can begin to see the good this space is doing.”

15996197_10207943010479127_1392424299_n-1The group hope that if the eviction order is successful, Wadham will allow them to move into the upstairs of the property, which apparently contains 11 flats.

Both Wadham and the Midcounties Coop have warned of a “significant quantity of asbestos” contained throughout the building, along with potential fire hazards.

Samuel Dunnett, who is a member of the Wadham SU committee and attended the protest, said: “I think I speak for the majority of Wadham students when I express deep concern for the fate of Iffley Open House. We’re hoping, and will be campaigning this week, for the college to do all they can to encourage the Co-Op to keep the space open and inhabited in these winter months, and to explore all options to them for the parts of the building they own. If the question is one of safety, opening up other parts of the building is safe in comparison with throwing people back into the cold.”

Jeevan Ravindran, Chair of the OUSU ‘On Your Doorstep’ homelessness campaign told Cherwell: “I think protesters are turning up because they’re tired of seeing indifference towards homelessness. Having a home should be a basic human right, especially in this country, and all we’re seeing is budget cuts and hostel closures. More people are sleeping rough and the situation is unacceptable.

“As the university has the means to help, it should, and we urge Wadham to do the right thing and choose to save and change lives. People should not be dying on our streets whilst buildings lie empty.”

In a motion to Wadham’s Student Union, the President, Lucas Bertholdi-Saad, proposed that the SU pay the legal fees for Iffley Open House, and pressure the college to allow the squatters to remain in the building until it requires the site for building work. The motion will be discussed at this Sunday’s SU meeting.

Going to the pub is good for you, say Oxford researchers

Lizzie Diggins
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Going to the pub is good for you, say Oxford researchers

New research from Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology shows possible links between moderate alcohol consumption with friends at a local pub, and improved wellbeing.

The study focussed on connections between drinking and social cohesion, looking specifically at the frequency of alcohol consumption and the location.

It emerged that having a “local” pub promoted trust, social engagement, and thus contentment. Those without a “local”, and comparatively smaller social networks, were less engaged and trusting of their local communities.

Professor Robin Dunbar, of the University’s Experimental Psychology department, said: “This study showed that frequenting a local pub can directly affect people’s social network size and how engaged they are with their local community, which in turn can affect how satisfied they feel in life.

“Our social networks provide us with the single most important buffer against mental and physical illness. While pubs traditionally have a role as a place for community socialising, alcohol’s role appears to be in triggering the endorphin system, which promotes social bonding.

“Like other complex bonding systems such as dancing, singing and storytelling, it has often been adopted by large social communities as a ritual associated with bonding.”

Dunbar and other researchers drew on three separate studies: a questionnaire, observation, and a national survey.

The researchers discovered that those with a local pub socialised in smaller groups facilitating conversations as a group, whereas city-centre bars tended to have larger groups, and thus there was less whole-group engagement.

The national survey was undertaken by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a not-for-profit volunteer-led organisation of 185,000 members which campaigns for thriving pubs and real ale across every community.

CAMRA’s National Chairman, Colin Valentine, said: “Pubs play a unique role in offering a social environment to enjoy a drink with friends in a responsible, supervised community setting.

“For this reason, we all need to do what we can to ensure that everyone has a ‘local’ near to where they live or work—the first step to which is to strengthen planning protection for pubs to stem the 21 pubs closing across this country each week.”

Residents’ anger over Bullingdon “seven-day drinking culture”

Tony Diver
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Residents’ anger over Bullingdon “seven-day drinking culture”

A proposal by the Bullingdon to extend its opening hours to 4am from its current 2.30am closing time on Friday and Saturday nights has been voted down by Councillors.

Residents of East Oxford had expressed their frustration over the “seven-day drinking culture” that exists in the area, in response to the Bullingdon’s application to extend its alcohol-serving licence.

The new licence would have meant that events taking place at the club, which hosts popular student nights by companies such as Organised Fun and SE10, could serve alcohol until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights, 3am on weeknights and 1am on Sundays.

Residents of the surrounding area objected to the licence increase, on the basis that the street is a “special saturation policy” zone, which means that Oxford City Council is making an eff ort to reduce expansion of pubs and clubs on Cowley Road to protect local residents.

City Councillor Jamelia Azad told the Oxford Mail: “I already get a lot of complaints from residents living in streets off Cowley Road.

