Friday 1st August 2025
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Sample Oxford interview questions released to applicants

Mantas Krisciunas
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Sample Oxford interview questions released to applicants

A set of sample interview questions covering a range of subjects has been released by Oxford University this week. They come with detailed commentary from tutors who have interviewing experience. The University has been releasing batches of interview questions periodically for at least the last eight years, in the hope of making the application process clearer.

“Oxford strives to be as open and transparent as possible about its admission process, and we are acutely aware that the interview in particular can be a source of anxiety for applicants – particularly those from schools that don’t have much experience preparing candidates for the Oxford a n d Cambridge application process”, said Samina Khan, Director of Admissions and Outreach at Oxford.

“We therefore aim to demystify the process as much as possible, by providing information about what to expect (and what not to worry about) at interview.”

Khan also described the way in which the burgeoning private tutoring system is driving increased transparency. “It might be worth noting that part of the impetus for releasing questions came because we were concerned about commercial tutoring companies who were doing the same thing – releasing ‘nightmare Oxbridge interview questions’ in order to drum up business by suggesting that we had a vested interest in keeping our process secret and that only by paying money to commercial companies would students stand a chance of getting in. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we took the decision to proactively release not just example questions but, crucially, explanations of what tutors are looking for in the answer discussions to put applicants at ease and reassure them that we want them to have as much information and be as prepared as possible.”

Questions were released for PPE, Maths, Experimental Psychology, Medicine and Modern Foreign Languages. Students can expect to be asked ‘What makes a novel or play political?’ (MFL), ‘What exactly do you think is involved in blaming someone?’ (PPE) and ‘A large study appears to show that older siblings consistently score higher than younger siblings on IQ tests. Why would this be?’ (Psychology).

The release of interview questions is not the only way the Outreach Office has been striving to make the admissions process more accessible. Mock interviews and video diaries made by admissions tutors are some of the other ways the university is trying to make the most dreaded part of the application process less opaque.

Yet some within the university have suggested there is a limited amount that it can do. Dr Ian Phillips, who interviews potential undergraduates for Oxford PPE and who donated the PPE sample question, said that it was easy to blame those in charge of admissions for the dominance of trained private school applicants, but often other societal problems meant that their ability to help was limited. Interviewers need to “find out who the talented people are and try and set aside the contextual factors that might mask that from us”, he said.

“All we are asking them to do is to just bring themselves and their natural abilities and just have a chat with us.”

Artisan vodka distillery to open near South Park

Stephen Hawes
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Artisan vodka distillery to open near South Park

A gin, vodka and whisky distillery is to open next to a secondary school in near South Park. The Oxford Artisan Distillery is set to be operational in the new year after plans were approved by the Oxford City Council.

The spirits produced there will be sold in local farmers’ markets and to Oxford distributors, with 10p from each bottle being donated to the local mental health charity Response. Balliol student Zachary Leather told Cherwell that “it would be cool if Oxford pubs and bars started supporting local business by selling local vodka.”

The land that will be used, in Headington, had previously been earmarked for council housing, a plan that was resisted by the Oxford Preservation Trust, who seek to maintain the character of the city of Oxford. Nearby towns such as Carteton and Abingdon are planning to make up for Oxford’s housing shortfall with their own housing developments.

Tom Nicolson, CEO of The Oxford Artisan Distillery, is an Oxford resident who has previously worked in the music business. He expressed relief that permission had been granted, stating that there had been a lot of support from the community. The distillery will begin by producing gin, in which it intends to specialise, but also plans to make whisky, vodka and even absinthe as early as 2018. The Oxford Artisan Distillery describes itself as “a rare species found in only a few very special places around the world. We care deeply about the quality of our spirits but also about the impact of their production. We oversee the entire process on our site beneath the dreaming spires of Oxford. The Oxford Artisan Distillery is in every sense of the word a true craft distillery.”

