Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Oxford has a distinctive collegiate structure. Students and academics benefit from belonging both to the University, a large, internationally-renowned institution, and to a college or hall, a small, interdisciplinary academic community.

Oxford is famous for offering one of the best educations in the world. One of the reasons for this is the distinct way subjects are taught. You'll have individual access to world-class academic experts; this may be in tutorials, lectures, classes or laboratory work.

All first year undergraduate students are offered college accommodation either on the main site of their college or in a nearby college annexe.

All colleges offer at least one further year of accommodation and some offer this for the entire duration of your degree. You may choose to take up the option to live in your college for the whole of your time at Oxford, or you might decide to arrange your own accommodation after your first year - perhaps because you want to live with a spouse, or with friends from other colleges.

Check out Oxford's Accommodation page for more information.

If you choose to 'live out', Oxford has a large selection of privately-rented houses and flats available. Living out does tend to be more expensive as houses are normally rented for the whole year rather than just for term time. However, this does mean that you would have somewhere to stay if you wanted to study out of term or take a holiday job in Oxford. Students who live out still have use of all their college's facilities including meals and washing machines. The Oxford University Students Union (Oxford SU) provides guidance on living out and can help you if you have questions or concerns about accommodation.

Alongside your study, you will likely explore your career options, including further study. Our career briefings and resources are for everyone considering what to do at the end of their current course, and will help those who have a clear focus to sharpen their career objectives and add polish to applications.

Without considering your destination it is difficult to establish a purposeful direction of travel. Consider the following questions about your possible next steps and mark where you are in the career-planning process. How clear are your ideas? How well do you understand your core interests and motivations? And, do you have sufficient understanding and experience to make a sound decision?

For more information, check out Oxford's Career Services page.

There are no shortage of ways to get involved in sport and physical activity at Oxford. If you already know which clubs or sports you’d like to get involved with, be sure to find more details via our Sports A to Z. There are few prouder feelings than representing Oxford at University level and in Varsity fixtures.

College sport is another great way to get active, both through inter-college competitions (available in most competitive sports) and with many colleges offering dedicated gyms, fitness facilities and activities.

Iffley Road Sports Centre has recently been extended and now offers health and fitness opportunities for all, new accessible facilities and continues to act as a training venue for many of our sports clubs. See the group fitness classes on offer and read more about our gym, swimming, track and fitness class memberships and activity passes. You can even run on Oxford’s famous running course, which was of course the home of Sir Roger Bannister's Four Minute Mile - track running memberships are completely free for staff and students all year round!

There are over 400 clubs and societies at the University of Oxford which cover a wide variety of interests that you may wish to join. The University registered non-sports clubs and societies list or the University registered sports activities list is a great place to start looking.

To learn more about the campus, check out Oxford's virtual tours. These 360° views cover facilities such as the dining hall, library, JCR, chapel, as well as an example of a student room, garden or quad, and the porters’ lodge.