“Residents are being woken up by anti-social behaviour, there’s a lot of noise and I’ve had complaints of people being sick and smashing bottles—it is not just the weekend anymore.

“People should be enjoying themselves until late but in nonresidential areas like the city centre.”

The London Place Residents’ Association, which represents the seventeen homes almost half a mile from the venue, objected due to the noise that an increased licence would inflict on them. They were supported by Councillor Dick Wolff, who said:“It took many years to get to grips with the antisocial behaviour issues on the Cowley Road and the saturation zone has been a crucial part of this.

“It is good that the Cowley Road is a centre for entertainment but at the end of the day it is a residential area and the applicant needs to recognise this.”

In a statement to the public, which also blamed the residents’ disturbance on local students, Thames Valley Police revealed that they are treating the area as “a delicate state… from a policing point of view”.

The police statement expressed concern that the Bullingdon would be treated as a place for people to go after bars in the city centre had closed, causing more noise between midnight and kicking-out time.

It said: “The application would not only allow the existing customer base to consume alcohol for longer but result in increased footfall into the East Oxford area by attracting other late night revellers who don’t want their night to end.

“With a large student presence, concentrated in East Oxford and Headington nearby, and it being more socially acceptable to go out late night drinking for the general public as well, the night time economy is now a seven-day a week occurrence.”

SE10, who run a number of student club nights at the Bullingdon, appealed on Facebook for support for the licence extension. Their post described the application as “such a reasonable request” and said it was “crazy it hasn’t happened sooner”.

The residents’ opposition also provoked scorn from students living near to Cowley Road. Romain Civalleri, a second-year Balliol student who lives on Union Street, said: “I am pretty sure that the whole disruption part is completely overblown. Cowley remains much calmer than central Oxford where all the clubs are concentrated.

“Even though I can understand that the direct neighbours of the Bullingdon may have complaints, the area is hardly littered with passed-out students every night.”

The Bullingdon, which has been running live music events for over twenty years, describes itself as “Oxford’s leading independent live venue and favourite cocktail bar”. It did not respond to requests for comment.

Brutalist Russia and Bowie: Marlowe’s Edward II reimagined

Alex Barasch
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Brutalist Russia and Bowie: Marlowe’s Edward II reimagined

As we approach the first anniversary of David Bowie’s death, it seemed fitting to be discussing Charlotte Vickers’ vision for a 1980s revamp of Marlowe’s play. Edward II has been transformed from a 16th century play about a 14th century king into a political drama set in the era of Brutalism, the Cold War, and, of course, Bowie.

First of all, where did the idea come from? The connection between Marlowe and the 1980s is not immediately obvious.

Charlotte Vickers (Director): “The idea for Ed2 actually came about in the library, not the pub, which is pretty rare for me. I was sat doing revision on the Renaissance era last Easter, and I was reading Edward II for the fi rst time. At the time I was watching The Americans, a TV show set in the Cold War, and the similarities between Cold War politics—lots of talk and no action, backstabbing and espionage—and Edward II were suddenly so obvious. It made perfect sense.”

How did you go about developing the idea?

Catriona Bolt (Dramaturg): “Charlotte and I sat down in a cafe on a very cold afternoon and, over hot chocolate, discussed the setting for the play. Fine-tuning everything—from the prevailing season (winter, obviously) to the musical influences—helped us finish off the script and work out casting. For a historical play, it was vital to establish a setting that felt real and worked with the story’s original medieval period.”

What can we expect the production to look like?

Marcus Knight-Adams (Costume Designer): “The more we discussed the Cold War and the 1980s, the more the setting with the text made sense. The strong Brutalist aesthetic married well with the New Romantic era. The opposing aesthetics of 1980’s culture and counterculture reflect the austere views of the nobles and Gaveston’s post-punk ideals really well.”

Charlotte Vickers: “I’ve been so inspired by Bowie! So much Bowie. And Prince and George Michael—working on this production in 2016, watching all these greats die as we’re creating a society inspired by them, it’s weird.”

Harriet Bourhill (Designer): “When Charlotte and I first met to discuss Edward II, the vision for this early modern play to be set in Brutalist Russia was immediately inspiring. During the development of designs, I played with the weird and wonderful structures of innovative Brutalist architecture to test how the essence of these structures may be emulated in the Playhouse. The towering geometric architecture of Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 and The Everson Museum of Art designed by IM Pei were particularly inspiring during this process. In the end, the finished set result finds its roots in the very foundation of Brutalist architecture—the concrete breezeblock, the primary building material for these structures which, on the Playhouse stage, becomes a piece of statement architecture in its own right.”