Mr Nicolson intends to produce the spirits using traditional, pre-1940s methods and Oxfordshire rye. It is hoped that the distillery will employ around ten people. If successful, there are plans to create a visitors centre and a cafe, as well as to provide guided tours.

The distillery will be on the site of an a vacant Council depot and a Grade-II listed threshing barn, with plans for a replacement barn to be built in the near future. Concerns that locating a distillery so close to a school were dismissed on the grounds that it will not actually sell alcohol. Councillor Colin Cook said: “Gin is not really an entry level drink for our fourteen-year-olds so I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

The distillery will join Oxford’s growing artisan market. Oxford Blue is an acclaimed local cheese, whilst the Real Wood Furniture Company and the One Village shops sell independently made wooden furniture. The Covered Market has been a centre for local trade since 1772. The Oxford Artisan Distillery is the first known gin distillery in Oxford’s history.

Review: Anything Goes

Claudia Graham
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Review: Anything Goes

This latest production of Anything Goes offers audiences a highly polished sail on the SS American, replete with camp-as-can-be sailors brandishing mops and tap shoes. The set (designed by Gabriele Juzeliunaite) consists of a white expanse of ship punctuated with portholes and life rings, with a balcony for the orchestra and cheery bunting strung above. Although it is fairly simple its clean execution is highly effective. The placement of the orchestra in full view of the audience was a nice touch and extended to their treatment within the play: one character entered from the midst of the musicians; soloists were able to stand up and be recognised; and they even have their own chorus line at one point in the show. The music produced was energetic, upbeat and perfectly timed to the action.

In fact, the premise of the musical (mistaken identity, farcical hijinks) ensures that a steady stream of calamities come hurtling across the stage for most of the first half. The energy levels never seemed to falter, although it did take a while for some of the accents to settle into place. There were a couple of notably strong duets in this half (‘You’re the Top’ and ‘Friendship’) and the singers’ clarity meant that the audience could fully appreciate Cole Porter’s ludicrous, hilarious lyrics. The common denominator of these two numbers was the character of Reno, played by Kathy Peacock. Peacock is undoubtedly the star of this production. She had an incredible command of the stage and boasted impressive singing, dancing and acting talent, far beyond what is usually expected of student drama.

Disappointingly, the second half was not quite as engaging, relying more on the rapport already built in the previous acts. The transitions between scenes were noticeably clunky and there are fewer songs. That said, the bizarre ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’ that opened this half was probably handled as best as could be, given its incongruity and lengthiness. It was Laurence Belcher‘s rendition of ‘Gypsy in Me’ as the oddly endearing Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, however, that really enlivened the show once more – and garnered the greatest laughs of the evening. The other standout cast member that deserves mention is Nils Behling, as the criminal Moonface, whose defined physical movements, facial expressions and comic timing generated much non-verbal hilarity.

Overall, this is a spectacle of a show and an immensely enjoyable trip to the theatre. There is no ‘weak link’ in the cast and all of the aesthetic elements- set, costume, lighting- worked together in a clear, consolidated vision. Is it a ground-breaking reinvention of the original script? No. Does that matter? Definitely not. This is classic, well-executed musical razzmatazz that will see audiences still singing the show’s tunes for weeks to come. And if that doesn’t have you convinced, it has the most perfectly-timed lowering of a disco ball I’ve ever seen on stage.

The Myth of Momentum

Jack Harrison
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The Myth of Momentum

In the modern age of radio talk shows, huge TV rights deals and more Sky Sports channels than one could ever dream of, pundits are rife across the sporting globe. We are now continually fed information on how to perceive different games by a multitude of presenters and ex-pros. In some instances, punditry and analysis packages are genuinely insightful to the paying customer, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher’s Monday Night Football gig is one that has particular caught the countries imagination, yet far too often pundits provide little, resorting to tried and tested clichés, immune to any sort of criticism on the mere fact they could kick a ball, swing a bat or run fast in years gone by – and you couldn’t.

