Universities and Colleges in England
Posted on 17. Dec, 2011 by Brian R. in University
There are several internationally renowned colleges and most of all universities in England. Both types of institutions offer advanced education and several different forms of graduation. A college usually offers only a small collection of disciplines in which students can reach a degree. Students in the United Kingdom are also called undergraduates in order to identify them as enrolled at a university or college.
Most universities in England are supported by the government but the undergraduates also have to pay fees. These tuition fees depend on several factors, for example on the country the undergraduate originally comes from. Many universities are very old, many of them were founded in the Middle Ages.
The most famous university in the United Kingdom: The Oxford University
Oxford is one of the oldest universities in the world. The exact founding year is not known but there are sources that prove that there has been teaching since 1096. It was one of the first universities which were attended by women. This was in 1878. The structure of Oxford University is quite complicated because it contains several colleges which are self-governed. Further sub-institutions are the Permanent Private Halls. Altogether over 20.000 students are enrolled at the University of Oxford which dominates the British university rankings. You can find more than thirty libraries in Oxford University, the biggest of which contains over 11 million books and is the second largest library in the United Kingdom. Many world famous people attended Oxford University, among them six kings, nearly 50 Nobel laureates and 25 Prime Ministers.
The biggest competitor of Oxford University: The Cambridge University
In the 13th century some students and teachers of Oxford University protested against their former University and founded a new one: Cambridge University. Today nearly 18.000 students attend the university including 6000 postgraduates. Since 1829 every year a traditional boat race takes place on the Thames, Oxford undergraduates compete against Cambridge undergraduates. Like Oxford Cambridge is divided into several autonomous colleges. Until the 1960ies applicants for a university place had to prove funded knowledge in Greek and Latin. These ancient languages were only taught at independent schools, so a very long time only members of the gentry could hope to study at Cambridge University.
Image: Douglas Freer – Fotolia