Did the actors research the original background of their characters before adapting them for a modern setting?

Joe Stephenson (Mortimer Jr): “I’ve been really lucky to read a biography of my character by the historian Ian Mortimer, which has not only helped me get to grips with the actual historical events depicted within the play, but has also enabled me to create a backstory for my character that is based on real history. This has been really useful for me in working out Mortimer’s feelings for Edward and Gaveston, with whom he had been raised as a childhood friend, and exactly where that animosity comes from. It’s a bit of a problem trying to rely too heavily on real history with this play, though, because Marlowe condenses and conflates a fairly long historical period into a very short time. That being said, it’s been very interesting to talk about the real history in rehearsals, and I think I’m not alone in saying that it’s been a useful way of finding justifications and motivations for my character’s decisions and actions. Charlotte’s choice of setting has allowed us to explore real history of the 1980’s, as well as the 14th century. We have talked about fashion and subcultures, but also about the Cold War and modes of warfare in the 1980’s, as well as discussing real historical figures as performative inspirations (for Mortimer and Isabella, we have looked at Charles and Diana as behavioural icons—regicide aside, of course).”

Edward II will run at the Oxford Playhouse, Wednesday – Saturday of 2nd Week

Outfit of the day: January chic

Natasha McCabe
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Outfit of the day: January chic

Warmth was my priority in picking this outfit. Being out in London for the day, I knew that I’d want to be well wrapped up in the January freeze.

I paired an oversized burgundy turtle neck jumper with a medium brown open coat throw-on—to my surprise, the colours really complemented each other!

The jumper is super thick but the coat is light, so I knew I’d be warm without having to experience that classic winter feeling of layering so much that you feel ready to set foot in Antarctica. Not to mention the Michelin Man-type silhouette which ridiculous layering creates.This type of outfit is perfectly suited for a chilly day when you’ll be running around a little bit—you don’t want to be sweating every time you head inside.

Not wanting to go overboard with the colours, I kept the bottom half of the outfit simple in high waisted black leggings, a little black tote bag and some black knee high boots.

HE Bill defeated in Lords after peers react to “marketisation” reform fears

Jack Hunter
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HE Bill defeated in Lords after peers react to “marketisation” reform fears

The government’s controversial plans to make it easier for new profit-making universities to award degrees have been rejected by the House of Lords.

The defeat follows criticisms of the higher education and research bill from Oxford college principals and senior academics, who claim it threatens academic independence by “advancing an ideologically driven marketisation” of the universities sector.

In reaction to the success of the amendment, one of over 500 which have been tabled, Oxford Chancellor Lord Patten told Cherwell: “Heaven knows what will eventually emerge [of the bill] but it is likely to be very different then. We will see what happens back in the Commons.”

Patten intervened last week, calling the bill “ham-fisted” and threatening “the true value of an independent university” in an article for The Observer.

Speaking to Cherwell, Mansfield Principal Baroness Kennedy, a Labour peer, said she would support the amendment to the bill to prevent “the whole underlying marketisation of higher education.”

Kennedy compared the bill’s plans to make it easier for new institutions to offer degrees, become universities and make a profit from student fees, to Donald Trump’s attempts at entering the higher education sector in the USA.

She said: “America went down this road of letting businessmen set up private profit- making universities and it has led to many scandals of poor quality and exploitation of students as we saw with Trump University which led to Trump being sued.”

Her comments were mirrored by Wadham Warden Lord Macdonald, a Liberal Democrat peer. He warned that the bill risks “advancing an ideologically driven marketisation that will make standards the servant of commerce.”

He told Cherwell: “Of course it’s true that students, who now pay large sums of money for their education, deserve fi rst class teaching. This Bill, and the new bureaucracies it creates, will do nothing to encourage that.”

Patten also raised fears that plans to create an ‘Office for Students’ could threaten the ancient autonomy of Oxford, Cambridge, and other universities.

Macdonald said: “It is essential that our universities retain their autonomy and academic freedom from government control. This is key to their integrity and to the respect that they command world wide. But the Higher Education Bill threatens all this by placing universities more directly under the direction of Whitehall”.

Kennedy said: “I want reassurances on the face of the bill that government will preserve the Haldane principle that politicians do not interfere in choices for research.