Tuning into the Ryder Cup from Minnesota last weekend, among all the usual throwaway comments spouted by Messrs Montgomerie, McGinley and co, one line was uttered more than most; the magical importance of momentum. On the final day the rhetoric from the Sky Sports commentary team was consistently one of the importance for Team Europe to pick up early momentum which would feed through the team and inspire dramatic victory. The Europeans came out fast, winning 3 of the first 5 games, but momentum didn’t last, winning just 1 of the last 7, much like momentum hadn’t played much of a role on either of the opening two days with the team who won the morning session losing the corresponding afternoon session on both occasions. For a concept so widely talked about and so highly regarded as important, momentum appeared to have little impact upon the tournament, begging the question how big a role momentum has to play in sports?

The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science defines psychological momentum as “the positive or negative change in cognition, affect, physiology, and behaviour caused by an event or series of events that affects either the perceptions of the competitors or, perhaps, the quality of performance and the outcome of the competition.” Is this cognitive shift really capable of changing the outcome of matches, series and seasons? Many argue hotstreaks are evidence for the power of momentum, but hotstreaks do happen by chance. Take for example the flipping of a coin, if you flip it long enough either heads or tails will go on a long streak of solely occurring, much like if you play football games for long enough Leicester City will go on a long streak of not losing.

The Leicester City case, is an extreme and rare example, and therefore the human mind is conditioned to remember it and not the fortunes of the other 19 teams playing in the league exaggerating our perception of the prevalence of hotstreaks and therefore the importance of momentum in sports. A famous example sighted in defence of momentum is the 2001 Wimbledon semi-final, when a rain break with Tim Henman 2 sets to 1 up stripped him of his momentum and cost him a place in a Wimbledon final; or more recently Superbowl XLVII in 2013 when the Baltimore Ravens, leading 28-6 surrendered all momentum after a game delay due to a blackout and conceded 17 unanswered points. These memories are at the forefront of British tennis and NFL fans alike, but such events will happen from time to time – selective memory and small sample sizes do not however make a good argument for psychological momentum.

Momentum as a concept is wide reaching, within games, from game to game and even from season to season. In a 1985 study Thomas Gilovich “investigated beliefs and facts concerning the sequential characteristics of hits and misses in basketball,” concluding “basketball fans believe that a player’s chances of hitting a basket are greater following a hit than following a miss. However, the outcomes of both field goal and free throw attempts were largely independent of the outcome of the previous attempt.” In addition, he found that “the frequency of streaks in players” records did not exceed the frequency predicted by a binomial model that assumes a constant hit rate.” Further studies show mixed results, another paper looking at Major League baseball found no relationship between a teams end of regular season form and their performance in the play-offs, despite the common conception held that “peaking at the right time” is crucial when mounting a charge in such a format.

The momentum myth is so rife as people, in an attempt to explain and understand the events that unfold before them, are much happier buying into this romanticised concept as opposed to viewing a game or season as a multitude of random independent events. No doubt on occasions cognitive shifts occur which alter probabilities of future outcomes, but the quantitative evidence suggests psychological momentum plays a far lesser role in sport than our beloved pundits and analysts would have us believe.

Enjoy the column, J.

Rewind: Winnie-the-Pooh’s 90th birthday

Ellie Duncan
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Rewind: Winnie-the-Pooh’s 90th birthday

“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

A.A. Milne’s contemplative, red t-shirted bear first appeared in book form in 1926, in the original eponymous collection of stories, followed two years later by The House at Pooh Corner. Milne wrote the stories for his young son, after whom Pooh’s best friend Christopher Robin is named, and the inspiration for the vibrant cast of animal characters was taken from Christopher’s toy collection.

