Oxford university and general knowledge

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Oxford university and general knowledge

Learning objectives

After this lesson you can name at least three different colleges of the University of Oxford.

After this lesson you can tell how the college system works.

After this lesson you explain some things of the history about the University of Oxford.

What do you know about Oxford and the university?

How old is the University of Oxford?

1. 927 years
2. 785 years
3. 1012 years
4. 898 years

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford was founded in 1096, therefor it is 927 years old. Making it the second oldest university in the world. 

Number one is the University of Bologna which was founded in 1088, making it 935 years old.

From which year were women allowed to come and study at the University of Oxford?

1878

1920

Women 

It wasn't until 1878 that women were allowed to come and study at the university. However, the could not get a degree. It wasn't until 1920 that women could get a degree. This was because of World War l, because a lot of men died. It was only in 1974 that all colleges let women enter.

Different colleges

The University of Oxford is made of different colleges. The University of Oxford has 44 colleges. A few colleges are: Balliol College, New College, Christ Church College, Oriel College, Exeter College and Worcester College

Why in New College called New College?

1. It is the newest college
2. One of the prime ministers renamed it
3. It is a nickname, not it's real name

New College

Despite the name is New College one of the older Oxford colleges. It was founded in 1379. The full name is The College of St. Mary of Winchester, but because there was already a college named after St. Mary, it became known as the 'new' college and the name stuck.

How many British prime ministers has the University of Oxford produced?

1. 25
2. 36
3. 32
4. 30

British prime ministers

The University of Oxford has produced 30 British prime ministers. Oxford is in the top of the ranks as the university in the UK to have educated the most political leaders. 

 Second to this is Cambridge, who has educated 14.

Examples

Trinity College: Lord North (1732-1792), Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Earl of Wilmington (1673-1743
)

Balliol College: Boris Johnson (1964- ), Edward Heath 

(1916-2005) , Harold Macmillan (1894-1986), H H Asquith 

(1852-1928)

Going to the University of Oxford

Often people think that in the University of Oxford you go to a different college for a different subject. This is not the case, you can study all subjects at each college. You will have all of your accommodation, food, lessons and sports teams under the college you decide to apply to.

Some scenes of a famous movie were shot in Christ Church University, which movie was this?

Movie scenes

Harry Potter was partially shot in Oxford, Christ Church College as well as New College provided the location for Harry Potter scenes.

New College, Harry Potter 

We see the New College cloisters and courtyard pop up during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire many times during the movie. You can see the Draco Malfoy tree where Draco gets turned into a ferret by Mad-Eye Moody! 

Christ Church College, Harry Potter 

The staircase was used to film the famous entrance scene where Professor McGonagall meets Harry, Ron and Hermione. The staircase leads then up to the Great Dining Hall which was used as an inspiration for the great Hogwarts Dining Hall.

Hogwarts Dining Hall

Many tourists still think they will see the exact dining hall from Harry Potter. This is not the case, the dining hall in Christ Church was an inspiration. It was not large enough for the Harry Potter movies so they recreated the dining hall in London to film the movies.

Where is Oxford famous for apart from the university?

Literature

Oxford has more published authors per square mile than anywhere else in the world! A lot of well-known literature comes from Oxford, like Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Famous people

There are a lot of famous people that studied at Oxford, here are some examples:

Albert Einstein

Emma Watson

Bill Clinton

Oscar Wilde

Fun fact

Historians believe Oxford wasn’t touched during WWll because Hitler wanted Oxford to be the new capital of England after defeating it.

Fun fact

Founded in 1621, Oxford’s Botanical Garden is not only the oldest botanical garden in the world but it also where the old Jewish cemetery is too.

Fun fact

Close to the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, if you look hard enough, you will find the door to Narnia. Bold and very eye-catching, with a fiery lion reaching out to you from the centre of its wooden core, this is the ‘Narnia Door’. 

Name at least three different colleges

How does the college system work? (lessons, activities, living etc.)

What do you know about the history of the University of Oxford?

What did you thought of this lesson?

It was fun and interesting

I didn't really like it