“I understand and support efforts to improve teaching, as some universities neglect student teaching, but we have to protect the Oxford system.”

The bill seeks to implement the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which would operate through the National Student Survey (NSS). This week OUSU encouraged students to boycott the survey.

The decision in the Lords follows student campaigns against the bill over the past months.

In a statement to Cherwell, Eden Bailey, OUSU VP for Academic Affairs, said: “As the uproar from the House of Lords demonstrates, the heavy criticism of the government’s HE Bill is not unique to students.

“From academics to university chancellors, those with experience in the sector believe the Bill threatens everything from access to Higher Education, quality of teaching, attractiveness of British universities to international students, to British universities being able to secure vital funding for research.”

Professor Ian Walmsley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Oxford, said to Cherwell that the bill “presents both opportunities and risks for UK university research.”

While praising the bill’s attempts to “join up” research, he warned that “there are risks in implementing changes to a system that already delivers more influential research per pound spent than any other in the world, while any reduction in the independence of the formerly separate research councils must not come at the expense of their ability to support ambitious discipline-specific research.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education insisted that it was “listening carefully to the views of students, universities, academics and parliamentarians”.

She said: “We want more young people to have the opportunity to access a high-quality university education, and the measures proposed in the Higher Education and Research Bill are critical to making this possible.”

Students fight legal action to remove squatters from Wadham building

Jack Hunter
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Students fight legal action to remove squatters from Wadham building

Iffley Open House has been served with an eviction order by the current leaseholders of the ground floor of a building that they are using as a temporary homeless shelter.

The Midcounties Co-operative Investment are taking legal action to imminently secure possession of the property, which is also owned by Wadham College. A court hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

However, the appeal by the group of squatters to continue using a building on Iffley road owned by Wadham being backed by Wadham JCR and OUSU’s ‘On your Doorstep’ homelessness campaign.

Kevin Brown from Midcounties Co-operative Investment said: “We’re very sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, particularly at this time of year and are in dialogue with a number of parties to review all of our options for this site.”

Meanwhile Wadham college has stated that it would “prefer to resolve the situation amicably”.

However, the college has warned of safety concerns with the building, which they say contains large amounts of asbestos and has an unsafe roof.

The building, purchased by Wadham in 2015, is scheduled for demolition from the end of February so that it can then be turned it into student accommodation.

It has been occupied since New Year’s Eve by a group calling itself Iffley Open House. Around 36 people are believed to currently be sleeping in the space.

The group started a petition requesting the college’s permission to use the former VW garage as a temporary shelter until the end of winter.

The group said they want to “provide secure shelter and basic amenities for people sleeping rough on Oxford’s streets.”

A student campaign, started by a group of Wadham students, held a meeting this week, in attempts to push the college to allow the shelter to move upstairs in the building.

Chair of OUSU’s ‘On your Doorstep’ campaign, Jeevan Ravindran, told Cherwell the group would “do everything it can” to keep the shelter open.

He said: “Keeping Iffley Open House accessible for the winter months could save lives, and would be a chance for the university to show that they are willing to help. In the face of the loss of 145 beds for the homeless and shelter closures as temperatures plummet…it’s a disgrace to allow people to die on our streets.”

Speaking to Cherwell, Wadham SU President Lucas Bertholdi-Saad acknowledged that “the student body does have a material interest in ensuring the site is developed on schedule” but showed support for the temporary occupation.

He said: “Until and beyond the time at which Wadham will require access to the site, however, I believe that a state exists that minimises the risk of harm to the people staying at the Iffley site, whose current alternative is sleeping rough in freezing temperatures, and I know that Wadham students will be fighting for that end.”

On Friday morning students plan to stand outside Oxford crown court with banners during the court hearing.

At the time of going to print, 89 people had attended the event ‘Support Us at Court- Resist the Iffley Open House Eviction

In a statement on Thursday, Wadham said that while it was “profoundly sympathetic to the plight of homeless people in and around Oxford” that the college is “ obliged to ensure that the College’s assets can be used to their fullest extent and, in relation to the Iffley Road property, to construct new student accommodation, which will be particularly important for students of more modest means.”

“We are seeking to establish a constructive dialogue with all of the interested parties. We have met with representatives of the Iffley Open House and are working to reach a consensus on how best to resolve this matter.”

In a letter to Iffley Open House, seen by Cherwell, Wadham specifically warned of “serious safety issues for anyone visiting or remaining within this old and dilapidated building which is not considered safe for residential use.”