The animals in Winnie-the-Pooh are what make it one of the most recognisable and iconic children’s stories in the last century, peppered with quirks and remarks testament to its lasting individuality. Tigger’s pogo-stick-like tail, Pooh’s poetic tendencies and Piglet’s adorable bewilderment at the world evoke more intense childhood nostalgia with each YouTube video watched. Every cast of children’s characters produces a personal favourite, and my heart goes out in particular to Eeyore, who surely epitomises the frustration of any reader not to be able to reach into a book and tell a character that everything is going to be just fine. The adjective ‘Eeyorish’ has even made it into the Oxford English Dictionary as “deeply pessimistic, gloomy” and his melancholic reflections on life are one of the most memorable trademarks of the story.

In 1932, Pooh appeared for the first time in his classic red t-shirt, in the first colour motion picture of the story made by Stephen Slesinger. After buying the rights in 1930, Slesinger cultivated a multi-million dollar Winnie-the-Pooh empire. Since then, Pooh has become associated vividly with Disney. Pooh’s brand might be lucrative but it will always be simultaneously, soothingly simple in the gentle world of Hundred Acre Wood— which can be visited via reading the book or heading down the M25 towards Hatfield, the location of Ashdown Forest, where you can visit the real life inspiration for Pooh Corner.

Nowadays, nostalgic Winnie-the-Pooh love remains a strong force for good in the world; it has recently produced a new story called Winnie-the-Pooh and the Missing Bees, illustrated by Mark Burgess, to raise awareness of the bee decline—particularly good news for anyone as partial to honey as Pooh. Finally, for anyone who wants to combine Pooh-love with skill and precision, look no further than what must surely be the happiest sporting competition in existence, the World Pooh Sticks Championships 2017.

Four in ten state school teachers rarely or never recommend Oxbridge

Tony Diver
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Four in ten state school teachers rarely or never recommend Oxbridge

Over 40 per cent of state secondary school teachers rarely or never advise their academically gifted students to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, according to a survey released yesterday by the Sutton Trust. The survey, of a nationally representative 1,607 teachers, also found common perceptions of the proportion of state-educated students Oxbridge, despite increases in state school numbers in recent years.

Only 21 per cent of state secondary teachers said they always advised their bright students to appl. When asked to guess the proportion of state-educated students at Oxbridge, just one in a hundred overestimated it.

Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust, said, “Today’s polling tells us that many state school teachers don’t see Oxbridge as a realistic goal for their brightest pupils. The reasons are they don’t think they will get in and if they get in they don’t think they will fit in.”

Sir Lampl’s comments are supported by the data, which suggest that a fi fth of teachers who don’t encourage bright students to apply do so because they feel applications will be unsuccessful, and 13 per cent because they expect students to be unhappy there. Sixty per cent say they never advise on university choice.

James Brackin, a second-year Magdalen student who went to Worthing Sixth Form College, said, “The teachers at my college were very keen to encourage us to apply to Oxbridge – they ran a scheme called Aspire that was aimed at getting more academically gifted students (with 5 As at GCSE) into competitive universities. We were each given an UCAS adviser to help us with the application, and my Physics teacher (I was applying for Physics and Philosophy at Oxford at the time) spent two lunchtimes a week helping me prepare for the Physics Aptitude Test.

“The programme included trips to the Oxford and Cambridge Student Conference at Epsom Downs, as well as to the Oxford September Open Day.”

The Sutton Trust report accompanying the survey data emphasised that “those from more advantaged educational backgrounds are more likely to receive higher quality support and to be able to draw on more relevant forms of social and cultural capital”.

The proportion of state secondary teachers unwilling to recommend Oxbridge to their students has not changed since 2007 when the same survey was conducted, while the proportion of successful state applicants has risen steadily in the same period from 47 per cent to 55.6 per cent.

Eden Bailey, OUSU Vice President for Access and Academic Aff airs, said, “There are some problems which are specifi c to Oxford, but it is often the case that teachers’ preconceptions of Oxford are (mis) informed by experiences many years ago, and by second-hand received ‘knowledge’. Further to this, there is little outside recognition of how exceptionally proactive Oxford’s student body is in providing and improving services that students need in response to issues faced here.

