Oxbridge

For eight hundred years two universities dominated British education, and today they dominate even more than ever. Oxford and Cambridge preserve an antique way of life at the beginning of the 21^st century! They keep the traditions which go back so far!

The story of the University of Cambridge began in 1209 when several hundred students and scholars arrived in the little town of Cambridge after having walked 60 miles from Oxford. They joined together into a “Universitas” – a society of people with a common employment. It was only later that the word “university” came to be associated with scholarship.

These students were all churchmen who studied at well-known Oxford schools earlier. It was a hardlife at Oxford at that time as there was constant trouble between the townsfolk and the students. Then one day a student accidentally killed a man of the town. The Mayor arrested three other students, who were innocent, and by order of King John they were put to death by hanging. In protest, all the students moved elsewhere. Some of them came to Cambridge and so the new University began.

The students of Oxford and Cambridge make up one of the most elite elites in the world. Less than one per cent of Britain’s population go to Oxbridge. The Universities provide a large number of prominentsecretaries (Whitehall civil servants), members of Parliament, and vice chancellors of other universities.

Only in 1870s women were allowed to enter the Universities. Today the women’s colleges constitute only 12 per cent of the Oxbridge population so the competition is fierce. Only a small per cent of the women candidates is chosen – mainly on the results of the written examination.

It’s interesting that Oxbridge is in session only half a year. The Universities adjourn for four months including summer ones – a relic from medieval times when scholars had to harvest the yields.

Each college at Oxbridge has several clubs to which most of the students belong. There is a debating club in every college, as well as athletic and football clubs, and so on. Here students can join ina debate or read a book, or play at billiards with friends. There are lots of University clubs which bring together students of different faculties. There is hardly any form of sport which students arenot engaged in. But perhaps, of all the sports rowing plays the leading part.

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