Oxford finalists join rebellion against National Student Survey

Ethan Croft
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Oxford finalists join rebellion against National Student Survey

This week, Oxford students have taken part in a nationwide boycott of the National Student Survey (NSS) in an effort to undermine the government’s controversial new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

The boycott is being coordinated by the National Union of Students (NUS), with the support of the Oxford University Students’ Union and numerous college JCRs.

OUSU’s recommendation to boycott the survey has been circulated via email to finalists in a number of colleges including Wadham, Pembroke, and St. Catherine’s.

Those organising and supporting the boycott hope a lack of responses will undermine the NSS, and in turn the TEF.

The scores generated by the NSS have long been used to rank universities.

However, Universities minister Jo Johnson now wishes to use them as a key component of the TEF, which assesses the standard of university teaching based on graduate destinations, drop-our rates, and NSS scores.

The TEF will award universities one of three medals: Gold, Silver, or Bronze. The NUS believes these medals will be used to “create a false market” and allow more highly ranked universities to charge increased tuition fees.

Many Oxford finalists are declining Pro Vice-Chancellor Sarah Whatmore’s invitation to complete the NSS, with some colleges already voting in favour of the NUS/OUSU boycott.

OUSU Vice President for Academic Affairs and Access Eden Bailey told Cherwell: “if a 50 per cent participation rate is not reached, the data cannot be used as a metric in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)… Not only do these metrics fail to measure ‘teaching excellence’, and the University’s own Education Committee have said as much, but we are strongly opposed to the TEF as it is primarily a mechanism for increasing and diff erentiating fees.

“The system of differentiated tuition fees TEF is designed to introduce not only entrenches the principle that only the wealthiest should have access to high quality education, but in practice would make Oxford even more inaccessible for the least socioeconomically privileged. Debt aversion already disproportionately deters groups who are underrepresented at Oxford, including working class and BME prospective students, from coming to university. If Oxford were to charge even higher fees than other universities, this would undoubtedly exacerbate the existing inequality.”

President of Hertford College JCR Ava Scott told Cherwell: “As a college with a history of progressive access policies, we voted to boycott the NSS. We believe its use to calculate the TEF is regressive and detrimental to our access policy. By boycotting, we hope to reduce its legitimacy as a metric for increasing fees.”

The Wadham College Student Union will be holding a vote on the boycott this Sunday. Last term, the college voted to condemn the entire Teaching Excellence Framework, so a pro-boycott result is expected.

Prominent members of the SU committee have expressed support for the boycott in a personal capacity.

Last year, over 400,000 students nationwide were invited to complete the NSS with an 80 per cent response rate. It is unclear what affect the boycott will have.

In response to the boycott, a spokesperson for the University told Cherwell: “In common with other UK universities, we write to our students every year to make them aware of the National Student Survey (NSS). We have been working with colleagues from across the collegiate University, and with OUSU, to secure a strong response to the NSS, as we genuinely value the feedback we receive from students. This exercise is entirely unrelated to the Teaching Excellence Framework.

“The NSS allows students to tell us what they liked and didn’t like about their time at Oxford, giving us valuable feedback as we seek to improve the student experience. Additionally, if more than 50 per cent of our students respond, the results are published on the Unistats website, which is linked to the UCAS website and allows students thinking of applying to Oxford to see what previous students thought of their time here.”

Students across the country have been encouraged to complete the National Student Survey, because a degree from a higher scoring university may potentially increase job prospects.

As in previous years, more material incentives have also been offered by the Oxford.

Exeter College third year Will Jarrett said: “It is insulting that the organisers are attempting to bribe our cooperation with the offer of ‘Oxford University branded hooded sweatshirts’ for twenty five respondents. It is outrageous that they believe the future of UK education could be sold so cheaply.”

OUSU has made clear that they are not opposed to measuring student satisfaction in principle, but that they believe NSS is a flawed system.

Oxford offers alternative measurements of satisfaction such as the Student Barometer, which are not linked to the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework.

Sandy Downs, OUSU’s VP for Welfare and Equal Opportunities, told Cherwell: “As we were mandated in OUSU Council last year, we’ll be campaigning for students to avoid the NSS, and focusing on other ways of collecting student feedback.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Louise Richardson and Pro Vice-Chancellor for education Professor Sarah Whatmore have been contacted for comment.

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