“Above all, it is important that prospective students are in control of their application – not their teachers, parents, or anyone else. Although concerns may stem from good intentions, it is a serious problem when teachers preclude students from educational opportunities without giving students themselves to explore them and make their own minds up.” she said.

Dr Samina Khan, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach at Oxford, said, “Our outreach activities and commitment in reaching out to teachers prioritises those most in need of support, and includes a newly launched Sutton Trust summer school for teachers from state schools.

“We are increasingly reaching out to teachers of younger pupils to help them understand how best to support talented students from early on. At the moment we work with about 2750 state schools every year to address misconceptions about Oxford.”

In its report, the Sutton Trust drew attention to its own work with state school students. “The Sutton Trust has run Teacher Summer Schools at Oxford and Cambridge this year, free courses that aim to dispel common myths about Oxbridge and other leading universities and to provide support to state school teachers to help bright students to apply,” it said.

Barbie: Mind over Mattel?

Olivia Retter
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Barbie: Mind over Mattel?

Barbie was a childhood friend. A sizeable collection of doll-related paraphernalia lies under a pile of dust in my parents’ house. ‘Beach Barbie’ was a favourite, accompanied by ‘witch Barbie’ and a special edition fairy Barbie with real wings who was a real hit one Christmas. I dressed them in matching Sailor Moon dresses and spent hours using household appliances to build the optimal dream-house.

Post-childhood, my perception of Barbie shifted. She became a concept rather than a playmate. I frequently scrolled past viral tumblr posts about a real-life Barbie having to “walk on all fours”. I realised that, as a mid-height white girl with blonde hair, I had simply accepted her as my doll-sized equivalent. I saw Barbie as the average, relatable woman. I now noticed how similar her fairy-wings were to those worn by Victoria’s Secret Angels.

This summer I visited the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, which hosted the first exhibition dedicated to Mattel’s iconic creation in a French museum. I ascended the temporarily magenta-toned steps, unsure of what to expect.

The mainstream criticisms of Barbie were brought to the forefront as I entered the exhibition. Mass-produced renditions of her familiar blonde, plastic figure lined the walls.The problems with Barbie resonate far beyond the doll herself. Mainstream media is far from diverse. It is not difficult to feel that failure to emulate Barbie’s life-size equivalents entails failure to meet the norm.

A section of the exhibition was dedicated to fashion, and seemed somewhat ironic. Miniature Barbie designs by Dior, Armani and Oscar de la Renta appeared alongside pieces from Jeremy Scott’s life size Barbie-themed collection for Moschino. The items of clothing were pieces of art, but ones which emphasised the prominence of fashion’s typically Barbie-esque muse.

The exhibition made sure to highlight the social progress that has been made. Earlier this year a redesigned Barbie appeared on the cover of Time. She now comes in ‘curvy’, ‘tall’, and ‘petite’, as well as ‘original’. She comes in eight different skin colours. She has hair colours other than blonde. A step in the right direction, but a small one.

The aspect that most surprised me was how far removed Barbie’s ultimate impact seemed from the intentions of her creator. I was drawn to a selection of 1950s baby dolls dressed in what appeared to be period costume, leading up to a floor-to-ceiling black and white photograph of Ruth Handler, a founder of Mattel and the driving force behind the invention of Barbie. Bored of paper dolls and plastic babies, Handler was determined to manufacture a young woman for girls to play with, who would represent their aspirations for their future lives. She convinced Mattel’s all-male group of directors to help make her dream creation a reality.

At the time of her launch in 1959, Barbie was a stark contrast to typical female roles. Barbie lived independently of any family setting, far removed from any depictions of wives and mothers. In the years that have elapsed since her creation, she has had over 150 different jobs. The exhibition made a point of emphasising that in 1965 Barbie was the first American to reach the moon, beating Neil Armstrong by three years. Who knows—perhaps she has an Oxford degree too.

The nod to Ken was notably small. He is aptly captioned “a necessary accessory in order to create romantic stories, and not a dominant or decision-making masculine figure”. A humorous addition to the story was the more recent introduction of ‘Blaine’, Ken’s romantic rival. His purpose was to encourage Ken to modernise and up his game to meet Barbie’s high standards.

By contrast, an entire wall displayed Barbie’s network of family and friends, the majority female. The message was clear: Barbie is ambitious, successful, and loved. Handler clearly hoped this would spark confidence in Barbie’s young owners that they would too be ambitious, successful and loved.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that many children and adult women cannot see themselves in the image of Barbie like I did as a child. But the value of Hander’s message, and the aspirations she dreamt nearly 60 years ago resonate with my adult self. Barbie is no mere blank canvas.

Spotlight: the Edinburgh Fringe

Matt Roberts
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Spotlight: the Edinburgh Fringe

The first thing that strikes you when you get off the train is Edinburgh as a city; this bizarrely layered and ancient city of granite, where roads and walkways are inexplicably stacked over one another, and imposingly craggy vistas poke out from behind the ornate architectural remembrances of the Scottish Enlightenment. Waverley station, stands in a topographical depression between the towering Georgian façades which line the Royal mile to the South, and the monumental edifices of Cabot Hill to the North—notably an abandoned reconstruction of the Parthenon designed to honour Scotland’s war dead.

Coming from several hours in the sterile, harshly lit, privatised blandness of a Virgin train into a city that feels like its been carved out of a mountain would be a shock to the senses at the best of times—during Fringe, when the city heaves with undulating waves of sleep deprived punters and leaflet-ers, it verges on sensory overload. That favourite factoid of the Fringe, that it doubles the population of Edinburgh during August, seems broadly to be untrue, however you can see and feel how people came to believe such an idea, as every pavement, bar and fl at-share floor is packed to the gunnels with humanity. I had a slightly less pleasant shock to the senses when I found myself sleeping on the floor of the Bristol improv troupe’s flat, precariously close to a puddle of a childhood friend’s sick. The Fringe is worth over a quarter of a billion pounds to the Scottish economy, when hundreds of thousands of southerners—from bona fide stars, to university students having their first taste of commercial success, flock to the millennium old city with the promise of a Republic of Cultural Heaven to be built through August. I think I’ve caught the Fringe bug, and whilst August seems a long way away, maybe you will too.

The Cursed Child: ultimate fan fiction?

Louis McEvoy
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The Cursed Child: ultimate fan fiction?

To get this out of the way: yes, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not only like a piece of fanfiction, but aims to be one. This narrative is not so much another volume but rather a meta-narrative reflecting on the novels—with the switch to script allowing for an interplay of irony and expectation. The result is self-indulgent, amusing and emotionally satisfying.

J.K. Rowling has always had a curious relationship with the idea of canons. She happily encouraged the proliferation of fanfic around the novels, but has a protective hold on her understanding of the text. This isn’t unusual for authors, her incessant addition of details to a universe is now so much bigger than hers, is however unorthodox. Considering the concurrent release of the final Potter novels and the films, the pop understanding of Potter is as shaped by the likes of Steve Kloves and David Yates as by Rowling. If she has maintained an uneasy tension between the two for years, then The Cursed Child is symbolic of her choosing to accept this—not least because the script is a collaboration. Jack Thorne, best known for writing dark and gritty television drama, is an inspired choice for the what could be called the Potter universe’s first canonical fanfic.

The plot itself is driven by the unhappy character of Albus Potter: elaborating upon the unconvincing epilogue of the Deathly Hallows, Thorne presents a strained father-son relationship between an adult Harry and his son, one which reaches breaking point when Albus, sorted into Slytherin, ends up depressed at Hogwarts. When he hears about the recovery of a Time-Turner, however, he conspires with his only friend, Scorpius Malfoy, to right a wrong from his famous father’s past. This is a plot which liberally borrows from Back to the Future Part II, Doctor Who, and the Potter series itself, complete with another Ministry break-in and a surprising whodunit. Yet although The Cursed Child operates as a crowdpleasing nostalgia trip, what makes Thorne’s script compelling is that it is nostalgia which critiques. While the characters are coping up with the consequences of the novels—Scorpius being ostracised, Albus growing up in his father’s shadow, Harry struggling to be a good dad—the writer is also thoughtfully commenting upon the novels in a way which plays with some of their unexplored implications. Particularly his portrayal of Ginny Weasley has a subtelty and nuance which never really shone through in the original novels. Thus, the return of fan favourites like Dumbledore and Snape is not simply for the fun of it, but in order to have a conversation between Dumbledore and Harry which focuses more on the manipulative behaviour of the former than Rowling tended to. Thorne manages the tricky feat of simultaneously prioritising the original text, fans’ desires, and a degree of critical self reflexity.

Yet as interesting as all this commentary by Thorne is, none of it would work if not for a key component of the script. Despite mixed reception, it seems everyone agrees that the star is Scorpius Malfoy—and rightly so. Self-deprecating, earnest, erudite and endearingly sweet, Scorpius brings the whole thing together as the script’s comic and emotional core; perhaps the real stroke of genius on Thorne’s part however is to make Scorpius an enthusiastic, obsessive nerd. Or, really, to make him a Harry Potter fan. This isn’t even subtext: “All I ever wanted to do was go to Hogwarts and have a mate to get up to mayhem with. Just like Harry Potter…” he remarks. At more than one crucial moment in the narrative, it’s Scorpius’ knowledge of Harry Potter plot details that helps the heroes. And it’s through Scorpius’ literal reconstructing of the narrative to his liking that the story is resolved. But Thorne guarantees there’s space for new stories: one highlight near the end is a moment where Draco flirts with Hermione, and as with so much else, there’s a sense he’s tipping his hat to an alternative interpretation. The message of The Cursed Child is simple: all fanfics are valid. Your version of the story and what it means to you is the real canon.

Wok & Roll slammed for poor hygiene

Ethan Croft
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Wok & Roll slammed for poor hygiene

The popular crewdate venue Wok & Roll has been subject to heavy criticism from the Food Standards Agency, over its cleanliness and contamination risk.

In a recent hygiene report, the Chinese restaurant on Woodstock Road was rated two out of a possible five marks, and told to improve immediately. Inspectors highlighted “dampness [which] may contribute to physical contamination” as a particular cause for concern. They were also surprised to find “shoes and personal items… strewn in the first floor kitchen.”

Officers gave the restaurant a ‘Poor’ rating in the Food Hygiene and Safety category and revealed they had ‘Some’ confidence in management. Other problems with the restaurant included water pressure so low it was sometimes diffi cult for employees to wash their hands, and a ‘cold’ room with measured temperatures as high as 10°C.

Incoming manager Kevin Low told Cherwell that a major rebranding programme is currently underway – he has been managing the restaurant for two weeks. Wok & Roll will be renamed ‘Cre-Asian’, with the menu broadening to encompass “Thai, Malaysian, and Chinese food.” Signifi cant redecoration is also taking place, and a team of “experienced new chefs from London” have been hired.

At the moment it is unclear whether Cre-Asian will follow its predecessor by continuing to host the controversial Oxford tradition of crew dating.

Jamie Horton, a Christ Church second-year, said, “It’s a tradition that Christ Church History subject drinks are followed by a crew date at Wok & Roll, and so I can only express my concern and disgust that, having eaten there two years in a row, it only scored two out of five stars.

“I’m pleased it’s under new management to solve the problem, but if top London chefs are being brought in, I can’t think it’ll be a suitable venue for us to get pleasantly inebriated, as we normally do. Arzoos have gained another customer.”

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